Confessions of a Headhunter

The expression “headhunter” is generally a pejorative term to describe an executive recruiter, not unlike the expression “quack” to describe a doctor, or “ambulance chaser” to describe a type of lawyer. There are some executive recruiters who are genuinely deserving of the title “headhunter” while there are others who exemplify all the qualities of the consummate search professional. Unfortunately, executive recruiters or “headhunters” do not generally enjoy the same prestige as other professionals such as lawyers, doctors, accountants, or architects, and our profession is comparatively young and generally very misunderstood. There is a dichotomy between executive recruiters and employment agencies, with the former retained by a corporation or organization to find a specific executive or manager, and the latter endeavouring to find jobs for specific individuals who come to them seeking employment, for which they are generally paid on a contingency basis – contingent upon the placement of a warm body. The clients who I have served cover the broadest range of personalities from the truly inspiring, principled, strategic, and consummate professionals to the genuinely eccentric, highly political, or even diabolical, and everything else in between. With many of our clients, and indeed, with many of the candidates who we interview, we have been privy to the most confidential information, and our discussions are akin to that of a confessional. There have been many occasions when the CEO of an organization has shared more confidential information with his / her recruiter than he / she has done with his number two or number three IC. Indeed, an insecure CEO is often reluctant to admit some weaknesses or vulnerabilities to some of his direct reports for fear that this could be used against him by an exceedingly ambitious subordinate. It is this type of discrete relationship that a former Prime Minister referred to as the “sacred trust”.Among the 10,000 or so candidates who I have interviewed over the years I have met every personality type from the intellectual giants and charismatic leaders to the intellectually challenged and crashing bores, one of whom had the distinction of putting me to sleep, and when I awakened with a jolt, I discovered that he was still talking in his monotone voice (and yes, he was an Accountant). I have seen examples of genuine elegance and dignity and some of the most egregious examples of opportunism and aberrant behaviour. A case in point relates to a senior financial executive who had accepted a very lucrative employment offer from one of our clients as its CFO, and on the day before he was to join our client, they learned on the evening news that he had been promoted within his existing organization. He never had advised his existing employer that he had intended to leave, nor did he advise us of his subsequent promotion. When I finally tracked him down and confronted him about this, he declared that he wanted to “fall on my sword” to which I responded by saying that I would be happy to supply the sword. What follows in this book is a chronology of jobs and experiences which helped to explain how I entered the world of executive recruitment. This is followed by a series of observations and anecdotes about my over 30 years in executive search. These “confessions” are understandably anonymous so as to protect the innocent and the not so innocent. Each chapter is written as a vignette for readers who might suffer from literary ADD.