When I rejected an offer for employment as engineering director represented by an executive search firm in 2001, the MD of that firm tried to recruit me to join their own team. Having grown up within a family of scientists, I naturally followed this career path and performed reasonably well. I won the Royal HK governor ’s invention award at the age of 26 and became the regional engineering director by the age of 33. The thought of becoming a headhunter had never occurred to me. However, I was touched by what he said: “If you were a headhunter, you can change people’s life in a good way. There are not many jobs you can impact people’s life so quickly and directly”. I discussed his offer with my husband Tony Dickel who was the owner of MRI franchiser in greater China at that time. He didn’t think it was good idea as I had never sold anything in my life; I was a very sincere, straightforward and principle driven person with great analytical skills, problem solving ability but had never put such traits to practice in the commercial world. I finally decided to accept the offer from this search firm simply because my darling husband said I could not make it. Unfortunately, when I disclosed the fact that my husband is Tony, the search firm withdrew their offer. Tony probably saw my potential and chose to support me on this endeavor. On Aug 1st, 2001, I took the job receiving one third of my previous salary along with a headstrong mood thinking “Hey, I am here now to change people’s life in good way!”

2001年，我拒绝了某猎头公司给我的一个工程总监的offer。不久之后，那个猎头公司的老总邀请我加入猎头行业。在此之前，我从来没有想过去从事猎头工作。我成长在一个科学家的家庭，所以很自然地走着这条路，而且颇有建树。26岁时，我就获得了皇家香港政府颁发的发明奖，33岁时，就成为了一家OEM的亚太地区工程总监。然而，那个老总的话打动了我，“如果你成为一个猎头，你可以快速和直接地改善人们的生活, 能做到如此的工作并不多。”我的丈夫Tony Dickel当时是MRI大中华区的特许经营人，我和他商量转做猎头的事，Tony觉得我这辈子从没卖过任何东西，我个性真诚、直接、讲原则，善于分析和解决问题，但从未从事过商务工作，所以他认为我不合适做猎头。或许是因为不想我亲爱的丈夫看轻我，我最后决定接受这份挑战。可惜当对方知道Tony是我丈夫--他们的竞争对手时，他们决定收回offer。 最终或许Tony屈服于我的决心，2001年8月1日，我拿着之前工作三分之一的薪水，带着“我来改善人们生活的”坚定信念加入了MRI。

After the initial excitement from a new challenge started to wear off, I began to recognize it was not what I thought. Tony warned me many times but I just ignored him as usual until it became unmistakable, I had gotten into the sales business. As an engineer, I had been trained to tell our internal customers what the potential problems are and people tended to believe what they heard. It was due to this approach to the industry, I suffered very badly. I had broken all MRI’s worst records; one example sending out 28 candidates’ profiles to a client and not even earning a single interview. After 5 months in the business, I was still unable to secure a placement. I had lost all my superiority and confidence, in sincerity, the only thing kept me in the business was the lack of desire to give my husband the satisfaction of being right.

没过多久，新挑战带来的刺激开始慢慢消逝，我开始意识到猎头并非我想象的那样有使命感。虽然Tony曾不断告诫我，猎头做的是销售工作，然而我却一如既往地忽视他的意见，直到事态发展到几乎不可收拾。作为一个工程师，我的工作是把潜在的问题告诉我的内部客户，由于我的专业权威，内部客户也自然会听取我的建议。开始做猎头时，我依旧采用同样的方法，把候选人的潜在问题告诉客户，可能正因如此，让我大大受挫。有一次我给了客户28个候选人的简历，结果对方连一个面试的机会都没有给。整整五个月过去了，我连一个单子都没成。我几乎打破了MRI所有人员的最差记录。我的优越感和自信心荡然无存，唯一让我坚持下来的是我不想让Tony有机会说：你看，我说过你不适合这行的。

At this point, I went in to survival mode. I dropped all my shortcuts and started what I label the scientific phase of my recruitment career. I had learnt that it is only with proper planning that a person can achieve the required level of activity needed when gathering the information we need to become “knowledge workers” and move closer towards becoming masters of the market. I made it my goal to work out the daily activities I had to achieve; making sure the plan for the next day was ready before leaving every day.

