Training and advisory, Malaysia

Grit Guts & Gusto Advisory

Training and advisory for leaders who have to deliver under pressure. Taught by someone who spent more than 20 years running airport engineering and projects at Malaysia Airports.

Ir. Ts. Dr. Bibi Sabrena Sakandar Khan
Ir. Ts. Dr. Bibi Sabrena Sakandar Khan, PMP®
Principal Advisor
"When a team brings resilience, courage and passion together, there is no challenge too great and no goal out of reach."
The mantra behind the five-year KLIA Aerotrain replacement, from business case to revenue service on 30 June 2025
What the name means

Grit, guts and gusto

The name comes from that mantra. Behind it sits sabr (صبر), the root of the name Sabrena: patience and perseverance, which is what grit looks like over five years.

Grit

Push through with what you believe is best, after weighing the risks and thinking two steps ahead.

Guts

Know when to step back and take time for the right decision, using intuition as well as logic.

Gusto

Keep the passion through the hard days, and celebrate each milestone with the team.

20+years at Malaysia Airports, across 32 airports
RM1.9 bilAerotrain and baggage system programmes led
~300engineering staff led at KLIA Terminals 1 and 2
RM27 mil+energy and operating cost savings delivered
Training programmes

Programmes built from real projects

Every programme uses real cases from airport and rail projects, with exercises participants apply to their own work. All run in English or Bahasa Melayu, in-house or public, and are HRD Corp claimable through partner training providers.

Flagship · 2 days

Grit, Guts & Gusto: Manoeuvring Crisis in Project Management

Read the real warning signs early, make decisions you can defend under pressure, and lead people and stakeholders through recovery. Ends with a live crisis simulation.

For middle to top management and project managers
Course outline
2 days

Strategic Thinking: Stop Firefighting, Start Foresight

Step back from daily firefighting, set clear priorities, test them against future scenarios and pitch them to management in two minutes.

For managers and heads of department
Course outline
1 day or half day

Conflict Management: Leading Stakeholders & Difficult Conversations

Keep the team focused under pressure, map stakeholders, and turn difficult conversations and supplier disputes into agreed actions.

For supervisors, project managers and client-facing staff
Course outline
2 days · In development

From Digitisation to Digitalisation: Start Small Project Management

Pick one small digital win, simplify the process first, and build a working tracker or dashboard with free tools.

For executives, engineers, operations and support teams
In development
Advisory services

Advice from the client side of the table

The same experience that goes into the training is available for project work.

  • Tender advisory and bid strategy for construction and infrastructure projects
  • Project governance and recovery reviews
  • Organisation design for project teams, based on the expertise each phase needs
About advisory

Principal Advisor

  • Project Director, KLIA Client Office (2020 to 2026). Led the RM700 million Aerotrain replacement through commissioning, regulatory approval and revenue service.
  • Brought the RM1.2 billion baggage handling system replacement to contract award after a five-year stall.
  • Head of Engineering, KLIA Terminals 1 and 2. Led nearly 300 staff with an annual operations and maintenance budget of about RM200 million.
Full profile →
In action

Training, speaking and project work

Planning training for your team?

Course outlines and training plans are ready for HRD Corp submission. Tell us about your team and we will suggest the right format.