Grounded in Everybody Gets a Coach
Our philosophy
Every GrowForward coach trains in Dr. Martin Seldman's Everybody Gets a Coach (2025, with Liezl Tolentino and Mónica Bauer) — the same framework he uses in mentee onboarding.
“Everyone needs a coach.” The idea credited to Bill Gates that opens Everybody Gets a Coach and inspired its title: coaching shouldn't be reserved for those who can already afford it.
01
Coaching is a right, not a privilege
Coaching shouldn't be rationed to those who can already afford it. The method distills 2,000+ coaching engagements into a repeatable process, so the same quality of coaching can reach anyone, not just the executive suite.
02
Self-care is the foundation, not an afterthought
Self-care is treated as part of the work, not a reward for after the work is done. Before tackling career strategy, coach and mentee build sustainable habits around energy, health, and boundaries — because growth built on top of burnout does not hold.
03
Self-awareness starts with naming your derailers
Identifying "derailers" — the specific patterns most likely to stall or damage a career — early enough to manage them, rather than discovering them after the damage is done.
04
Growth plans are personal, not templated
Rather than a generic curriculum, each person gets self-assessment tools to build a growth plan shaped by their own goals, blind spots, and circumstances — treating the mentee as the expert on their own life and the coach as the guide.
05
Do more of what works, less of what doesn't
A simple rule for continuous improvement: notice what's actually moving you forward and do more of it, notice what isn't and do less — paired with concrete tips rather than abstract theory.
06
Coaching cascades through the organization
When a leader applies this method to themselves first, it spreads to how they develop their own team — from executive to team lead to individual contributor. One relationship's growth fuels the next.
One shared foundation, many voices. Every GrowForward coach trains in the same core process, assessments, and language. Within that shared foundation, each coach brings their own flavor — shaped by their own industry, career path, and coaching experience — to how they apply it with a given mentee.
Every principle above comes from Dr. Martin Seldman, GrowForward's Head Coach — the psychologist and executive coach behind the book, and the person who personally trains every coach in the network. Learn more about Dr. Martin Seldman →
Before anyone is matched
How coaches are vetted and trained
Application and reference review
Every coach applies publicly and is reviewed by our team before any match is made. Nobody coaches on the strength of a title alone.
Training in a shared framework
Approved coaches complete training in Dr. Seldman's methodology, so the engagement does not vary by whichever coach you were matched with.
Fit before commitment
The Meet & Greet exists so both people can decline without cost. A match that does not proceed is the process working, not failing.