Team Coaching: A Journey through the G.R.O.W.T.H. Model
From Good to Great: A Team Coaching Journey through the G.R.O.W.T.H. Model
Let’s be honest—most teams don’t need more meetings, dashboards, or another away day with Post-its and platitudes.
What most teams need is a moment of truth.
A pause.
A deep breath.
A chance to see themselves clearly—above the surface and beneath it.
That’s where real transformation begins.
That’s the power of team coaching—not just helping teams work better, but helping them think, lead, and grow together.
After two decades of working with teams across sectors, systems, and stages of growth—from Nationwide to NFU Mutual, Santander to Stannah—I developed the G.R.O.W.T.H. model: a clear, structured yet human-centred arc that helps teams evolve with purpose.
It’s not just about becoming more effective—it’s about becoming more aligned, more aware, and more capable of real impact across organisation, sector, and even system.
What is the G.R.O.W.T.H. team coaching model?
G.R.O.W.T.H. stands for:
Grounding
Relating
Owning
Working
Transforming
Horizon
It’s a six-stage journey delivered through team coaching workshops, supported by inquisitive 1:1 sessions with each team member before and after, plus a team debrief to integrate the learning.
Each stage is shaped around real team needs—not generic exercises. This is coaching with depth, structure, and forward motion.
Let’s walk through it.
1. Grounding – Trust and Truth
We start by anchoring.
This stage helps the team surface the deeper story of who they are, how they’ve arrived here, and what matters most. We explore values, trust, and current reality—with compassion and candour.
How this usually works:
1:1 inquisitive sessions with the team leader and each team member
A team debrief drawing out key patterns, tensions, and possibilities
Leadership reflection to prioritise focus areas moving forward
Real-world example: Working with GDS (Government Digital Service)
At GDS, the focus was on becoming even more effective and cultivating non-positional leadership. During the Grounding and Relating phases, team members began leading showcases and events, stepping into visible leadership without needing titles. Product managers and lead designers grew in confidence and influence—proving that leadership lives in behaviours, not roles.
Read more here
2. Relating – The Human Layer
Relating explores the interpersonal dynamics that shape the team’s culture: how they give feedback, how they listen, how they avoid (or lean into) conflict, and how safety is built—or broken.
How this usually works:
Group coaching session to reflect on observed patterns and dynamics
Debrief of the themes surfaced in the 1:1s
Leader and team agreement on what to prioritise relationally
3. Owning – Courage and Accountability
Here, the team takes responsibility—not just for delivery, but for the way it operates. We challenge passive behaviours and surface avoidance. We talk openly about accountability, power, and shared leadership.
How this usually works:
Group discussion about how the team wants to work through tensions
Exploration of responsibility-sharing and psychological contracts
Co-creation of team agreements around accountability and action
Real-world example: Working with Stannah
Stannah’s engineering leadership team was facing a high-stakes challenge: how to innovate while honouring a legacy of over 100 years. During the Owning phase, a pivotal conversation emerged: “Are you really being all you could be?” The room shifted. The team confronted its potential and asked what it would take to truly lead as one—creating a new level of clarity and commitment.
Coming Soon.
4. Working – Rhythm and Reality
Now we zoom in on the engine room: how the team collaborates, meets, decides, delivers, and adapts under pressure. We look at values in action, and how behaviours align with stated culture.
How this usually works:
Group session reviewing progress since the last phase
Reflection on values, behaviours, and rhythm
Real-time co-design of next steps, habits, or working norms
Real-world example: Working with DASA (Defence and Security Accelerator)
The team had grown organically over a number of years, including during lockdown and the scope of work was, - and still is - evolving. The growth and diversification of the team had led to silo’ed working and broken channels of communication.
The goal? to help reconnect all the disparate parts of the team. Create an open and trusting workplace. Unite us in a shared ambition with a common vision whilst playing to the strengths which already created a number of successes. The breakthrough came when the team turned to me and said, “No—this is what we stand for, and we’re aligned.” That was their moment of becoming. My role was complete. Theirs had only just begun.
Read more HERE:
5. Transforming – Identity and Evolution
By now, the team has shifted. This session invites them to notice, name, and embody that transformation.
How this usually works:
Group reflection on identity, impact, and energy
Exploration of new stories and shared language
Space for emergence and collective meaning-making
6. Horizon – Legacy and Systemic Impact
We finish with vision—not just for the team’s next steps, but their wider influence across the organisation, sector, and even the planet.
How this usually works:
Group session exploring achievements, impact, and future direction
Provocation: what legacy does this team want to leave?
Planning for continued evolution aligned with strategic and systemic influence
This Isn’t Team Building. It’s Team Coaching. It’s Team Becoming.
The G.R.O.W.T.H. model isn’t a one-off event.
It’s a carefully held arc of reflection, challenge, and connection.
It helps good teams become great.
And it helps great teams find their edge—again.
Whether your team is navigating change, leading under pressure, or simply ready to grow—team coaching can unlock what’s possible.
Curious what it might look like for your team?
Let’s talk.
Let’s talk. Because good people really do lead great things.
And your team could be the next wave of that truth.
If this resonated with you…
If this message resonates with you, and you’re one of the good people leading great things, let’s talk.
Get in touch and Book an inquisitive call here.- If any of this topic resonated with you and you have something you’d like to share with me or if you’d like to discuss working with me on this topic - stefan@stefanpowell.co.uk works really well for me.
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I’ll continue this in 4 to 5 Thursdays time when I continue the topic of ‘Rest” in my Thursday Journal.
Book an inquisitive session with me to find out more about what I do and how I do it or run a challenge or thought you have passed me.
For now; thank you
Stefan
An executive coach who specialises in helping good people lead great things.
Good people care about others, our planet and beauty. Great things are changes for the betterment of society and all that lives within an around it.
It sounds big and fun - it is.
I'm also an endurance racing cyclist and a go. getter.
You can read more about me and what I do; how I work here