Problem Post
“This is what's happening and why it matters.”
01 / WHY
Recognition comes first.
They may not have a name for the problem yet. They usually recognise the symptoms first.
WHAT THEY EXPERIENCEWHAT MIGHT BE UNDERNEATH
“I'm constantly putting out fires.”
Reactive leadership“I'm doing good work but nobody seems to notice.”
Invisible impact“People engage with me but don't become clients.”
Weak conversion pathway“I struggle to make sales consistently."
Lack of offer clarity/resonance“That’s exactly what’s happening.”
You're gradually helping someone move from noticing the symptoms to understanding the problem and seeing you as someone capable of helping.
Why start with problems people will pay you to solve?
If you use LinkedIn to attract clients, every post needs a reason to exist.
It can still be entertaining, personal or interesting. But underneath, your content should keep connecting you to the problems you help people solve when they work with you.
The people most likely to become clients are usually experiencing something already.
Something keeps happening. Something feels harder than it should. Something they've tried isn't working. There's a gap between where they are and where they want to be.
Your content helps them recognise that gap more clearly.
When you describe those situations accurately, the right person can self-identify.
02 / WHAT
Your coaching is
the starting point.
“What does my coaching actually help people change?”
Look at your program, methodology or process.
What are the three main problems, patterns or areas you help clients work through?
Those become your primary content territories.
Your program, methodology or process
01
Reactive Leadership
Week 1
02
Invisible Impact
Week 2
03
Decision Drift
Week 3
Week 4Evaluate results. Return to the strongest area, or choose a new angle.
Kevin’s client example · Each area supports Problem, Perspective and Proof.
If your offer has three clear pillars or phases, start there.
If it doesn't, ask: What are the three biggest things someone needs to change to get the outcome I sell?
How this worked with a client
A lot of content is random because the coach creating it starts with: “What should I post about?”
I recently worked with a client to turn his coaching process into a short lead-generation video.
We mapped: Problems → Desired outcomes → Coaching pathway → Invitation
One of the problems his potential clients experience is Reactive Leadership. Two others are Invisible Impact and Decision Drift. His coaching program helps solve those same problems. That makes the content strategy easier.
His marketing mirrors the work he actually does with clients.
You can do the same.
03 / HOW
The three posts.
ProblemPerspectiveProof
POST 01 / RECOGNITION
Make the problem real.
“What is actually happening in my client’s world?”
01
Situation
When or where does this happen?
02
Symptoms
What are they doing, feeling or noticing?
03
Pattern
What's really going on underneath it?
04
Consequence
What happens if this keeps going?
THE CONSEQUENCE MATTERS
What is it costing them?
TimeMoneyConfidenceOpportunitiesEnergyProgress
Or something else they care about.
You do not need to solve the whole problem in the post, just make it clearly stated.
See it in practice: Reactive Leadership
A Problem Post helps someone recognise a pattern they're experiencing and connect it to a problem you solve.
A technical leader might spend the week:
- answering questions all day
- getting pulled into urgent issues
- making decisions other people could make
- fixing work at the last minute
- carrying responsibility that should sit elsewhere
- pushing strategic work into tomorrow
At first, that can feel like part of being a helpful leader.
But eventually the leader becomes overloaded, the team becomes dependent, and the work that actually requires leadership gets squeezed out.
The reader should recognise their own situation before you've ever needed to give them five tips for fixing it.
THE NEXT STEP
Give the problem
a useful next step.
You don’t have to squeeze the entire solution into the LinkedIn post.
What can a lead magnet do?
- diagnose what's happening
- understand a framework
- assess themselves
- solve one smaller part of the problem
- create a micro-win
- understand the pathway forward
Example: the invitation follows the problem
For the Reactive Leadership example, you might finish the problem post with:
“I made a short video breaking down the three patterns that keep technical leaders stuck in reactive work, and what to fix first so you can lead more strategically."
