Coaching Models & Frameworks, Compared
A coaching model is a map for the conversation: a few stages that keep a session purposeful while the client does the thinking. Below are 33 models — the everyday structures (GROW, CLEAR, OSKAR, OSCAR, FUEL), the goal and feedback tools (SMART, SBI, STAR), and the approaches that shape how you coach (systemic, strengths-based, Inner Game). Each guide gives the stages, the questions to ask, when to use it and when not to, and a worked example.
The everyday models, side by side
| Model | Stages | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| GROW | Goal · Reality · Options · Will | Default for most sessions; practical goals and decisions |
| T-GROW | Topic + GROW | Clients who arrive with a situation, not a goal |
| CLEAR | Contracting · Listening · Exploring · Action · Review | Executive coaching, longer engagements, supervision |
| OSKAR | Outcome · Scaling · Know-how · Affirm & Action · Review | Solution-focused, brief coaching, momentum |
| OSCAR | Outcome · Situation · Choices & Consequences · Actions · Review | Managers who coach; decisions with consequences for others |
| FUEL | Frame · Understand · Explore · Lay out | Leaders coaching in one-on-ones |
| CIGAR | Current reality · Ideal · Gaps · Action · Review | Clients who know what's wrong but not what they want |
In-depth guides
GROW
Goal, Reality, Options, Will
Four stages with 40 questions, a full example session and the traps that turn GROW into an interrogation.
CLEAR
Contracting, Listening, Exploring, Action, Review
CLEAR is a five-stage structure for a coaching conversation that puts explicit contracting at the start and reflective review at the end. Where GROW is about moving to action, CLEAR is about the quality of the relationship and the learning — which is why it suits longer engagements and executive work.
OSKAR
Outcome, Scale, Know-how, Affirm, Review
OSKAR is a solution-focused model: instead of analysing the problem, it builds on what already works. Its signature is the scaling question — placing the client on a 0–10 scale and exploring what is already true at that number and what one point higher would look like.
OSCAR
Outcome, Situation, Choices & Consequences, Actions, Review
OSCAR keeps GROW's logic but adds two things managers need: a Situation stage that includes the wider context and stakeholders, and a Choices & Consequences stage that weighs options against their likely effects before committing.
FUEL
Frame, Understand, Explore, Lay out
FUEL is built for leaders: it starts by framing why the conversation is happening, spends real time understanding the present before jumping to goals, and ends with a concrete success plan the person owns.
T-GROW
Topic, Goal, Reality, Options, Will
Clients rarely arrive with a goal; they arrive with a topic — a situation, a feeling, a mess. T-GROW gives that its own stage. The coach explores the topic broadly, then helps the client choose a goal for the session, and only then runs GROW.
CIGAR
Current reality, Ideal, Gaps, Action, Review
CIGAR starts where the client is, paints the ideal, and then names the gap between the two. The gap — not the goal — becomes the unit of work, which suits clients who know they are unhappy but cannot yet say what they want.
SMART
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound
SMART is not a coaching model in itself — it is a test for a goal. Used well, it turns 'I want to be a better leader' into something the client can act on and measure. Used badly, it forces a tidy goal before the client knows what they want.
SBI
Situation, Behavior, Impact
SBI is a feedback model, not a session structure — but it belongs in every coach's toolkit. Coaches use it to give observations without judgement, and they teach it to leaders who need to have difficult conversations. The extended SBI-I adds a question about intent, turning feedback into a coaching conversation.
STAR
Situation, Task, Action, Result
STAR is a story structure, not a session model. Coaches reach for it when a client needs to make sense of something that happened — a difficult meeting, a win they discount, an interview they are preparing for — and turn it into specific, usable learning.
Systemic
Systems thinking coaching
Systemic coaching assumes the client's issue does not live only inside the client. It lives in the relationships, roles, histories and pressures of the systems they are part of. The coach helps the client see those systems and their own place in them — and then act with that awareness.
Strengths-Based
CliftonStrengths / VIA approach
Strengths-based coaching starts from what the client already does well and asks how to apply more of it, rather than diagnosing and fixing weaknesses. Assessments help, but the coaching move is the same with or without them: name the strength, claim it, aim it at the goal.
Inner Game
Tim Gallwey's Inner Game approach
The Inner Game says performance is potential minus interference — and most interference is internal: self-judgement, over-trying, fear. The coach's job is not to add instruction but to reduce interference by building relaxed, non-judgemental awareness.
SOAR
Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results
SOAR replaces SWOT's weaknesses and threats with aspirations and results. It is a strategic-planning frame that coaches use with individuals, founders and teams when the question is 'where do we want to go and how do we get there from what we're good at'.
Cognitive Coaching
Planning, Reflecting, Problem-Resolving conversations
Cognitive Coaching is not about fixing behaviour — it is about mediating the other person's thinking so they become more self-directed. The coach uses three conversation maps and works on five internal 'states of mind' that drive self-directed learning.
More models and approaches
Coaching models FAQ
What is a coaching model?+
A coaching model is a structure for a coaching conversation — a sequence of stages (such as Goal, Reality, Options, Will in GROW) that helps the coach keep the session purposeful while the client does the thinking. Models are maps for the coach, not scripts for the client.
Which coaching model is best?+
There is no best model; there is a best fit. GROW is the most used and the easiest to learn. CLEAR suits executive coaching and longer engagements. OSKAR is solution-focused and builds momentum quickly. FUEL and OSCAR were designed for managers who coach. Many experienced coaches use GROW as a default and borrow moves from the others.
Does ICF require a specific coaching model?+
No. ICF assesses the 8 Core Competencies, not which model you use. Any model works for credentialing as long as the client leads the conversation and the competencies are demonstrated.
What is the difference between a coaching model and a coaching approach?+
A model (GROW, CLEAR, OSKAR) structures a single conversation. An approach (solution-focused, systemic, strengths-based, Inner Game) is a way of thinking about the client and the work that can be applied inside any model.
Practise any model with a client who talks back
Run a session with a realistic AI client using the model of your choice, then see which ICF competencies you demonstrated at each stage.