在那个时候，我开始进入“生存模式”，我放弃了所有捷径开始了“科学阶段”。我意识到唯有合理计划才有可能收集到合适的信息并成为一个“知识型员工”，才有可能参与猎头工作的不同阶段，从而有机会成为把握市场的人。于是我开始合理安排每天的具体工作内容，每天下班前安排好第二天的工作。

My typical daily activities at that time were：
- 9:00 – 9:15 Check the email and modify the plan
- 9.15 – 10:15 Present the candidate MAPPING
- 10:15 – 11.45 Client development
- 11.45 – 12.00 Return calls /Email
- 12.30 – 1.30 Lunch
- 1.30 – 2.00 Return calls/Reference Checking/Email 
- 2:00 – 4:45 Candidate development
- 4.45 – 5:00 Return calls
- 5:00 – 5:30 Email
- 5:30 – 6:00 Plan

那个时候，我的一天是这样安排的：
- 9:00 – 9:15 查邮件、调整计划
- 9.15 – 10:15 向客户介绍候选人搜寻进展
- 10:15 – 11.45 开发客户
- 11.45 – 12.00 回复电话和邮件
- 12.30 – 1.30 午餐
- 1.30 – 2.00 回复电话和邮件，做背景调查
- 2:00 – 4:45 搜寻候选人
- 4.45 – 5:00 回复电话
- 5:00 – 5:30 处理邮件
- 5:30 – 6:00 计划（第二天的工作）

I did spend more time to do research and learn industry during the evening time.

除此之外，晚上我还会再花些时间做调研，学习行业知识。

科学阶段

Scientific Phase:

To elaborate on what I call the ‘Scientific phase, in this phase you may not have strong industry knowledge and rich talent market knowhow, 
- it is likely you would use transactional / “product Sale” ``approach
- You would feel it is all a numbers-game upon which you need to create and make as many “relevant” conversations and “Information gathering” sessions as possible. It could be very stressful…as you feel you are like a machine. 
- You would feel you are not in control of the process, to not be in control of your self- confidence/competence. You are not sure about the “worth” of your service - You feel you are playing verbal ping pong with your clients /candidates.
- You tend to be “over-eager” to sell… have the tendency to put the “prescription” before the “diagnosis” , you have few anecdotes to share which would help to “position” yourself in conversation
- “Failure to plan” is the same as “Planning to Fail” at this stage.

在这个阶段，你或许没有很强的行业知识，对候选人的了解也不全面。
- 你很可能会采用交易或“产品销售”的方法；
- 你感到你必须创造尽量多的可以让客户以及候选人交流的机会，尽可能多地收集相关信息，你可能感到自己像一台机器并且感到压力重重；
- 你可能会感觉你对事情的发展没有掌控力，你对自己的能力不是很有信心，对自己服务的价值有所怀疑；
- 你会感觉你和客户和候选人在进行来来回回的乒乓球式的对话；
- 你可能会过度销售，在“诊断”前就“开药”，由于缺乏故事的积淀，你很难在谈话中把握好自己的定位；
- 在这个阶段，没有很好的计划就相当于你正在计划着走向失败。

With all the limitations at this phrase, I pressed on and managed to make my first placement within a month. Feeling on top of life, I was chastised though; I had been paid only USD 6,000 for a position worth USD 200,000 due to poor contract management. I learnt my lesson the hard way but, had secured my first placement.

虽然面临上述一大堆的自我怀疑及客观的瓶颈，我仍然坚持着，终于在一个月内完成了第一单业务。我感觉好得不得了，但是由于合同签订欠妥，一个年薪20万美元的职位，我却只收到6千美元的服务费。我在完成我的第一单的同时，也学到了另一个教训。

For lots of recruiters who have not yet worked within a specific industry relevant to their practice, I believe you cannot proceed to the “transitional phase” without first passing through the ‘Scientific Phrase”. The good news is that if you approach the scientific phrase with an appropriate amount of energy, hunger, resourcefulness and desire to win without taking shortcuts, you will approach the transitional phrase within 9-12 months. This is much less time than it takes to become a knowledge worker in just about any other profession, yet what we do is just as valuable. At the same time, the financial return as a recruiter is great…

