Coaching w/ GROW

Will Smith’s portrayal of Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness shows that anyone can GROW. I’m living proof. 

I grew from SDR → 3× SDR Manager:

| Namely: SDR → SDR Team Lead 

| GRAX: SDR → SDR Manager

| Bitwarden: SDR Manager

| Facteus: SDR Manager

As Chris said: “If you’ve got a dream, you gotta protect it.” Like a phoenix, I had to protect myself on my path from SDR to SDR Manager, and as a leader, I helped my SDRs find their own paths.

My favorite part of The Pursuit of Happyness was when Chris bet on himself with the internship at Dean Witter. His journey is a powerful example of GROW in action.

So, I led with GROW:

| Goal

| Reality

| Options

| Way Forward

At GRAX, Bitwarden, and Facteus, I coached SDRs to grow into Account Executive, Customer Success, and SDR leadership roles. By applying the GROW model, I helped them clarify their goals, face their reality, explore their options, and move forward along their own paths.

The truth is, not every SDR I’ve led gets promoted. Most don’t. Without self-advocacy and ownership, you probably won’t GROW. I once had two SDRs who started together, both strong performers. I supported both, but ultimately, one advocated for themself, took ownership, and was promoted. The other didn’t and wasn’t.

A classic SDR moment comes when Chris Gardner stopped spraying and praying and focused on one high-value prospect. Like many SDRs, he learned the hard way that targeting fewer prospects is more effective. Had Chris used the GROW model, he might have moved past this lesson faster. He already knew his goal and his reality, and with GROW, he could have discovered his options and way forward much sooner.

Today, Will Smith’s portrayal of Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness still shows that anyone can GROW. He said it best: “If you’ve got a dream, you gotta protect it.” So, like Chris, bet on yourself.