CADSEA Mentorship Program Recap | How to Influence with Ease

On July 26, CADSEA Mentorship Program successfully hosted its first executive coaching workshop — "How to Influence with Ease." This event marked an important moment in our Mentorship Program series, gathering high-potential mid-to-senior Asian professionals to explore one of the core leadership challenges: influence. The workshop was led by Kathy Sheng, a seasoned executive coach with deep insights into leadership across cultures.

Over the course of 90 minutes, Kathy broke down the concept of influence not through vague leadership jargon, but by addressing practical barriers and guiding participants step by step to:

Gain awareness of why your influence isn't working.
Learn the right way to influence.
Practice proven strategies to build a habit of effective influence.

Instead of teaching in abstract terms, Kathy invited participants to reflect on real workplace situations and share their personal management challenges. Through guided dialogue, she helped participants see patterns from a third-party perspective — for example, how common it is to fall into habitual missteps in communication with supervisors and teams. She also drew from her experience advising senior leaders across global industries to share tested influence frameworks.

There were no slogans, no sweeping theories — just grounded strategies, practical tools, and a thoughtful deep-dive into what it truly means to build influence.

More about Kathy

Kathy Sheng is a certified executive coach and former Vice President at Freddie Mac and Wells Fargo. With over 20 years of cross-cultural leadership experience across the U.S. and China, she has coached executives from companies like Meta, Evercore, and fast-growing startups.

Named one of the Asian Leaders Worth Watching by Diversity Journal in 2022, Kathy brings sharp insight, calm presence, and powerful listening to every session. Her work focuses on helping leaders influence with clarity, navigate complexity, and unlock their next level of growth.

She holds an Executive Coaching Certificate from Georgetown University, an MBA from CEIBS, and serves on the board of Mosaic, a $350M non-profit.

More information:

Participant Reflections

After the workshop, participants stayed to exchange thoughts and ask follow-up questions in an open, relaxed atmosphere. Many reflected on their promotion journeys, cross-cultural hurdles, and workplace dilemmas, to which Kathy responded with empathy and precision — helping them reframe challenges through a systems lens.

One attendee shared:

"This wasn't a lesson in tactics — it was a dual-layered learning experience about influence and self-awareness."

We also conducted mini-interviews with several senior executives who attended. They shared that the workshop did more than offer useful techniques — it gave them the language and mindset to reframe influence as a long-term leadership shift.

"I used to think influence was about persuasion. But now I see it's about truly understanding the other person before suggesting change." "At work, I often jump to conclusions — this session taught me to pause and reflect." "The frameworks were simple, but as Kathy said, changing how we think is the hardest part. I'm going to start applying this right away in my next team meeting."

A Beginning, Not a One-Time Event

This executive coaching mentor program gave participants not only practical tools but also the motivation to begin transforming their behaviors. That's the very heart of the CADSEA Mentorship Program — to build a supportive, cross-generational community where Asian professionals can grow, challenge themselves, and break barriers in their workplaces.

More sessions are being planned. We welcome you to follow our journey, connect with a like-minded network, and grow with us.

Join Our Community

Want to help others grow through influence? Sign up to become a mentor
Looking for mentorship or guidance? Register as a mentee