Flea
Charles Handy in his book “The Elephant and the Flea” uses the analogy to describe the relationship between individuals (the fleas) and multi-national conglomerates (the elephants).

I’ve been fortunate to spend time inside multi-national conglomerates as well as being a partner in our own medium sized business.

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“When you receive a salary, you are being paid for your time and that the organisation owns your time. When you work as a ‘Flea’, you are being paid for your services regardless of your time.”
- Charles Handy

More recently I fit more accurately the description of a flea, working as a free-agent, sometimes on my own, sometimes together with others in alliances and partnerships and sometimes back inside conglomerates, but now as a facilitator, executive coach and scenario planner rather than an employee.