Have been in dozens of organizations as a consultant, and it gives you a powerful meta view of how teams work and org dynamics that is not possible any other way. However, the skills needed to operate in an environment where you have to see and deal with the same people every day for 5+ years are very different from those required to provide value as a consultant.
Being an indie outdoor cat and being a big-5 employee are very different as well.
Definitely agreed. Fortunately, many consultants are looking for exactly that kind of exit, and it is easier to train a consultant with lots of diverse experience how to operate in that environment than it is to teach an FTE with 10+ years experience how to understand an industry at a macro-level
There are also many consultants on multi-year engagements that already have this experience.
Being an indie outdoor cat and being a big-5 employee are very different as well.