Most organisations do not struggle because they ignore coaching.
They struggle because they expect coaching to work on its own.
After the first two pieces, one pattern keeps showing up. Sales is treated as a numbers issue, while coaching is treated as a people issue. The space in between is often left unattended.
That space is where capability lives. And when it is weak, both sales performance and coaching efforts suffer.
In Part 1, we explored a tension many Leaders recognise but rarely say out loud. Sales can survive without coaching, but coaching struggles to exist without healthy sales performance.
In Part 2, we looked at behaviour. Most Leaders know how to coach, yet far fewer practise it consistently. The gap was not knowledge. It was action.
This third piece sits between those two realities.
When Coaching Is Asked to Do Too Much
In many Asian organisations, coaching is introduced with good intent. Leaders attend workshops, managers learn models, and HR embeds coaching into leadership frameworks. On paper, it looks sound.
In practice, coaching is often expected to compensate for weak selling fundamentals, unclear role expectations, inconsistent processes, and uneven capability across teams. That is a heavy burden.
Coaching works best when it develops thinking and ownership. It struggles when it is used to fix gaps that should have been addressed earlier. When the basics are unclear, coaching conversations feel risky. Managers hesitate. Employees feel exposed. Both sides retreat to giving instructions instead.
Over time, coaching fades into the background. Not because it failed, but because it was asked to carry more than it was designed to handle.
Sales Keeps Moving, but Capability Grows Unevenly
Sales rarely stops completely. Deals still close. Targets are still chased. Pressure continues to move downwards.
What often goes unnoticed is how uneven capability growth becomes. Some people progress quickly. Others rely heavily on direction. Some disengage quietly. Managers spend more time firefighting than developing.
From the outside, performance may look acceptable. Inside, gaps widen slowly. This is why many Leaders feel tired without knowing exactly why. They are carrying the system rather than growing it.
The Overlooked Layer Between Targets and Conversations
Before coaching can work consistently, people need a shared base. Not complex frameworks or advanced theory, but clarity.
Clarity on how selling is done. Clarity on what good performance looks like. Clarity on what skills matter at each role level.
When expectations are clear, coaching becomes grounded. Conversations feel safer. Managers know what to observe. Feedback becomes practical rather than personal.
Without this layer, coaching feels abstract. With it, coaching becomes usable.
Seeing Capability as a Journey, Not an Intervention
This is where it helps to step back and look at capability development as a journey rather than a single intervention.
The diagram is not meant to explain programs or list solutions. It acts as a mental map. It helps you see progression rather than prescription, showing how capability builds over time instead of appearing overnight.
Once this journey becomes visible, the tension between sales targets and coaching conversations starts to make sense.
Why Leadership Development Alone Falls Short
Many organisations invest heavily in leadership development. Managers learn coaching techniques and practise conversations in training rooms, then return to environments that reward speed, certainty, and immediate results.
The gap is not willingness. It is context.
Leadership development without capability support puts managers in a difficult position. They understand what good coaching looks like, but they do not feel confident doing it consistently. When confidence drops, behaviour follows.
This is why coaching often becomes something Leaders support in principle, but struggle to practise in reality.
How Capability, Leadership, and Culture Work Together
Sales performance does not improve because of one intervention. It improves when multiple layers move together.
Enablement creates clarity. Skills building builds confidence. Leadership development shapes behaviour. Culture sustains what works.
When one layer is missing, pressure shifts elsewhere, usually onto coaching. And coaching was never meant to carry the system alone.
Why Capability Development Is an Ongoing Journey
Sales capability is not a one-time fix. It evolves as markets change, teams grow, and leadership maturity develops.
Organisations that grow sustainably do not ask how to implement coaching. They ask what needs to be in place so coaching can actually work.
The answer is rarely a single program. It is sequence, rhythm, and patience.
Conclusion
Coaching will always matter.
Sales results will always matter.
But between targets and conversations sits a missing middle that many organisations overlook. This is where enablement, skills, leadership, and culture intersect. This is where sustainable performance is built.
Sales capability development is not an endpoint. It is an ongoing journey.
When organisations recognise this, coaching stops feeling like an obligation. It becomes a natural part of how performance and people grow together.
And that is where real progress begins.