As a relatively new discipline, coaching has accumulated a lot of received wisdom without the benefit of specific research to establish what reflects actuality and what is simply supposition. Coaching is at a similar point to structured mentoring a decade ago, when the major conflicts between academic analysis and on-the-ground experience were resolved. So now is a good time to examine some of the myths of coaching, in the light of evidence from research and elsewhere.

Myth 1: Smart goals are essential
Nowadays, when someone says they base their coaching on the Grow (goal, reality, options, wrap-up) model, I try not to wince visibly. If they haven’t grown out of Grow, they haven’t really understood the nature of coaching.
Received wisdom is that goals need to be clear if the learner is to achieve them. In practice, this appears to be true only for short-term, performance-based goals within a narrow task. Outside of this, attempts to impose Smart (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely) goals are primarily a crutch for the coach or sponsor, rather than a help for the learner.