My transition from being an employee working FOR an organization to contracting as an independent agent or consultant working WITH an organization was an exercise of personal and professional authority. My credo with clients (and colleagues) was: I belong here at this point in time to deliver my skills and insights about change management which, if applied, will benefit the organization(s) more than the cost incurred.

This statement of belief in oneself becomes a framework by which one can negotiate the terms of fair compensation for the fair value of something proposed and done. As I discovered at each stage of my career, negotiation of these terms over time marked the client’s and my progress on the change management path we traveled together. Along the way, I found spiritual principles that formed the basis for this framework and gave it sufficient fractality and flexibility to apply it in social systems of widely varied structure, scale, and personality. More importantly, it bestowed upon me a confidence—an authority—to meet the demands of the moment and prevail undeterred.