BIOGRAPHY
Kai Foong TAN
Executive Coach
Leadership Development Practice Director
INSEAD Global Leadership Centre
(Singapore)
“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world, as in being able
to remake ourselves.”― Mahatma Gandhi
Kai Foong is an organizational psychologist who has worked with senior business leaders of Fortune
500/Global 1000 organizations and NGOs globally for the last 20 years. Her specialty lies in the area
of individual change in the context of executive coaching, assessment and development of leaders.
Her current portfolio of work revolves around coaching senior leaders and their team in a quest to
build “purpose-driven” organizations, facilitating the building of a coaching culture to achieve
organizational growth and learning, and working with institutions of higher education like INSEAD in
their executive programs.
Kai Foong has extensive experience as a consultant psychologist and business leader at PDI Ninth
House (PDINH), now acquired by Korn Ferry, a global leadership consulting firm. Her most recent
role at PDINH was as the Regional Director of Leadership Solutions for Asia Pacific; where she was
responsible for leading the leadership solutions design, delivery and business development across
Asia Pacific. She was also the Deputy General Manager for PDINH’s operations in Singapore
accountable for consulting targets and business development. As an executive consultant at PDINH,
Kai Foong designed and conducted assessment centres and leadership development interventions
globally. She was also the Director of Coaching for the Centre for Leadership and Cultural
Intelligence at the Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University for several years
before pursuing a portfolio career track.
An executive coach by identity and choice, Kai Foong specializes in working with senior leaders and
their teams on their change journey. She works to support and enable leaders in developing authentic
leadership, cultural intelligence and reducing the “knowing-doing” gap. She also has a particular
interest in working with Asian and women leaders to take their game up to the next level, in global
organizations. In coaching, she works with the “whole self” to access the passion and strengths that
the leader brings, and to challenge them to translate insights into habits and routines which will drive
change in a pragmatic way. Success means that the leader gains more awareness of their “default
patterns of operating” which enhances their ability to mindfully choose their actions.
Kai Foong’s professional training in Psychology includes a Masters in Occupational Psychology (with
Merit) from the University of London, and a Master of Buisness from Nanyang Technological
University. She is a Registered Psychologist in Singapore. She is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC)
1
with the International Coach Federation (ICF), a global coaching certification body. She an accredited
Coaching Supervisor and enjoys supervising and mentoring younger coaches.
Kai Foong was originally born Malaysian, and now calls Singapore her home, where she resides with
her husband and two children. She has a passion for photography as it teaches her patience,
persistence, and perspectives; all key lessons in life.
2