Now the CTA follows from the problem. The next line should say how/where to get the video.
POST 02 / THINKING
Help them see it differently.
What does your experience allow you to see that they might not see yet?
CURRENT ASSUMPTION“I need to manage
“I need to manage
my time better.”
A NEW WAY OF SEEING ITResponsibility is
Responsibility is
moving upwards.
The problem isn’t only their calendar.
Reactive Leadership · A perspective from the coaching work
01
Current assumption
What do they believe?
02
What you’ve noticed
What does your experience show?
03
New way of seeing it
Help them understand why.
04
Why it matters
Make the distinction useful.
You don’t need to manufacture controversial opinions.
The pattern behind this example
A leader might assume: “I need to manage my time better.”
But there may be another reason they're overloaded: They're extremely good at solving problems.
People bring them problems. They solve them quickly. That behaviour gets rewarded.
So more problems keep moving towards them.
The problem isn't only their calendar. There's a pattern of responsibility moving upwards.
That's where the Perspective Post becomes valuable.
The reader already knows something is wrong. Now you're helping them understand why.
Where to find your perspective
- an assumption you disagree with
- a common solution that misses the real issue
- a hidden cause behind a symptom
- a trade-off people overlook
- a recurring pattern you've noticed
- something you've changed your mind about
- language or a distinction that makes the problem easier to understand
Your strongest perspectives are usually already sitting inside your coaching work.
POST 03 / TRUST
Two ways to show
your thinking works.
Someone changed.
Before
Overloaded. Every decision lands with the leader.
Work
Identify where responsibility flows upwards. Change the conversations.
After
The team takes ownership. More space for strategic work.
Read the client example
“A client came into coaching overwhelmed.
feeling like every important decision landed with him.
His calendar was overloaded and he had almost no space for strategic work.
Part of our work involved identifying where responsibility was unnecessarily flowing upwards and changing the conversations he was having with his team.
Over time, fewer decisions needed him.
His team took more ownership.
And he had more space to operate at the level his role actually required.”
What counts as an outcome?
- a client result
- a behaviour they changed
- a business outcome
- greater confidence
- better decisions
- faster execution
- reduced friction
- something they can now do that they couldn't before
You don't always have to name the client. The A → B movement is what matters.
Here’s how I help.
Take one part of your coaching process and unpack it.
FrameworkYour three-part decision model
DiagnosticQuestions you use to find the real problem
ExerciseAn activity you run with clients
Coaching questionA question that changes how someone thinks
ToolA template, scorecard or worksheet
MethodA repeatable way you approach a problem
Read the coaching example
“When I work with a leader who's constantly firefighting, one thing we'll often do is review the problems that reached them during the previous week.
For each one, we ask:
- Did this genuinely require your involvement?
- Why did it reach you?
- Who could have owned the decision instead?
- What needs to change so the same issue doesn't automatically reach you next time?
That can quickly expose where responsibility is leaking upwards.”
The reader gets to see that there’s a method behind the result.
THE DELIVERY
The story carries the idea.
Stories aren’t another content pillar. They’re a way of delivering the idea.
A STORY CAN HOLD
ProblemPerspectiveProof
THE STORY TEST
If I removed the lesson at the end, would the story naturally make someone think about the same problem or idea?
If yes, use it.
Keep the tension connected
You can use a story inside a Problem, Perspective or Proof post.
The important thing is that the tension in the story matches the tension in the lesson.
A story feels forced when it is really about one thing, but the writer bolts an unrelated business lesson onto the end.
You also don't need to manufacture stories.
THE RAW MATERIAL
Document more
than you create.
Your work is already producing content material every week.
Coaching calls
Breakthroughs, resistance, recurring problems
Sales calls
Objections, buying triggers, language people use
DMs
Questions, confusion, interesting responses
Client work
Processes, tools, exercises, changes
Your own business
Experiments, mistakes, decisions, lessons
Content comments
Questions people keep asking
Results
Before/after moments and progress
Failed attempts
What didn't work and what you learned
In-between / Rest
Universal moments where interesting patterns appear
ONE RUNNING NOTE
The more you document, the less often you sit down with a blank page.
