Lead When You Are Not In Charge for Sales Engineers
David Fung, Leadership Coach
Executive Coach & Ex-Salesforce Director
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Get the influence skills SEs and SE leaders need to grow your career
Sales Engineers live in the mess between customer reality, sales pressure, and product constraints. You see risks and better options before anyone else, yet in deal discussions your input often lands as noise. You receive vague feedback like “be more strategic” without a playbook, and left wondering what "secrets" there might be for influencing your peers.
Generic leadership training does not help. Leadership books and generic communication training don’t teach you what to say in a live deal review, how to mitigate a risky sales promise, or how to fight for a feature that keeps getting bumped. It feels disconnected from the pressure of real quarters.
This course matters because it starts in your world. I don’t use hypotheticals, I help you work on a live deal or initiative you own right now. You get a simple framework to diagnose why stakeholders ignore you, plus concrete scripts, written communication rewrites, and a reusable 30-day influence plan. The goal isn't to change your personality. It is to operationalize your expertise, transforming you into the trusted strategic operator leadership relies on for big decisions.
What you’ll learn
Master an SE specific influence playbook to diagnose stalls, move deals, and become the trusted strategic partner leaders rely on.
Identify why deals or initiatives stall using a clear Credibility × Connection × Relevance lens
Clarify who truly influences decisions and where you need to build leverage
Work through real conflicts to find forward paths with difficult stakeholders
De-escalate tension while holding firm, professional boundaries
Build a practical plan for a real initiative you currently own
Define specific influence actions to move progress forward in the next 30 days
Use proven language to push back on risky commitments without slowing momentum
Rewrite messages to clearly tie your request to business metrics and risk
Spot habits (like vague updates) that quietly erode trust
Make immediate changes to how you prepare, follow up, and execute
Translate technical tradeoffs into business and revenue impact for leaders
Shift from reacting to problems to shaping decisions earlier
Learn directly from David
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David Fung, Leadership Coach
Leadership coach for SE & tech leaders, Prev. Salesforce SE Sr Director
Who this course is for
Sales Engineers at any level
Get a seat at the table shaping deal strategy and product direction instead of just running demos.
Sales Engineering Leader
Transform your team from reactive support into strategic drivers of deals and product direction.
Product or Customer Success Partner
Turn your customer insights into product reality and drive deeper adoption on strategic accounts.
What's included
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Live sessions
Learn directly from David Fung, Leadership Coach in a real-time, interactive format.
Community of Sales Engineers and leaders
Learn with a cohort of SEs and SE leaders who face the same challenges and share what is working in their companies.
Access to recordings and resources
Rewatch sessions and revisit frameworks and templates whenever you need a refresher for a new quarter, promotion cycle, or role.
Influence playbook and templates
A practical SE focused toolkit with the C x C x R model, stakeholder maps, email and slide rewrite guides, conversation scripts, and a one page influence plan you can reuse.
Case clinics and hot seat coaching
Bring your hardest stakeholder or stalled initiative. Watch it get dissected live so you see exactly how to apply the tools under real pressure.
Certificate of completion
Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.
Maven Guarantee
This course is backed by the Maven Guarantee. Students are eligible for a full refund up until the halfway point of the course.
Course syllabus
5 live sessions • 12 lessons • 4 projects
Week 1
Mar
4
Live Workshop 1 – Credibility x Connection x Relevance On Your Real Work
Wed 3/45:00 PM—6:30 PM (UTC)
Pulse Check Your Level of Influence
Week 2
Mar
11
Live Workshop 2 – Credibility And Connection In Practice
Wed 3/114:00 PM—5:30 PM (UTC)
Earn Trust and Build Connection for Hard Conversations
Schedule
Live sessions
2 hrs / week
Four 90 minute interactive sessions where you work through real deals, practice influence scripts, and get direct feedback from David and your peers.
Wed, Mar 25
5:30 PM—6:00 PM (UTC)
Wed, Mar 4
5:00 PM—6:30 PM (UTC)
Wed, Mar 11
4:00 PM—5:30 PM (UTC)
Projects
1 hr / week
Get hands-on and practical working on an initiative, deal, or project you are facing right now.
Async content
1 hr / week
Testimonials
David is one of those rare leaders who doesn't just develop your skills—he fundamentally changes how you approach your career and life. Over the years working under his leadership at Salesforce, he taught me to fall in love with my work, embrace discomfort as a path to growth, and build meaningful relationships with teammates who become lifelong friends. His coaching style combines genuine care for people with an infectious passion that brings out the best in everyone around him. David took a chance on me early in my career, and that opportunity changed my life in ways I never expected. If you're looking for a coach who will push you to reach your potential while making the journey genuinely enjoyable, David is exceptional.
Chris F
Lead Solution EngineerDavid is an extremely gifted and effective coach. I am confident I would not be where I am in my career today without him! David has a knack for recognizing and growing talent. While his coaching style is thoughtful and empathetic, I appreciated that he never gave me the answers when I needed guidance, but helped me find an approach or solution that felt genuine to me.
Melena M
Senior Manager, Solution Engineering
Frequently asked questions
$800
USD