对于许多猎头来说，如果没有行业经验，“科学阶段”是必经之路。如果你有足够的精力、饥渴、灵活性、获胜的欲望、不走捷径的精神，你可以在9 到12个月内完成“科学阶段”的累积，进入“过渡阶段”。 花9到12个月成为一个“知识型员工”，要比其他任何一个职业花的时间要短得多，但别忘了我们做的事情和其他职业一样有价值，同时，作为猎头，收入回报巨大。

2003 was the third year I worked in recruitment. Due to the SARS, all the big billers in the banking and financial sector had suffered badly. As I was working in the industrial and manufacturing sector, I was not affected so much. Through perseverance and luck, I became the number 1 biller in MRI Asia Pacific; it was the first time an Asian had achieved such a feat. It felt wonderful being invited to the MRI annual top 200 biller conference in Hawaii. There, I noticed how new I still was. With many people billing over 1 million USD per annum, I listened to a crowd filled with an array of useful hints, tips and strategies. I felt it was time to take things to the next level.

2003年是我踏入猎头的第三年。SARS导致银行、金融的大腕顾问遭到了重挫。由于我专注的是工业、生产领域，影响没有那么大。在我的不断努力下，加上一些运气，我成为了MRI亚太区业绩排名第一的顾问，这也是一个亚洲人首次获得这样的成绩！我也因此荣幸受邀参加了MRI在夏威夷举办的全球业绩前200名顾问的大会。 在夏威夷，我感到自己在行业里还是个新手。听着身边众多年百万美元业绩同僚们分享的窍门、技巧、策略，我觉得应该还能再上一层楼。

过渡阶段

Transitional phase

At this phase, you would feel
- Your interest goes from survival to almost academic, expressing a hunger for extra knowledge. You start to build genuine relationship with your clients and candidates as a trusted advisor. You become skilled in probing for any issues both with the candidate and the client (as opposed to the verbal ping pong mentioned in the previous phase) 
- You became more service minded. Able to stay very calm when pressed by a customer challenge; you find yourself looking for deeper partnerships instead of “deals”
- You start to develop your personal signature moving away from pre-scripted chats into a natural flow but always with a goal in mind. 
- You should always have a call-plan listing the goals and objectives to be met. 
- You can relate and understand the true needs of a customer and a candidate instead of what you believe they should be thinking anticipating any resistance or emotions along the way. 
- The time spent on mandates should be shared equally with presenting good candidates to different clients. Free money starts to be won.
- You find out the cold calls made during the Scientific Phase, if properly conducted, start to become the basis for warm calls during the Transition. 
- Plan is still the important element for your success

在这个阶段，你会有如下感觉：
- 你渴望更多的知识，你的兴趣开始转向偏专业化的行业内情。你开始以一个值得信任的顾问的角色开始和客户以及候选人建立真诚的关系。你在和他们交谈时，能够很有技巧地对很多事情切中要点 （不同于“生存阶段”的乒乓球式的对话）；
- 你变得更有服务意识。在受到客户挑战时，你仍然保持冷静。同时，你和客户的关系已经不仅仅是生意往来，而是更深的合作关系；
- 你已经不需要去预先准备说辞，相反，你心中的目标很清晰，你的交谈变得行云流水，开始形成自己独特的风格；
- 当然， 你始终需要准备一个电话销售计划，并且把你的目标清楚地列出来；
- 在整个搜寻过程中，你能了解客户和候选人的真实需求，你不会去揣摩他们该怎么想，相反，在大多数情况下，你完全有能力预计他们的情绪变化或者可能出现的言行；
- 将时间有效地分配给众多客户，为他们提供优质的候选人；这个时候，就会开始出现不必花多少力气就能赚到钱的情况；
- 此时，在“科学阶段”打的陌生拜访电话(cold call)如果处理得体就会变成“温暖”拜访电话；
- 仍要根据你个人的目标坚持有计划的工作。

With this approach, I maintained the position as one of the top 3 billers within the APAC region for 5 years since 2003. To this point, I had always been a sole biller as it made for a simple life with munificent financial gain. However, I began to feel unfulfilled, especially when I saw others suffering from the mistakes as I did before. I started to think what I could do to help them.

