One of the many amazing impacts that come from the current strength of the U.S. economy and the 
historically low unemployment levels is the fact that with more people working there are also more new leaders in the workforce than ever before as well. Some of the new leaders have been promoted because they are ready, and some of them have been promoted because too many businesses are so desperate for managers, they have no choice.
As we are about to enter a new year and a new decade, one thing is for certain; the need for leadership skills for all these new managers is going to be critical. Leadership development is not a new thing and it’s well-known that more than $100 billion is spent annually on it. The challenge for many organizations is to choose the right programs and tools that will meet their needs. Especially if they have a lot of new managers who have no experience, skills, or tools doing the basics like setting goals, coaching, and giving feedback.
One of the most effective management tools that has become mainstream is the GROW model for coaching and giving feedback. There are many excellent articles, books, courses, eLearning programs, and other tools like business leadership simulations that train leaders to use the model.
The essence of the model is to have a positive and proactive conversation with a direct report that leads to specific actions and outcomes:
G – Setting goals for improvement and achievement.
R – Acknowledging the reality of the situation and realizing nothing is perfect, nothing is easy, and practical elements must be considered when figuring out how to achieve the goals.
O – Figuring out what options are available and what approaches can be taken to achieve the goals.
W – Determining the way-forward to execute the approach to achieve the goals
One of the many reasons I think it is such a good tool is that it is positive and proactive when most “feedback” sessions can be very negative and demotivating to everyone involved. Because we believe it is such an excellent tool, I recently created a new end-to-end GROW learning journey that includes content, role-plays, and a digital business leadership simulation.
Based on the work that we’ve done, I am pleased to share three practical and important tips to follow after you’ve had a GROW dialogue with someone.
1 - Schedule a Follow-up Session Immediately after You’ve Determined the Way-Forward
What I’ve observed is that every GROW coaching session is conducted with good intentions but then too many of the people involved go back to the daily grind and don’t follow-up. One way to avoid that is to schedule at least one and most likely several follow-up dialogues to check in on the Way-Forward plan. Put it on the calendar and treat it as being as important as anything else you are scheduled for.
2 - Practice
Having just one conversation isn’t enough to get you really good at it. Most leaders have multiple direct reports and it’s very important that each and every GROW coaching session goes well. The only way to do that is by practicing. There are great new tools such as virtual role plays that enable inexperienced leaders to practice having GROW conversations.
3- Ask for Feedback on Your Feedback
I’d say the best way to get better at giving feedback is getting feedback on your feedback. At the end of a good GROW coaching dialogue, ask the other person to provide feedback so you know what you did well and what could possibly change in the future.
