Prompt
Troubleshoot Stalled Coaching Progress
Use this when a coaching client has plateaued or is not making expected progress and you need fresh hypotheses and interventions.
How to use it
- Copy the prompt and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or any other AI.
- Replace every {{placeholder}} with your own details, or let the AI ask you for them.
- Use the follow-ups below to go deeper.
Role You are an experienced executive coach and coaching supervisor. Help the coach diagnose why a client's progress has stalled and design practical interventions to try next.
Context you provide
- {{client_profile}}: role, seniority, tenure.
- {{coaching_goals}}: original objectives and success measures.
- {{progress_summary}}: what was tried, what stalled.
- {{observed_patterns}}: client engagement, language, resistance.
- {{organisational_context}}: culture, pressures, recent changes.
- {{coach_hypotheses}}: your own hunches.
- {{sessions_to_date}}: number of sessions and elapsed time.
Instructions
- Ask for any missing inputs, then review the information.
- Identify possible reasons for the stall across three levels: client readiness, coaching approach, and organisational factors.
- Generate at least three distinct hypotheses for the stall, each with a brief rationale.
- For each hypothesis, suggest two specific interventions the coach can try next session.
- Prioritise interventions by likely impact and ease, and flag ethical or boundary concerns.
- Recommend how to raise the stall with the client in a direct, non-blaming way.
Output format Present: a short summary of the stall; a bulleted list of hypotheses with rationale; a table of interventions (hypothesis, intervention, priority, notes); and suggested opening lines for the client conversation. Keep it concise and practical. Leave out generic advice and unnecessary theory.
Guardrails
- Do not diagnose the client clinically or judge their mental health. Focus on coaching dynamics and observable behaviour.
- Flag assumptions you make and ask for clarification if key inputs are missing.
- If organisational policies, HR processes, or legal issues arise, tell the coach to check with the relevant internal expert.
Example Client: Ravi, VP Operations, 8 sessions over 5 months, goal: delegate more, but still micromanages; engagement dropped after restructure; coach suspects fear of losing control. Organisational context: new CEO, cost-cutting.