When Lilian Beh saw two eagles soaring over the urban landscape of Kuala Lumpur, she knew God was talking to her.

Barely a year into a new career as an executive coach and facilitator, Lilian discovered that her business partner Catherine de Padua had to move away from Kuala Lumpur.

Lilian, who was counting on her experienced partner to show her the ropes, was distraught.

“I had a few clients by then and I had no idea how to run this business,” she recounted. “Do I continue or do I not continue?”

In desperation, Lilian – following in the footsteps of Gideon (Judges 6:36-40) –  turned to God and earnestly prayed for a sign. 

When she went for her usual walk the next morning, anticipatory yet doubtful, she was stunned to see a pair of eagles flying in the midst of the concrete jungle.

Having grown up watching National Geographic channel, Lilian knew eagles rarely fly in pairs and especially not in a city.

“I think that was the first time I truly encountered the presence of God,” Lilian told Salt&Light.

But when she got home, doubt set in.

“Maybe I was hallucinating. Maybe it’s a coincidence.”

“At the heart of this company is a commitment to glorify God in all we do,” says Lilian of her training company, Innovative Formula.

Just as Gideon did, she asked God to confirm His sign: Lord, would you show me the same pair of eagles on my walk tomorrow?

She sighted no eagles the next morning and was about to give up when she spotted them again. 

“That’s as clear as one can get. I never looked back after that,” she recounted.

Though she later discovered that the eagles lived in a manmade wetland nearby, her simple faith held on to the sight as a sign.

That was more than 20 years ago. 

Today, Lilian, 52, is still in partnership with Catherine de Padua, the original founder of Innovative Formula.

From the two of them, the organisation has grown to a team of 16 with the vision to shape leaders for the future.

Guide book for life

Lilian’s journey of faith started with her marriage. 

Attending church with her husband, the new Christian struggled to understand the sermons until she was introduced to the Bible.

“I thought, ‘Oh! There’s actually a guide book!’”  

In her previous religion, she was told what to do but was never offered any reason. The Bible gave her reasons and concrete beliefs she could refer to.

She started by reading the Gospels, but it was the book of Acts that hooked her.

“It was action-packed from beginning to end,” enthused Lilian.

“The Book of Acts was probably one of my earliest encounters with God. That was a big turning point for me, learning that the Holy Spirit gives us power.”

Although there were many things in the Bible the young Christian could not reconcile – like submitting to all authority – Lilian learnt that with a sovereign God, “answers come in different ways”.

“Sometimes a threat disappears, or the goal post shifts and an issue is no longer an issue.”

The epistles Ephesians and Galatians became her go-to guides.

Kingdom KPIs

As Innovative Formula grew, Lilian pondered how she would run the company: Would it be based on profit, or on values?

Lilian was clear that integrity, excellence and value to clients would be the values driving the company. But she believed that holding them all together was God.

“We know this company would not exist without God,” she said. “At the heart of this company is a commitment to glorify God in all we do.”

So, the team decided to put God as their number one value in their core values acronym: God, Integrity, Value, Excellence (GIVE). 

Seven years after starting the company, Lilian moved from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore with her family in 2010.

At the company’s first strategy session – held in Lilian’s home in 2011 – God showed them three countries they would operate in.

“We were in my dining room, and I had flip chart papers stuck on the slide and I remember I wrote MY, SG and ID: Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia,” recounted Lilian. 

At that time, Lilian did not know she would move to Indonesia one day. Three years later she did with her family and set up shop there. Innovative Formula now has offices in all three countries listed at its first strategy meeting.

After six-and-a-half years in Indonesia, followed by three-and-a-half in Taiwan, Lilian moved back to Singapore in 2023. She now worships at Redemption Hill Church.

Prayer anchors every strategy meeting in the company.

“Even colleagues of different faiths are invited to stand before God in prayer,” she told Salt&Light. 

Covering their plans in prayer, the team sets its key performance indicators (KPIs) and revenue targets and submits them to God. In the initial years when the company was raking in barely $100,000, one of her partners threw out a million dollars as a target.

“We thought it was crazy!” said Lilian. “But we decided that if we submitted it to God, it did not matter if we achieved it.”

They did.

Most of their business come through word of mouth, either from human resource clients or from participants who joined their courses.

“When we hit our first million, we knew it was God. We did not see ourselves as go-getting business people,” she admitted.

