# Rick Kloete

Rick Kloete works in executive search and recruiting, and writes about helping firms clarify hiring goals, use AI with human judgment, and distinguish their services from competing offers.

- Profile: https://b2binfluencer.marketing/creators/rick-kloete/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickkloete
- LinkedIn followers: 23,348
- Topics: artificial-intelligence, recruiting, ai-in-recruiting
- Based on 9 dated posts, latest 2026-10-03

## Summary

Rick Kloete is most useful for content on clear hiring goals, differentiated recruiting offers, and AI with human judgment.

- Best for: An executive search firm selling to hiring executives on process, seeking a named content partner.
- Not for: A high-volume staffing or AI sourcing-automation vendor buying scripted sponsored posts with payment per placement.
- Check first: Confirm audience seniority, function, and industry mix, and capacity for few clients a year.

### Takeaways

- Action without a clear goal is just noise.
- A service business should not be a me too offer.
- AI helps recruiting only with a Human in the Loop.

## Main ideas

- **Action without a clear goal is just noise**: Rick Kloete's argument is that stalled executive searches and recruiting pushes usually fail from an unclear vision, not from lack of effort. Being busy -- checking boxes, hitting deadlines, staying "productive" -- is motion without meaning; the post calls this "the danger of action without clarity of vision." The payoff of aligning action to a defined goal is described concretely: progress feels energizing rather than exhausting, motivation returns because the reason for showing up is known, and momentum builds confidence. The post carries the tag #KlarityMethod, suggesting the framing is a named approach rather than a one-off. Rick Kloete borrows a line from Simon Sinek -- "Working hard for something we don't care about is called stress" -- and closes by asking readers to name one recent change that moved them forward.
- **A service business should not be a “me too” offer**: Rick Kloete argues that clients face many similar options, so a service firm must state what sets it apart or compete as an interchangeable provider. Drawing on Robert Cialdini's book Influence, the post names three drivers of scarcity: loss aversion (people are moved more by losing something than by gaining something equal), psychological reactance (restricted choice makes the scarce thing more desirable), and the mental shortcut that treats hard-to-get items as better. Kloete applies the idea to the firm's executive recruiting and compensation work, citing a personalized approach, a step-based recruiting process and a deliberate limit on the number of clients it takes each year. The post asks readers what makes working with them different from their competitors.
- **AI helps recruiting only with “a Human in the Loop”**: Rick Kloete treats AI as useful but awkward in practice, opening on the least favorite parts: too many choices, constant change, and setup demands. The analogy is to relationships -- clear communication produces results, and neither a partner nor a model can read your mind. The suggested fixes are practical: build an "AI Brain," develop your "Voice DNA," and feed the model examples of your earlier work. The position is that a person still owns the decision: after two decades in executive search and running a recruiting firm, Rick Kloete writes that "there must be a Human in the Loop." Clarity is tied back to a step-based recruiting process that coaches clients with questions, and a Simon Sinek quote about giving people clear instructions closes the argument, with an invitation to message the word CLEAR.
- **Ask clients what success looks like before selling them anything**: A recurring priority runs through all three posts: results begin with clear communication, and clear communication begins with asking. Rick Kloete describes coaching clients with questions to find out what they want and quotes Simon Sinek on giving people clear instructions to get great results. Each post ends by asking readers something and inviting a reply, comment or direct message: “What makes working with you unique or different?”, “What's one change you've made recently?” and “DM me the word CLEAR”. The questioning style is part of the argument: establishing a shared definition of success takes conversation, not a pitch.

## Work to read

- [Action without vision is just noise (“Busy going in circles”)](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rickkloete_ever-feel-like-youre-%F0%9D%98%A3%F0%9D%98%B6%F0%9D%98%B4%F0%9D%98%BA-%F0%9D%97%B4%F0%9D%97%BC%F0%9D%97%B6%F0%9D%97%BB%F0%9D%97%B4-activity-7512110523715534848-ZapU)
- [Why an executive search firm should not be a “me too” offer](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rickkloete_do-you-want-to-be-just-a-me-too-offer-activity-7511032978299387904-zA4r)
- [AI in recruiting still needs “a Human in the Loop”](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rickkloete_we-all-agree-ai-can-be-super-useful-but-activity-7510678157859999744-533D)

## Brand relationships

- **Robert Cialdini (Influence)** (mention)
- **Simon Sinek** (mention)

## Partnerships

Rick Kloete's posts do not describe partnership, sponsorship, or paid-collaboration formats. They cover executive search and recruiting services, a recruiting process, and the use of AI in that work; none announces a sponsor, names a partner, or sets out terms a brand could buy. A buyer will need to negotiate directly. The practical starting point is the service relationship Kloete advertises: help with executive searches, recruiting process clarity, and positioning a firm's offer. In the scarcity post, Kloete says the firm chooses to work with only a few clients each year to maintain a high level of service, suggesting limited capacity rather than open publishing inventory. The AI post frames the offering around coaching clients through a structured recruiting process and keeping a human in the loop, so expect Kloete's involvement to be advisory or service-led rather than purely promotional.

## Alternatives

- Steven Davis: Choose Steven Davis when the firm wants a partner who can speak as a buyer turned builder and connect hiring decisions to manager and team fit. Davis's posts trace a career from executive search to leading talent acquisition teams to consulting, and now to building and selling a product that provides data on how a candidate is likely to work with a specific manager and team. That experience suits a collaboration about the hiring process itself, especially if the firm wants to reach talent acquisition leaders rather than search buyers. Their framing of the current market—fewer hires, each one mattering more, and no time for a manager and new hire to figure each other out—gives the recruiting firm a timely argument backed by an assessment product.
- Gill Andrews: Choose Gill Andrews when the goal is content that converts and the firm is willing to trade recruiting-outcome proof for evidence that its writing changes buyer behavior. Andrews teaches through named examples and numbers: an AI-generated image test showing that a vague tagline gives readers nothing concrete, and a popup test on a real retailer where pointing out a potential loss raised conversion by 24.5 percent. She explains the neuroscience in plain steps—concrete language, loss aversion, genuine scarcity and risk reversal—and offers before-and-after copy readers can apply directly. For a firm whose weak point is content that gets responses from hiring executives rather than approvals from colleagues, her instruction and testing discipline are the closer match.
- Reilly DiPlacido: Choose Reilly DiPlacido when the firm wants a working HR consultancy voice rather than an executive search voice, and its target reader is a small or mid-sized business handling its own hiring. The posts cover the candidate experience directly—communication, interview structure, timelines, transparency and follow-through—and argue that companies hiring well right now are intentional about the process, with recruiting as candidates' first impression of the organization. The second post puts that practice on display, advertising a full-time HR consultant role with salary range, location and a clear application route. For content aimed at employers who need hands-on people-process support and fractional HR, that operational detail is more useful than commentary on search strategy.

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AI-assisted summary of public posts. Audience demographics are not available. Engagement appears only where we checked recent posts. Method: https://b2binfluencer.marketing/methodology/