The Power Within

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Twenty years ago, Keith Power passed Sharad Malhotra over for a top job. Last December, Sharad became the first Indian in history to lead Nippon Paint's Global Automotive Business FROM India. This is the conversation about everything that happened in between.

In this episode of The Power Within leadership podcast, executive coach Keith Power sits down with Sharad Malhotra, Managing Director of Nippon Paint India and head of its global automotive refinish business - a global category run not from Tokyo or Singapore, but from India.

Sharad shares what it takes to build a business from scratch: starting Nippon Paint's automotive refinish business from a coffee shop with no office, no brand recognition and doors closing in his face; recruiting colour matchers from Delhi's poorest communities; walking painter floors during COVID when Zoom couldn't tell him the truth; and the expansion mistake that cost the company years. He talks about growing up in a Partition refugee family in Delhi, breaking the barrier that keeps local leaders out of Japanese multinationals' top jobs, and the question his wife asked that removed every doubt about taking the role: "Will you be able to live with yourself if you don't accept this?"

A masterclass in resilience, consistency and building trust - from a leader who proves you don't need to be special to do something special.

Keith's book, The Power Within: Ancient Greek Wisdom for Modern Leaders, is out this November.

Subscribe for more conversations on leadership, resilience and personal growth: real stories from CEOs, founders and leaders across Asia and beyond.

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Tune in for an inspiring conversation that will leave you equipped with the tools to lead with confidence, overcome obstacles and unlock The Power Within

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For twelve years, Gilbert Cheah held the keys to one of Asia's most exclusive addresses - the pages of Singapore Tatler, where he ran the magazine through its golden years, seven consecutive titles as Luxury Magazine of the Year, in an age when print was meant to be dying.

But this conversation isn't really about weddings, wealth or the velvet rope. It's about what Gilbert saw once he was inside it - and why, after documenting the richest people in Southeast Asia's richest country, he walked away to talk about something else entirely: health, simplicity, and what money can't buy.

We go from a scared teenager crying in a plane toilet on his way to Boston University, to the dream job at Condé Nast he never landed, to twelve quiet years volunteering with abused and neglected children while running the glossiest title in the country - and the line that's stayed with me since we stopped recording: money doesn't change people. It exposes who they are.

Gilbert Cheah is the former Managing Director of Singapore Tatler, a Vogue 100 ambassador for Asia Pacific working alongside Anna Wintour, a columnist, and one of the most recognisable figures in Singapore society.

If this conversation resonates with you, like, subscribe, and share it with someone chasing the wrong kind of luxury.

This is The Power Within.

Tune in for an inspiring conversation that will leave you equipped with the tools to lead with confidence, overcome obstacles and unlock The Power Within

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For 45 years, Mike Hobday sat in boardrooms at IBM, Barclays, Prudential and Atos - running transformation programmes worth millions, presenting on stage in front of hundreds of people - and never told a single person in that room he couldn't read the screen behind him. Not glasses. Not correctable. Partially sighted since birth. He kept it hidden until he was sixty. In this episode, Mike and I talk about what that secret cost him, what it taught him about carrying something private inside a career built on performance, and why he now believes AI is doing to every leader what his eyesight once did to him - exposing exactly what you've spent years learning to hide. This is The Power Within."

In this episode of The Power Within, I sit down with Mike Hobday - former IBM General Manager, former CEO of an AI company, transformation leader and executive coach - to explore why so many AI pilots stall, why agentic AI changes more than workflows, and why leaders need a clear North Star before people can follow them into the future.

But the conversation also becomes deeply personal.

Mike shares that he has been partially sighted since birth and kept it private at work until he was 60 - a remarkable story about vulnerability, confidence, identity and the masks people wear in professional life.

This is not just a conversation about AI.

It is a conversation about fear, leadership, trust and the human story people need when everything is changing.

Tune in for an inspiring conversation that will leave you equipped with the tools to lead with confidence, overcome obstacles and unlock The Power Within

email us at: [email protected]

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In this episode of The Power Within, Keith Power speaks with Quinn Harwood, also known as Coach Q, about adversity, identity, resilience and rebuilding after life takes an unexpected turn.

Quinn came within touching distance of the NBA, signing with the Los Angeles Clippers before a devastating injury changed everything. But that was only the beginning of his story. Years later, he would face another profound season of loss: career disruption, bankruptcy, relationship breakdown and the painful collapse of the life he had worked hard to build.

What followed was not an easy comeback story. It was a deeper journey of grief, faith, personal growth and transformation.