“When we trace our company lifeline, we see the hand of God,” says Lilian.

By then, the team had doubled to four partners.

They aim higher each year, still committing every goal in prayer. 

“When we trace our company lifeline, we see the hand of God in places and times when He brought specific people into the company; when He gave someone a vision; when He directed us to a business focus,” said Lilian. 

In 2007, long before coaching became a buzzword, Lilian felt God pointing to it.

“At that time, we would spend up to an hour just explaining what coaching was,” said Lilian. “But I felt that was where God was leading, so we focused on that.”

Today coaching has become mainstream and makes up a significant part of the company’s business. 

Another company milestone is the team’s decision to tithe after reading in the Bible about offering first fruits to God. (Proverbs 3:9-10)

Although not all of Lilian’s business partners are believers, all were in agreement to give the first 10% of the company’s gross profit to help the poor and needy, and to whomever God lays on their heart. 

“It’s not our money anyway,” said Lilian. “It is a gift from God meant to pass through us somehow, somewhere to someone.”

Constructing a culture of love

Beyond coaching and shaping leaders, Lilian believes the basis of the company is Christian love.   

“It’s to love people in a way that is genuine, human, and shows God’s image,” she said.

Many of their facilitators have been in the company for 12 to 15 years and Lilian believes they stay because they know they are loved. 

“When someone is in trouble, we go to them, we pray for them. We work with them to adjust schedules and whatever we have to do to ease the situation,” said Lilian.

“There are times people may have to fill in for their colleagues, but when it’s their turn, others do the same for them.

“People are happy to do this because we have built that culture of love.”

When one team member lost her husband recently, the team rallied around her. The same facilitator later led a Zoom session on forgiveness run by her church, sharing from her own journey of grief.

On another occasion, an exhausted Lilian found herself crying her eyes out in the kitchen of the office when a coworker prayed for her.

“I was just exhausted from managing the household, kids, business and everything else. Exhausted from managing as a woman,” confided Lilian. 

Another of her partners brought her mother, a prayer warrior, to minister to Lilian. “It was phenomenal. She just prayed, and it’s like a healing of the soul. For us, this is typical. We treat each other like family.

Families of the team join in the company’s annual trips. Many of the colleagues’ children have grown up together.

Every team member brings his or her family on the annual company trips. Many of the colleagues’ children have grown up together.

Sometimes, Lilian and her team end up in personal conversations with their clients about life and challenges. When a door opens, Lilian offers to pray for them.

“Just to simply be with this person and to strengthen this person,” she said. 

“Leadership is not just about skills and competencies. It’s also about building up the person, helping them to grow, so that they can step out.”

God prepares and equips

Lilian believes God prepares us for what He calls us to do.

“My sister calls them breadcrumbs that God leaves for us, signs to show us where He is leading,” she said.

Reflecting on her own life, she has seen how God has prepared her for her current role as an executive coach since her first job selling perfume at the age of 17.

It was nerve-wracking for the introvert to talk to strangers. But the experience instilled courage in Lilian.

When she landed a sales job in a major IT company, Lilian learnt to sell – putting narratives together, pitching for business, talking to people and understanding human behaviour.

After a decade with the MNC, she stepped away from the corporate world, ready for something new. 

She crossed paths with Catherine de Padua soon after and they founded Innovative Formula. 

These days, the Biblical leader that resonates most with Lilian is Nehemiah.

“He taught me about planning,” Lilian explained.

In building the wall of Jerusalem, Nehemiah did not just wait around for things to happen nor did he get ahead of God, she said. 

“He prepared for the possibility, he prayed and he waited for the right time. I call that ‘actively waiting’”, she continued. “Be prepared, wait for the right time, and you’d be ready to execute when the time comes.” 

The executive coach hopes to dive deeper into the study of Jesus as a leader. 

What stands out to her in Jesus’ leadership is firstly clarity of purpose: Jesus knew exactly why He was on earth and remained true to His calling. She also sees Him as an agile and systems-oriented leader who could see the larger picture while also being deeply present to the needs of individuals. His life was anchored in His conviction and this inner clarity gave Him the strength to challenge systems, offer grace, and ultimately lay down His life, Lilian said. 

“Jesus embodied a leadership of love — He came to serve with humility, confidence, compassion and courage. Ultimately, He set an example of a leader who is purposeful, discerning, relational and, ultimately, transformational.” 

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