The DNA of a real change maker is learning to love opposing views
Design your
own career
There’s no set of defined ingredients for success
How you progress at Implement and what level you reach for, is for you to decide. Often in combination with your leader, who is chosen by you, and who is there to guide you to become everything you aim to be.
One myth we feel needs busting is that there’s a certain way to look and behave if you’re consultant. At Implement, there isn’t. There’s no set of defined ingredients, no recipe for success. We just want you to be able to bring the whole of you to work, which means you as a person, not as a CV or list of qualifications.
Your edge. Your expertise. Your authenticity. In short, the best possible version of everything that makes you you.
We asked a few colleagues what that actually means for them and how they have crafted their own career path.
Kitesurfing fuels my career
Jacob Peterson, working with leadership and organisational development
“I’ve worked at Implement since 2012, and once a year, I travel for 1-2 months to pursue my greatest passion, wave kitesurfing.”
“I cannot imagine a better place than Implement to combine my need for a highly dynamic workplace and freedom and flexibility in life. You get the opportunity to pursue your passions in both your professional and private life. For all of this to work, you have to do even more of what you already do: be proactive, communicate closely with your team and take responsibility for providing value with clients. The only challenge is that nobody seems to have done this before. However, in my experience, it’s almost like leaving work on a Friday and coming back on the following Monday.”
“I need kitesurfing to stay hungry in all other domains of life. A proven way of fuelling the passion for one’s professional career is to let other passions flourish alongside it. Taking time off to do something else, get new influences and create new experiences means that I return to work with renewed energy and hunger. And that’s historically when I’ve actually managed to succeed with my biggest professional achievements!”
“Since my family and I tend to kitesurf in Cape Town, South Africa – which is in the same time zone as Scandinavia – it’s very easy to work offsite and keep client discussions alive. To make this work I either take responsibility for having invoiceable projects during summer, so that I can take holiday at another time of the year or I take a leave of absence.”
“All in all, I get to combine my passion for learning and my need for action at Implement – both in client engagements and when I’m off recharging on the waves.”
Appointed partner at age 32 while on maternity leave – Mette is a professional guiding star
Mette Dreisler Dirac, working with public digital transformation
This text was originally brought as an article in the Danish newspaper Berlingske.
Mette Dreisler Dirac is one of the youngest female partners at Implement Consulting Group. As an adviser, she has helped private companies as well as public authorities with handling threats relating to cyber and information security.
Despite her young age, 34-year-old (in 2022) Mette Dreisler Dirac has already led a number of ambitious transformation projects for authorities as well as Danish and international companies.
She is a partner in Implement Consulting Group’s Digital Transformation team.
For the past six months, she has been stationed in New Caledonia located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, approximately 2,000 kilometres from Australia. Here, a global producer of nickel has implemented an IT transformation with Mette Dreisler Dirac at the helm.
Jørgen Østergaard Langebek, senior partner at Implement Consulting Group, writes in his nomination of Mette’s talent: “As responsible for the project, Mette has via new technologies ensured the digital foundation for the company to convert to a greener and more sustainable production of nickel, a material that is used in the production of e.g. batteries and electric cars. Mette has also been responsible for developing the company’s strategy for cyber and information security so that the company is more resilient to digital threats.”
Mette has worked at Implement Consulting Group for five years and holds an MSc in Political Science from Aarhus University.
When Mette Dreisler Dirac went on maternity leave in 2020, she thought she had put her ambitions as a leader on a hold. However, she was offered the position as partner while she was home on maternity leave with her first child.
“As one of the youngest female partners, she is a good example that it is possible for young women to get to the top in an otherwise rather male-dominated advisory industry – especially in IT. She brings focus to diversity in the consulting industry, and she speaks openly about challenges and possibilities in relation to being young, female, a mother and a partner at a consultancy”, Jørgen Østergaard Langebek says.
As an adviser, Mette Dreisler Dirac has contributed to the way that private companies and public authorities have strengthened their joint resistance to new cyber and information security threats, which is also mentioned in the nomination.
I wanted to press pause and do something completely different
Michael Leck, working with operations strategy
“Working at Implement for 18 years, I’ve seen the company grow from just 25 employees to over 800 today, and I’ve always found it to be a flexible place. The freedom to do something different, if you so wish, has always been there. After a decade at Implement, I spent a year and a half away, combining globetrotting with an MBA in International Management. I sold my car and my apartment, as well as my shares in the company, and I reduced my monthly salary significantly. I think it’s challenging but also healthy to do something completely different for a longer or shorter period in your life. I wanted to do something so I would be stimulated in a completely different way than in a ‘normal Implement year’. Of course, there is a consequence of making the choice I did, but it gives so much more on the other end.”
“I was very open and honest about what I wanted, when I approached Niels Ahrengot with my idea. I didn’t want to leave Implement – I just wanted to press pause and have the option of experiencing something else for a while. We agreed that I could still support the company from a distance and make use of my MBA in conceptual development areas. In that way, I could build a bridge between Implement and my time on the outside. And we found a model that was fair for all parties.”
“Professionally, this experience has given me invaluable insights, particularly through experiencing the American educational system. It was inspiring to draft solutions and cases with global leaders in the field and see top professors teach in a way that’s so different to what I was used to. And at the same time, it was incredible to get the confirmation that the thoughts and methods at Implement are very special. It’s only when you see it from the outside that you really begin to understand the power of the Implement mindset.”