In this conversation, Quinn shares what it feels like to stand on the doorstep of a dream and lose it, why broken dreams can feel like grief, how adversity reveals our growth gaps, and why the hardest internal work often becomes the foundation for a more meaningful life.

Together, Keith and Quinn explore identity, limiting beliefs, spiritual growth, servant leadership, the six growth zones, and what it really means to discover your own power within.

Because adversity does not just test us.
It reveals us.

And what we do with that revelation is where growth begins.

In this episode:
NBA dreams and the injury that changed everything
The grief of losing an identity
How COVID became Quinn’s “casualty year”
Why growth gaps are revealed through adversity
The role of faith, coaching and personal responsibility
How pain can become purpose
Why leadership fails when self rises above service

Guest: Quinn Harwood, Coach Q
Host: Keith Power, The Leadership Philosopher
Podcast: The Power Within

Tune in for an inspiring conversation that will leave you equipped with the tools to lead with confidence, overcome obstacles and unlock The Power Within

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In this episode of The Power Within, Keith Power speaks with Alex Knight, founder and CEO of The Whisky Cask Club, about patience, conviction, trust and long-term thinking in a world obsessed with speed.

Alex’s business is built around whisky casks - a product that cannot be rushed. Unlike many fast-moving investments or volatile markets, whisky requires time, provenance, discipline and belief. You may have to wait years to find out whether you were right.

But beneath the whisky story is a much bigger leadership lesson.

Keith and Alex explore what it means to see value before it is obvious, how to build trust in a market many people do not fully understand, why integrity matters when selling alternative assets, and how patience can become a commercial advantage.

They also discuss the realities of entrepreneurship, the role of timing, the importance of provenance, the temptation to scale too quickly, and why some businesses are not built for fast exits -  but for long-term legacy.

In a world that rewards speed, visibility and immediate results, Alex’s story is a reminder that not everything of value reveals itself quickly.

Sometimes leadership means holding your nerve when everything tells you to move faster.

In this episode:
Alex’s unlikely path into whisky casks
Why whisky rewards patience and long-term thinking
How to build trust in an opaque market
The importance of provenance and third-party verification
Why integrity matters when growth is tempting
The difference between fast business and constant business
What whisky casks can teach us about leadership and legacy

Guest: Alex Knight, Founder & CEO, The Whisky Cask Club
Host: Keith Power, The Leadership Philosopher
Podcast: The Power Within

Tune in for an inspiring conversation that will leave you equipped with the tools to lead with confidence, overcome obstacles and unlock The Power Within

email us at: [email protected]

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What does it really take to build a luxury brand that lasts?

In this episode of The Power Within, I sit down with Simone Ng, founder of Simone Jewels, whose creations have been worn by global icons including Taylor Swift, Rhianna, Jenna Oretga, Katy Perry & Paris Hilton.

But this conversation goes far beyond jewellery.

We explore leadership, authenticity, entrepreneurship, confidence, trust, personal branding, and what it means to create something with real emotional connection and lasting value.

Simone shares how she turned creativity into a business, why storytelling sells more than products, how to lead with quiet conviction, and why success should never come at the cost of losing yourself.

A powerful conversation for entrepreneurs, founders, leaders, and anyone building something meaningful.

Topics include:

• Luxury brand building

• Leadership and personal growth

• Entrepreneurship vs corporate life

• Authentic leadership

• Women in business

• Building trust and confidence

• Personal branding and storytelling

• High-performance leadership

• Creating meaning through business

• Quiet conviction and self-leadership

“The product speaks louder than marketing.”  Simone Ng  

#ThePowerWithin #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #LuxuryBrand #PersonalBranding #WomenInBusiness #ExecutiveCoaching #Podcast #SimoneNg #LeadershipPodcast #BusinessGrowth #AuthenticLeadership #TaylorSwift #LuxuryJewellery #FounderStory

Tune in for an inspiring conversation that will leave you equipped with the tools to lead with confidence, overcome obstacles and unlock The Power Within

email us at: [email protected]

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Are we raising resilient children - or protecting them from the very challenges that would make them strong?

What if the greatest gift we can give a child isn’t safety… but preparation?

In this powerful episode of The Power Within, Keith Power sits down with Sebastian Bates, founder of the Warrior Academy, to explore how courage, discipline, and emotional intelligence can be developed from an early age - and why “black belt character” matters more than any title or trophy.

