Motivation for the Headhunter

Despite what outsider’s opinions may be on headhunting, it is not as easy as they perceive it to be. My view on headhunting is that it’s a fast-paced, strategic, intuitive, sales gamble… that if played right brings grand rewards, not only financially, but also personally. The big question on most people’s minds, if not on yours….. is HOW? How does one play this headhunting game to receive the great rewards? My answer is simple: MOTIVATION!
In headhunting there are many obstacles in the road that have the potential to make one doubt one’s self in this fast-paced game. It could be that the spec is taking much longer to fill than expected; you simply cannot find your perfect candidate for the role; your client takes way too much time to give you feedback; your candidate receives a counter offer; your colleagues are distracting; disorganization is surrounding you and it may even be that your personal life is pulling you away from your focus and goals at work.
The first step to my simple answer is to stop and really take the time to analyze and identify exactly what your energy vampires are. Take the extra hour before or after work to do this. Write everything that is bothering you down, and find the main problems. Once you have identified the problems it is much easier to figure out where to begin, and where you currently stand.
One of the most imperative traits that an outstanding headhunter will encompass is SELF- CONFIDENCE. It is vital that you start to believe in yourself and most importantly to believe that you deserve to succeed in headhunting and in life. Start removing the negative self-beliefs that you hold and replace them with positive self-beliefs. The beliefs that you hold of your self are the foundation you set for all aspects of your life. Come to the realization that you may be setting unnecessary limits on yourself. If you are afraid of the phone and feel self-conscious about making those calls; that is a negative self-belief you are holding against yourself and will be the biggest obstacle to success. Headhunters love the phone!
Once you begin to change your negative beliefs into positive ones, the gratifications will be phenomenal! The trick, however, is to make this a continuous habit. In order to be kept on a confident and passionate path one needs reminders. There are many ways to keep your motivation going in the Executive Search world – purchase a pin board and pin inspiring pictures and phrases onto it; stick your affirmations up as a reminder of the positive self-beliefs you hold about yourself; fill in a blank cheque of the amount you would like to receive this year and pin it up; if you’re having trouble closing a certain placement go into a silent place and visualize what you would like the outcome to be and feel good about this; when travelling to work and back be sure to do your affirmations, listen to music that is positive and uplifts you or even better purchase motivational audio CD’s. When you’re at work be alert to your colleague’s commentary and don’t join in on negative spiraling conversations.
As Robin Sharma would say, “Achievers do what failures don’t” – make it your goal to be an achiever in the Executive Search industry. Don’t set unnecessary beliefs that limit your potential, always check in with yourself and lastly enjoy this fast-paced, strategic, intuitive, sales gamble because you deserve to be a success.