Notes from the Boardroom

Stop being a supplier. Start being the go-to recruitment firm.

Essays by Andy Whitehead on building a recruitment or executive search firm the market can’t commoditise.

Ken 3× billings · Laura 3× · Jonathan 100% retained · Keith runs his firm from the beach

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Where do you want to start?

Choose Your Niche

Pick the one market you can own

Niche selection, focus discipline, and the tests that tell you whether you’re in a niche or just near one.

Featured → From Commodity Supplier to Apex Recruiter

Become the obvious name

Authority, positioning, and the work that makes clients call you first.

Featured → How to Become the Obvious Choice in a Crowded Market

Charge Like an Advisor

Stop being paid like a supplier

Retained pricing, value, and the move out of contingency for good.

Featured → Stop Working Contingency

Win Retained Clients

Turn conversations into engagements

How to pitch, handle objections, and win exclusive retained work.

Featured → How to Pitch Retained Search

Use AI without being replaced by it

What changes for search firms, what doesn’t, and where your real value now sits.

Featured → Why AI Won’t Replace You

Build a business, not a busy desk

Cash flow, numbers, and the operating model behind a retained firm.

Featured → Why Most Search Firm Owners Are Trapped

Grow the Machine

Grow beyond your own billings

Grow output without headcount. Systems, leverage, and the firm that runs without you.

Featured → From Solo Recruiter to Retained Firm Owner

From the Boardroom

The deeper work

Identity, board-level conversations, and what it really takes to own your category.

Featured → The One-Niche-One-Name-One-Firm Principle

Latest

Recently published.

From the BoardroomThe Owner Identity Shift: From Recruiter to Advisor to Boardroom Voice

9 June 2026 · 5 min

Choose Your NicheFrom Commodity Supplier to Apex Recruiter: The Niche Move Most Recruiters Refuse to Make

2 June 2026 · 5 min

Become KnownHow to Become the Obvious Choice in a Crowded Search Market

28 May 2026 · 5 min

Charge Like an AdvisorStop Working Contingency: Why Recruiters Who Refuse to Get Paid Lose the Business

19 May 2026 · 6 min

Win Retained ClientsHow to Pitch Retained Search Without Sounding Like Every Other Recruiter

13 May 2026 · 5 min

Work With AIWhy AI Won’t Replace You (But It Will Bury Contingency Recruiters)

5 May 2026 · 5 min

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