Carl Bergström is the new CEO of Change of Lane!
It is with joy and pride that we present our new CEO Carl Bergström. He has the vision that Change of Lane will become a natural choice for both senior management consultants in their career choices, as well as for large-scale organizations and companies with complex challenges. In an interview led by founder Tomas Zarnoczy, Carl talks about Change of Lane’s goals and ambitions going forward.
Describe your background and thoughts on what you will bring to Change of Lane.
What I can bring to Change of Lane is over 20 years of experience in the industry, where I have been involved in developing various IT and management consulting companies with responsibility for sales, business development and management. I have also worked with both finding, retaining and developing talented and driven consultants for employment or as sub-consultants. In addition, I bring drive, energy and the ability to communicate with every part of an organization, from technicians to CxO’s in large-scale companies.
What is your vision and strategy for the company in the short and long term?
In the short term, we shall deepen and broaden our customer relations through an increased focus on business relations, contacts, personal relations and networking.
We will become a natural choice for both senior management consultants in their career choices as well as for large-scale organizations and companies with complex challenges to turn to in their ambitions to develop.
Change of Lane is characterized by its experienced, ambitious and driven consultants and the ambition to jointly find solutions to the customers’ challenges.
In short: we will be a very attractive employer and given cooperation partners to our customers.
What measures have you planned to take to strengthen the company’s competitiveness?
Our competitiveness is primarily strengthened by 3 initiatives:
- The development of offerings and best-practices to solve the type of complex problems that typically arise in connection with digitization and efficiency initiatives. It can include advice and leadership around Operational Models. Management and follow-up or managerial and key competencies for change work.
- Increase our delivery capacity, which is done by recruiting senior profiles but also continuing to build a quality-assured sub-consultant network that creates delivery depth but also increases the delivery breadth in our assignments.
- Further develop and refine the organizational model that the founders of Change of Lane developed just over a year ago, which promotes entrepreneurial drive, development and cooperation.
How will you promote and develop the corporate culture and collaborative climate within the organization?
Our core values are Caring, Professional, Engaged and Curious and I believe this is a good basis for describing how a friendly and at the same time competitive consulting organization should act and operate in the market.
What areas do you see as the company’s strengths, and how do you intend to build on them?
The company’s greatest strength is our committed, experienced and driven consultants with managerial and specialist skills. But almost as important is the know-how and structural and experience capital that exists in the company, which is constantly being developed and adapted to a constantly changing environment.
What challenges do you see for the company in the current market situation?
In current economy, it is easier to find talented management consultants, but it is a bit more challenging in terms of demand, especially in the Stockholm area. On the other hand, we are known for working with all kinds of changes, both when you need to consolidate and develop your businesses. Therefore, we are well positioned now and going forward.
A bigger challenge is that the market is very purchase-driven and therefore CV- and resource-oriented, which means that it is too one-sidedly focused on consultant profiles and CV requirements. Consultants must have extensive experience, but without the structural and experience capital that many management consulting companies and specialist companies can bring, customers risk not being able to realize the benefits of the change work.
What new markets or industries do you see as potential growth areas for the company?
The company has good potential to develop primarily within the Stockholm area, but as our customers are often international, I see that delivery capabilities outside of Stockholm and Sweden will be increasingly in demand.
How will you work to attract and retain talented employees within the organization?
We want to find consultants who want to join our development journey by offering competitive conditions, competence and experience networks and by offering challenging and developing assignments.
What role do you see for technology and digitization in the company’s future and how will you take advantage of these opportunities?
With modern techniques based on e.g. cloud services and AI that we ourselves have started to use in our business, we can develop Change of Lane and our offers and at the same time build additional capabilities to strengthen our customers’ businesses so that they can face their surroundings with modern and efficient tools.
How do you intend to promote innovation and creativity within the company?
It is promoted through creative forums and dialogues and also partly by incentives linked to innovation.
What measures will you take to ensure sustainability and social responsibility in the company’s operations?
Change of Lane strives to minimize our environmental footprint and be a forerunner in the CSR area, both within the company and for our customers.
What are you most looking forward to in your new role?
It is an honour and joy to work with such talented colleagues with the commitment and drive they show to develop themselves, Change of Lane and our customers’ businesses.
