Maintenance Maestros Podcast – Season 1: Ep 1
Hosted by: Melissa Teo, Senior Marketing Manager, Groundup.ai

Everyone in maintenance talks about uptime, cost savings, and mean time between failures. But when it comes to promotions, those metrics don’t tell the full story. According to Adrian Tan, General Manager at CBM Qatar, what gets you noticed isn’t how well you fix machines — it’s how well you lead people.

The Reality of Promotions: It’s About Soft Skills

When considering promotions in a large maintenance team (often 100-200 people or more), what gets the attention of top management?

You might be surprised to know that as much as people emphasize hard skills, it’s the soft skills that matter a little bit more.

Leaders aren’t just looking for the person who does the best fix or the best troubleshooting. They’re looking for alignment and attitude.

The Dragon Boat Mentality: Believe the Vision

Imagine a dragon boat setup: one person sets the direction, and the rest row. If just one person is out of sync, the entire team is compromised. To move the company forward, everyone must be synchronized and believe in the vision of the leader.

Adrian notes that a common and dangerous mindset is thinking you are better than your boss. People often say, “My boss can’t even fix this,” challenging a manager’s qualifications based only on technical ability.

These individuals, who constantly challenge and have a mindset of being “better than the boss” in hard skills, will unfortunately likely not move up the corporate ladder too much.

The Conductor vs. the Musician

To illustrate, Adrian uses the analogy of an orchestra. The conductor might not play the violin or the drums as well as the professional musicians, but he is the most important person. Why?

The conductor is able to take a step back and create a symphony out of everybody. He knows the strength and weakness of each player, and by orchestrating when each team comes into play, he turns individual noise into collective music.

What maintenance leaders look for are listeners, people who are:

• Well-liked and respected by the team

• Influential on the ground

• Believers in the vision who will help push the message to the rest of the team

This alignment with leadership is crucial for executing the overall vision.

How to Challenge a Leader Without Compromising Your Promotion

As a future leader, you can’t just be a “yes man.” Effective leaders need to be challenged. So, how do you speak up and out when you disagree without shutting down your leader’s idea?

There are 101 ways to put up a different view or perspective rather than saying “you are wrong.”

A good leader will appreciate the person who says: “I think this is good, but if we consider it from the other perspective, would this work?”

Instead of aggressively saying, “I think this idea is terrible,” you should:

1. Acknowledge the idea (“I hear you”)

2. Introduce an alternative perspective (“If you’re looking at it from the user point of view…”)

3. Offer a justification for your alternative. Don’t just shoot down the idea without a prepared answer

Leaders actually love to be challenged because they believe they are not always right. They appreciate those who tell them how they can be better.

Adrian emphasizes: Skills are actually secondary; attitude is hardened. Skills can be trained, but attitude is harder to change.

The Biggest Tip for Career Progression

There are two types of people in any team:

1. “When I get a promotion, I will do this and this and this.”

2. “I will do this and this and this, so I can get a promotion.”

Don’t wait to show leadership skills or initiative until you are promoted — that will never happen. You have to be willing to go the extra mile without being compensated for it first.

The Law of Sustainable Elevation

For those working hard on the floor every day, Adrian’s biggest advice is simple: Be positive. Positive energy is an aura; if your attitude, work quality, and performance are positive, positive things will come. It’s the law of attraction.

For those in a small leadership role (like a supervisor) who want to move up, think of it this way:

• Do not climb on the back of your team members. That is not sustainable. You will not get their support and you will not last long.

• Move everybody under you up. When your team member is lifted, they will naturally lift you up as well.

This sustainable progression reminds us of the saying: “The rising tide raises all the boats.” If you rise, rise together.

👉 Want to grow from technician to leader? Explore how Groundup.ai helps maintenance teams become data-driven leaders with our Cognitive Maintenance solution.

In Summary:

• Soft Skills Trump Hard Skills – Promotions aren’t about the best troubleshooter. They’re about alignment, attitude, and influence.

• The Dragon Boat & the Orchestra – Adrian’s two powerful analogies show how synchronized vision and orchestration build strong teams.

• How to Disagree Like a Leader – Speak up the right way: acknowledge → reframe → offer alternatives.

• The Law of Sustainable Elevation – Lift others to rise yourself. Don’t climb over your team; bring them up with you.

▶️ Watch the series here: https://groundup.ai/podcast/