我坚持着这样的工作方法，也连续五年名列亚太地区个人业绩前三名。那五年里，我作为一个独立的顾问，过着简单的生活，拿着丰厚的报酬。然而，我开始觉得少了点什么，特别是当我看到其他同事犯着我以前相同的错误的时候，我开始想我能如何帮助他们。

By the end of 2007, one of my colleagues had relocated to Hong Kong from China and two consultants in HK were given up by their managers, they asked me to be their leader. I accepted the challenge and ended up taking what has proven to be my best decision within MRI. I have learnt to become a very capable trainer, facilitator and coach. Through mutual respect and understanding, I had learnt as much from my team as they had learnt from me reinforcing my own leadership knowledge at every step. With a team built from orphans abandoned by others, we became the Number 1 billing team in 2008 in MRI Asia Pacific. All my team members became leading consultants within their own sectors. I began to notice how happy it made me when I saw others growing and recognized that, sometimes giving can bring tremendous joy when compared to taking. It triggered me to form the next phase of my career as both a recruiter and a leader.

正好那个时候（2007年年底），我的一个同事从大陆转到了香港，两个香港公司的顾问因为他们的老板被开除而面临被“放弃”的危险。他们三个人一起邀请我带他们。于是，我接受了带领团队的挑战，从三人团队开始了我猎头管理者的生涯。 现在看来这是我在MRI所做的最好的决定。我开始学习成为一个能干的管理人、培训者、引导者、教练。通过我和我的团队的相互尊重和理解，我们互相学习到了许多东西，我也脚踏实地增强了我的领导力知识。就这样，这个由“孤儿”们组成的团队成为了2008年亚太区业绩第一的团队，我的每个队员都成为了他们所在工业领域的领先者。我开始体会到当我看到别人成长时我是多么的快乐；我意识到有时候给予比索取能获得更多的快乐。这个时候我也开启了身兼猎头和领导者的新的阶段 – 艺术阶段。

艺术阶段：市场专家、领导者

Artistic Phase – Market Mastery and a leader!

- You have good self-awareness – able to be yourself and be honest about your own strengths and weaknesses and Knowing your activity ratios. You are hungry for feedback (from bosses, peers, subordinates, clients and candidates) and begin to build a team. 
- You have learnt self-regulation and discipline in order to cultivate yourself and your team’s emotional balance. You no longer worry about the results as you know if you have done what you could, you can let the result flow as matters were out of your control. You don’t worry about what you take because; you know that when you give, the return will come sometime, someday. 
- You are in control – you have options allowing you to work based on high fee assignments only; Customers and candidates include you in the process as you are seen to be vital for success. 
- You make the numbers work for you. There is little need to fight the numbers as you know how to maximise profit per unit of time and how to leverage resources. You actively solicit training, coaching and mentoring and actively coach, mentor and train others – involved and engaged. 
- You have become the expert of the market you operated, you are thinking of givingbenefits to the clients and candidates before yourself. You are a “trusted advisor” to both parties. Expert at providing tailored proposals with options and explaining service levels in a way to get the right result.
- Clients bring you in at an EARLY STAGE within the cycle and you become the custodian (or at least informant) of the client’s employer brand!
- You build a team and aid the development of others becoming not just a thought leader in your practise.