THE WEEKLY RHYTHM
One area. Three angles.
Start with one area of your coaching.
01
Problem
What does this problem look like in their actual life, and what is the consequence?
02
Perspective
What do I want them to understand differently about it?
03
Proof
What can I show that demonstrates my ability to help?
FOR YOUR PROOF POSTHere’s what changed.orHere’s how I help create the change.
You don’t need to publish on fixed days. I like Problem, Perspective, Proof. The important part is that across your content, all three jobs are being done.
Turn 3 coaching areas into 1 month of content
For each of your main coaching areas, brainstorm:
| Area | Questions to answer |
|---|---|
| Problem | What symptoms show up? What keeps happening? What does it cost them? |
| Perspective | What are they misunderstanding? What do I see differently? |
| Outcome Proof | Who has changed this? What was different before and after? |
| Process Proof | What framework, tool, exercise or question do I use? |
| Stories | What has happened recently that naturally illustrates one of these ideas? |
| Lead Magnet | Do I have something useful that gives them the first step or a micro-win? |
One coaching pillar can easily give you several weeks of posts.
You can explore another symptom, another consequence, another belief, another story or another part of your process.
Go deeper into the areas you want to become known for.
REVIEW & REPEAT
Find the idea
behind the result.
After a few weeks, review what happened. Don’t only look at likes.
commentsimpressionsquality of commentsprofile viewsDMsconversationscallsresponses from people who resemble your ideal clients
LOOK UNDERNEATH THE RESULT
“What was the big idea here?”
That might be the idea you should use again.
Seven ways to return to a strong post
You can return to strong posts after two or three months and:
- change the hook
- use another story
- sharpen the consequence
- make the audience more specific
- turn a Problem angle into a Perspective angle
- add stronger proof
- update the example
You don't need an endless supply of new ideas.
You need enough repetition for people to understand what you do and what you think.
04 / NOW
Your next three posts.
One focused session.
- 01Choose
One coaching area
Pick one problem you want to be known for solving.
- 02Find
Three angles
ProblemWhat are they experiencing and what is it costing them?
PerspectiveWhat do I understand that could change how they see it?
ProofWhat result or process can I show?
- 03Gather
Material from your week
Choose anything that naturally supports one of your three posts.
Where to look
callsDMsclient notesconversationsideaswinsfrustrationsobservations - 04Create
Speak your ideas into the GPT
You don’t need polished notes. Tell it what happened, what you noticed and what you think the lesson might be.
Turn the raw material into a LinkedIn-ready Problem, Perspective or Proof post.
- 05Refine
One critique. One editing pass.
Use the GPT’s 8-question critique. It scores the post out of 10 and helps you spot what needs work.
What the critique checks
the hookclarityrelevanceauthoritywhether the central idea landsthe lessonstructurethe CTAThen schedule or publish. Don’t turn it into an hour of rewriting.
FINISH LINE
Ready for next week?
Then repeat the process. After 30 days, review your results, find the strongest ideas and start repurposing them.
KEEP COMING BACK
The system at a glance
Revisit the seven principles
01
Start with coaching
Choose a commercially relevant problem you genuinely help solve.
02
Make it recognisable
Show the situation, symptoms and consequence.
03
Show how you think
Help them understand the problem differently.
04
Give them evidence
Use Outcome Proof or Process Proof.
05
Offer a useful next step
Help them diagnose the problem, take a first step or get a micro-win.
06
Document the work
Your clients, conversations and work provide the material.
07
Publish, learn, reuse
Find the ideas that resonate and keep developing them.
Recognise the problem.
Understand your thinking.
See evidence you can help.
Then give them an easy next step.