Sebastian shares his deeply personal journey - from being bullied as a child to surviving a life-altering base-jumping accident that left him paralysed. He reveals how resilience isn’t inherited - it’s built. Through community, language, leadership opportunities, and daily discomfort, children can develop the mindset to handle pressure, setbacks, and uncertainty.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• The 3 C’s of child development: Confidence, Conduct, Concentration
• How martial arts builds emotional regulation and discipline
• Why early leadership roles (even for 4-year-olds) build voice and presence
• Practical tools to help children manage exam stress without overprotection
• ADHD as a creative strength in entrepreneurship

We also explore Sebastian’s Bates Foundation and its global impact - combining character development with real-world service, delivering over a million meals annually to vulnerable children.

This is a masterclass in parenting, leadership, resilience, and raising courageous humans in a fragile world.

If you care about child development, mental strength, emotional resilience, martial arts, parenting under pressure, and building confident young leaders, this conversation is essential.

Tune in for an inspiring conversation that will leave you equipped with the tools to lead with confidence, overcome obstacles and unlock The Power Within

email us at: [email protected]

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A clip from the forthcoming episode with Geoff Howie, Market Strategist at Singapore Stock Exchange. Here he's talking about one of the most important things for a leader - INTEGRITY

Tune in for an inspiring conversation that will leave you equipped with the tools to lead with confidence, overcome obstacles and unlock The Power Within

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Pressure doesn’t create leadership - it exposes it.

When markets swing, certainty evaporates, and emotion runs hot, trust is either strengthened or destroyed.

In this episode of The Power Within, Keith Power sits down with Geoff Howie, Market Strategist for Equities and Fixed Income at the Singapore Exchange (SGX), to explore what real leadership looks like when volatility is the norm, not the exception.

Geoff takes us inside the mechanics of calm decision-making in financial markets and high-stakes environments. From treating volatility as a feature rather than a surprise, to using systematic investment processes like dollar-cost averaging to remove emotion, he explains how discipline and clarity protect credibility when information is incomplete.

We unpack:

• Leadership under pressure in uncertain markets
• Communicating risk without creating panic
• Why tone is a strategic leadership lever
• Framing mistakes and leading course corrections
• Building investor trust through transparency
• Dividend discipline and long-term value creation
• How curiosity fuels modern leadership in a digital, API-driven economy

Geoff shares powerful insights from the COVID era, balance sheet agility, and how mid-cap companies emulate blue-chip frameworks to create sustainable value. He also reveals the daily craft behind credibility at scale, from scanning high-quality information sources to translating complex macro drivers into language investors and executives actually understand.

One of the biggest lessons?

People remember how you made them feel far longer than any chart or data point. Empathy, restraint, and clarity are not “soft skills”  they are performance skills.

If you care about leadership in volatile markets, executive communication, investor confidence, and building trust when the stakes are high, this episode delivers practical tools you can apply immediately.

Tune in for an inspiring conversation that will leave you equipped with the tools to lead with confidence, overcome obstacles and unlock The Power Within

email us at: [email protected]

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What if the most valuable thing a leader brings isn’t an answer, but a better question?

In this conversation with the "Creativity Explorer" Frederick Haren, we delve into how curiosity, psychological safety, and small experiments shift leadership away from management-by-metrics and toward a living culture of everyday innovation.

We examine why speed, certainty, and control stifle creativity and how it revives when people may question, test, and iterate. Frederick shares the “golden paperclip” story of a missed billion-dollar idea, then introduces creative respiration: filtering inspiration, shaping experiments, and turning the strongest ideas into practice.

We also explore curiosity through language and culture. From cura as care, to the Bulgarian love of asking, Iceland’s idea of “before knowledge,” and the Swedish hunger for the new. Together, these reveal how good questions signal care, expand information, and sharpen vision. We discuss “bispective” thinking; seeing both sides of a system, and how it builds empathy and better decisions in sales, hiring, procurement, and even meetings.

You’ll leave with practical ideas you can use immediately. Swap scripts for genuine stories to role-model improvisation. Capture institutional wisdom through exit interviews. Break “industry incest” by borrowing patterns from other sectors. Can’t travel? Use AI to role-play different perspectives, take alternative routes through familiar places, and deliberately collect odd but useful inputs.

We also talk about opportunity and the doldrums. Catching the right wind means hoisting the sails. And why shifting your identity from expert to explorer makes you more present, more humble, and more effective.

If your team feels stuck in “how things have always been done,” this is your field guide to seeing differently and acting bravely. 

Subscribe, share it with a leader who needs a nudge, and leave a review with the one question you’ll ask your team this week.

Tune in for an inspiring conversation that will leave you equipped with the tools to lead with confidence, overcome obstacles and unlock The Power Within

email us at: [email protected]

Subscribe, share and leave a review to help others discover the show