About Us

Transform To Ascend

Who We Are

Ascend is a boutique talent strategy and leadership development consultancy. We’ve been working globally in the field of behavioural change for over a decade, across all industry sectors. Our complementary areas of expertise are leadership development, building successful teams & executive coaching.

Based in the Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai, London & Muscat, we are entrenched in the culture and landscape of the countries we operate in, through our regional know-how and our wide network of faculty that possess diverse backgrounds and global expertise.

We work internationally to create stronger people, teams, and businesses. We specialise in getting people and businesses to where they need to be – firmly, confidently and for the long term.

What We Value

Crash through silos

We work with your teams to tear down obstacles and take on board new mindsets and skills by creating environments where challenges can be tackled head on. Our work is to reveal the strengths of your people and build team spirit.

Challenging convention

Working in a fast-moving, ever-changing commercial landscape demands resilience, breadth of skills and agility to retain influence and drive business growth. It’s a tall order! We believe in changing perspective from the top down, to create impact at every level of the organisation and the way you view your potential, that of your team and most importantly, your organisation.

Working together

Our process is wholly collaborative, supporting you at every step. It's our ability to work together that enables us to get to know your teams, break down silos, and create an environment that enhances collaboration and productivity.

Transforming Organizations into Performance Powerhouses

Agile Blended Learning

This approach is flexible and keeps people at the center of learning. It combines virtual sessions, face-to-face interactions, coaching, and action learning.

Forensic Problem Diagnosis

Psychometric tools are used to identify the root causes of problems. The right tools, frameworks, and models are then selected to match individual needs.

Experiential & Interactive Programs

The sessions are immersive, engaging, and designed to encourage reflection. They also promote dialogue and collaboration within teams.

Practical & Real-World Focus

The solutions provided are pragmatic and actionable. The focus is on addressing core challenges effectively.

“My coaching with Ascend has given me more confidence in myself and had a major impact on my performance within my current role. My coach was excellent at breaking things down and getting outcomes for me in a way I can achieve. I found my coach to be much more personal, with a real focus on me and a desire to build a lasting relationship rather than a supplier / customer engagement. Overall, my Ascend coach provided a very professional service that gets results.”

— Group Chief Technology Officer, Insurance Services

“Our session regarding Resilience provided an easily accessible and actionable toolkit to help business leaders manage themselves and their teams more effectively. Ascend presents with a simple and engaging human energy which encourages active participation. Good core drills and skills as well as reflection points.”

“My Ascend coach has added a lot of value into my professional journey. I thoroughly appreciated the fact that I could say anything and trust that it will be viewed in confidence and with an eye to help me improve. My coach has the ability to see through me not only as a professional coach but also beyond my body language and energy. My coach was very focused in their approach, results orientated and acknowledged emotional intelligence. Improving myself has made me more grounded, focused, and empathetic towards my team.”

— Group Senior Vice President, Multinational Telecommunications Services Provider

“With Ascend, there is a real investment in time for the people and the team they are working with: their only focus and priority at that time is that/those individuals. They are professional and have the ability to interact at all levels of the business and they are fun to work with too.”

— Chief Organisation and Development Officer, Defence Engineering Company

“This is the first time I have had a true partnership with a trusted advisor who was a great sounding board for ideas around how to evolve our leadership development approach. Ascend has co-created programmes with us which work with our population, logistics and budgets. They bring a flexibility and innovative thinking to the table and really work on the problem with us to find great solutions. I know that the service and programmes we are getting are world class and will be brilliantly delivered. I never worry about how participants will react to the programmes as I know it will be well received and that Ascend will work to ensure all participants get value.”

— Chief People Officer, Global Defence Industry

“We have partnered with Ascend to use their High Potential Diagnostic tool. We’ve chosen to use it as our framework for differentiating between individuals in our talent pool (from the lens of potential), helping show where we have individual development opportunities and, when viewed in groups, where common themes and future behaviour gaps might be.

The tool helps our leaders avoid simply scoring people and instead considers people on a continuum of skill level in each of the categories in the tool. This allows us to focus in on the quality of our assessment, not just picking a number.

Without this tool, we would not be able to prioritise our talent development activities across our talent pools with as much effectiveness and confidence of success, it’s a key tool in our Talent Toolkit.”

— Head of People Development, Global Defence Industry

“Ascend’s down-to-earth approach has the ability to build and manage relationships with relevant stakeholders (coachees, managers, feedback providers, decision-makers), communicate in a straightforward and effective way, and have a real impact with their clients.”

— HR Business Partner, Sovereign Wealth Fund

“Ascend understands the world of HR and the work they have done has been very thought provoking and impactful. The learning experiences are of high quality, are experiential and practical.

Ascend’s flexible approach made us feel that they were working as an extension of the team, rather than an external vendor. They focus on the learners to support them to achieve their objectives as opposed to just delivering them. It’s great to work with someone you trust and it has been really easy to partner with Ascend. The quality of the work is top notch.”