Get to know Didrik Dahlström

I joined Ascend because I felt a need for more challenges and coaching from colleagues with great experience in this field of work. To get good at consulting, you depend on gathering mileage and knowledge. I believe the best way to do that is getting exposed to real challenges in projects with people around me who have significant experience and can coach, lead, and support me to succeed. That is what I feel Ascend can offer me. 

Before joining Ascend, I worked at another consulting firm where I gained experience from projects in or close to IT organizations, both in e-commerce and investment. Based on extensive research, I also learned the valuable lesson that four capabilities are necessary to build high-performing teams. The research shows it is not rocket science to make your team high performing – it is just a matter of patience and prioritization. But every journey has an end, and I could no longer see how to attain the experience I was looking for. Instead, it became the beginning of a new journey at Ascend, where I, from the first meeting, have been challenged and coached by utilizing and learning from the vast knowledge among my new colleagues.  

I am currently on a project where we are packaging and pricing value-adding products and services. I feel challenged in my role in the project team and working in a field I have never encountered before. To succeed, I have excellent support by having my team’s most experienced colleague always right beside me and a mentor close by to, on-demand, discuss and reflect on my actions in certain situations. This is where Ascend’s uniqueness is based, in the culture. Everyone at Ascend always wants to move forward, committing and making an impact. Not in an individualistic way as often might be the case in this field of work, but together, having fun. I believe there is great power in that. 

Even though you may not have noticed, I tend to become a bit philosophical when writing this kind of text. It triggers me to reflect on my situation and my current surroundings. All I can say is that I am quite happy where I am right now and looking forward to what challenges will appear next, knowing I have great colleagues always watching my back.