I recently shared on LinkedIn about an interesting question I was asked.

“As a consultant, how do you get invited back, especially if you’ve documented a lot of findings in an audit?” 

The assumption behind this question is an interesting one – that the number of findings somehow determines whether a client wants to see you again.

Pushback happens in almost every audit or consulting engagement.

If you had told the 29-year-old version of me that the people sitting next to me in an IT office in 1998 would still be part of my professional world in 2026, I would have laughed. And yet, here we are at our Christmas party last year. Five of us – my husband (yes, I married one of them!), three contractors, and me. We all met in 1998.

Most ISO professionals say they’re not there to catch people out. But they never reset the power dynamic out loud.

For years, I carried a notebook everywhere with me. It was at work, sitting beside my keyboard. It was in my handbag when I went out for coffee. It lived in the car. If an idea came to me, it went straight into that notebook.

Most ISO professionals weaken their influence before the conversation even starts.