You’ve likely seen this moment. The issue is clear. The options are on the table.

And yet—there’s no movement. It’s not confusion. It’s not resistance.

It’s something quieter: a kind of hesitation that doesn’t show up in logic, but in what hasn’t yet made emotional or cognitive sense.

Whether you’re coaching, mentoring, or leading, you’ve probably felt it.

The conversation slows. The energy dips. The person goes silent—or circles the same thoughts—and you can tell: something’s not ready yet.

This is the part of change most people don’t talk about.

It’s not that people don’t know what to do — it’s that their thinking isn’t yet ready to carry the action. Until their internal meaning aligns — emotionally, cognitively, and personally — the next step won’t feel real, and any action will remain unstable. Dr Ben Koh, Founder of CMA

Not the clarity that comes after, or the chaos that comes before—but the unresolved middle. It’s where insight hasn’t quite clicked, and the next step doesn’t yet feel like there’s anything to take. And if we push too soon, we risk closing the space where something real might have emerged.

When Action Doesn’t Land, It’s Rarely About Effort

Many coaching models treat progress as a matter of better planning or motivation. Define the goal, explore the options, and commit to the next step.

However, in real life, people often fail to follow through, and what’s missing isn’t willpower.

They say yes, but feel unsure. They agree to the step but stall in taking it. 

The conversation might feel “good”, but the change doesn’t hold.

Coaching for Change That Sticks

Coaching that works in these moments isn’t about helping someone “get unstuck” with a set of solutions.

It’s about YOU learning how to stay present to hold the space for clarity to emerge. That’s the kind of coaching our transformational approach is built for.

Imagine you having the capacity to:

• Stay grounded in uncertainty — without rushing to resolve it
• Work with how meaning is forming — not just what’s being said
• Enable choices to surface from within, where they carry real conviction

Lasting change doesn’t come from better answers — it comes from better thinking. Until people have space to reflect, make sense of what matters, and choose from a place that feels internally coherent, any solution will remain surface-level. Dr Ben Koh, Founder of CMA

That’s what makes our transformational approach distinctive.

It creates space for the person to think more deeply, and it’s in that space that their clarity emerges, and with it, the confidence to move forward.

When people arrive at this kind of clarity, action is no longer a stretch. It’s a natural extension of what has become real inside them.

Where the Work Begins

If you’ve been sensing that coaching needs to do more—especially when people already know their options but still can’t move—this is the space where real impact begins.

And if this kind of coaching speaks to you, you’ll want to explore what it takes to grow into it.

We invite you to read: The Future Coach: Shaping Change in an Unfinished World, written by Dr Ben Koh.

In this article, Dr ben argues that if you’re still coaching for performance, you’re behind the curve, and he offers a deeper look into the mindset, presence, and capacity of the Future Coach. He understands where professional coaching is heading, and what kind of coach this moment needs.