- 你有很好的自我认知，你以本色展现自己，你了解自己的优势和弱势，你知道如何计划好各种工作内容。你渴望来自各方面（老板、同僚、下属、客户、候选人）的反馈并开始建立团队；
- 你开始懂得如何管理自我以及如何自律，从而更好地培育你和你团队的情绪平衡。你知道只要你已经尽你所能，事情自会发展到其应有的阶段，所以你不会总是担心结果。你不再想着什么时候可以获得什么，你只知道因为已经有了付出，回报迟早会来的；
- 你可以选择专注服务费较高或更有潜力的项目，因为你的客户和候选人希望你参与，在他们看来，你是项目成功的关键因素之一；
- 你不需要花精力去争取你在项目里的分红。你知道如何将利润最大化，如何利用各种资源。你积极地获取培训、教练、辅导资源，同时你不断地培训、教练、辅导其他人，使得团队充满凝聚力；
- 你在你的服务领域是个专家，你把客户和候选人的利益放在自己的利益之上，你是双方值得信赖的顾问。你能为客户量身定制灵活的方案，让客户理解你的服务，可以达成满意的结果；
- 客户会在项目很早期就请你参与，你也会成为客户雇主品牌的推广者，甚至拥护者；
- 你不仅在你的领域是个专家，同时你建立团队并协助他们成长，成为一个真正的领导者。

In 2008, to be able to support my team, peers, clients and candidates in a more systematic manner, I started my journey to learn executive coaching, leadership development and facilitation. I became certified as a coach and facilitator in 2010. One of my coaching specialties is on boarding coaching. We all know how much support a person needs during their career transition period. Through coaching, I help candidates to remove the uncertainties and accelerate their on boarding transformation. It is a great value added service for client, candidate and us as well.

2008年，为了更好、更系统地支持我的团队、同僚、客户、候选人，我开始学习高管教练，领导力发展和引导技能。2010年，我成为了一个认证的教练和引导师 。在做教练时，入职教练是我擅长的领域之一。一个职场人士很需要在职业过渡期获得支持，我帮助候选人排除入职阶段时碰到的不确定感，从而加速入职过程。这对客户、候选人、猎头公司都是一个增值的服务。

After nearly 12 year’s career operating within the executive search business, I have been through these three phases in a roundabout fashion a few times. Within today’s dynamic market, you are not able to stay at the artistic phase all the time no matter how good you are, it is highly probable at some point, you will need to go back to the transitional phase or even scientific phrase if needs be. You have to keep watching your cheese and improving yourself all the time. As a matter of fact, the more knowledge you have, the more unknowns become apparent around you.

在我12年的高端猎头职业生涯里，我不止一次经历过上述三个阶段的循环历练。在这个飞速发展的环境下，不管你多么优秀，你都不可能长期处在“艺术阶段”，很有可能你需要回到“过渡阶段”甚至“科学阶段”并再次达到“艺术阶段”。你需要不断地盯着你的“奶酪”，不断地自我提升。实际上，你知道的越多，你会发现你所不知道的领域就越广阔。终身学习是我们不断成长所需要坚持的。

At this stage of my life, my passion is helping and supporting people’s positive change and if possible raise the level of professionalism within our amazing industry. We recently partnered with a team that has built the largest single-site and most successful search firm in the United States to build a recruitment training institute. This is not just the best practises from a single trainer; this is not just one big biller’s favourite techniques. The team at Next Level provides an effective blueprint for operating at peak performance; join in with hundreds of search firm owners and thousands of recruiters who have taken the proactive step to take their businesses to the Next Level. We hope to support the development of recruiters’ in China as well.

如今，我热衷于支持和帮助人们的成长，尤其是帮助猎头从业人员进一步提高专业度。 最近，新履程和美国的一个团队合建了一个猎头培训机构：新履程学院（Next level Institute www.nlinstitute.com ），我们的合作方在美国是单一运作点中最大、近十年来最成功的猎头公司。新履程提供的不是一个培训师的服务，也不是某个大猎的个人成功技巧的分享。新履程结合了数百个公司、数千个猎头将他们的业务带到新的里程碑的经验之精华，我们为客户提供一份能有效达到高业绩的蓝图。我们希望借此为中国本土猎头公司的成长出一份力。

I still remember the vision that attracted me to the executive search business in the first space “we change people’s lives in good ways”. It is very honourable job, and yes, not many jobs could impact the life of people as much as we do. Let’s continue this life time learning journey and make the people’s life more beautiful because of us.

我不会忘记当初吸引我加入猎头行业的那句话，“我们的工作正向地改变人们的生活。”这是个有荣耀感的工作，没有几个其他行业能像猎头那样给人们的生活带来这么大的改变。让我们终身学习，给更多人创造更美好的未来！