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                                                                    EXHIBIT 10.6


                         [LETTERHEAD OF LEADERSONLINE]


                               October 12, 1999


Mr. James R. Quandt
17 Cherry Hills Drive
Coto de Caza, CA 92679

Dear Jim:

I am pleased to confirm LeadersOnline, Inc.'s offer of employment to you.

We are looking forward to your arrival and want to set forth our understanding:

1.    You will join our Irvine, California office as Chief Operating Officer at
      a monthly base salary of $20,833.33 (which is $250,000.00 annually),
      commencing on your first day of employment, which shall be October 14,
      1999, unless otherwise mutually agreed in writing. You will report to the
      President, LeadersOnline. Currently salaries are reviewed annually in
      November/December, so that your first salary review will be in
      November/December 2000.

2.    You will be eligible for a discretionary target bonus of up to 80% of your
      base salary. This bonus may exceed 80% of your base salary if your goals
      and objectives are significantly overachieved. Currently all bonuses are
      paid in December and the following March. You understand that except for
      the signing and minimum bonuses referred to below, all bonuses are
      discretionary and not earned until declared by the Board of Directors or
      appropriate committee of the Board of Directors, and that all bonuses,
      including the signing and minimum bonuses referred to below, are payable
      only if you are in our employ on the bonus payment dates.

      As we discussed, you will be eligible to receive the following bonuses:

      A.   Signing and Two-Year Commitment Bonus. You will receive a signing and
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           two-year commitment bonus of $250,000.00 to be paid as follows:

           (i)  $125,000.00 to be paid on your regular payroll date within 30
                days of your hire date; and

           (ii) $125,000.00 to be paid on your regular payroll date in October
                2000.

           These payments to you are made subject to the condition that you not
           resign your employment during the first two years. If you should
           resign from our firm within two years from your employment start
           date, you will repay the entire $250,000.00 signing and two-year
           commitment bonus within five (5) business days following your notice
           of resignation. You will be entitled to retain all interest or
           investment return realized from such payments. If you voluntarily
           resign within the first two years, you authorize us to deduct and/or
           offset the amount referred to in the foregoing sentence from any
           compensation or other sums that may be due to you at that time, and
           you will repay the balance, if any, after such deduction/offset of
           the $250,000.00 remaining due to us.

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Mr. James R. Quandt
October 12, 1999
Page Two

       B.   Bonus Year 2000 Minimum Bonus. You will receive a $350,000.00
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            minimum bonus payable quarterly beginning with the first payment due
            February 1, 2000, provided that you are in our employ on the bonus
            payment date(s).

       C.   Bonus Year 2001 Minimum Bonus. You will receive a $350,000.00
            -----------------------------
            minimum bonus for the bonus year ending in December 31, 2001,
            payable when bonuses are paid for the bonus year ending in December
            31, 2001, provided that you are in our employ on the bonus payment
            date(s).

3.     You have agreed to purchase by November 30, 1999, $100,000.00 of Heidrick
       & Struggles, Inc. common stock on the market, and to send us a copy of
       your stockbrokers purchase confirmation evidencing such purchase. You
       have also agreed not to sell such shares during the term of this
       agreement.

4.     You will be eligible to participate in our benefit programs in accordance
       with the programs' written terms as set forth in plan documents. Copies
       of the booklets and Summary Plan Descriptions describing our group
       health, life/AD&D and long-term disability insurance, time-off benefits
       such as vacation, paid holidays, paid sick time, or short-term disability
       salary continuation, and Flexible Spending Account will be provided at a
       later date.

       LeadersOnline, Inc. intends to establish a 401(k) profit sharing plan
       sometime during the next year and possibly as early as January 2000. The
       specifics of the LeadersOnline plan, such as investment options, level of
       company contributions, etc., are yet to be determined.

5.     Our benefit programs, bonus programs, and policies are reviewed from time
       to time by the company's management, and our programs and policies may be
       modified, amended or completely terminated at any time.

6.     We will be requesting the Board of Directors of LeadersOnline, Inc. to
       establish a stock option program for LeadersOnline management and
       employees. You would participate in that program as a member of the
       senior management team. We will specifically request the Board to grant
       you stock options to purchase 2.5 percent of the company's common stock
       as of the date of the grant. Such options will be subject to vesting and
       forfeiture as determined by the Board.

7.     Pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act, our company is required
       to verify the identity and employment authorization of all new hires. In
       order to comply with this legal obligation, we must complete an
       Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 within three days of hire.
       We have enclosed a Form I-9 for your review. Please note that you will
       need to provide either (i) one document from "List A" or (ii) one
       document from "List B" and one document from "List C" of the form (see
       page two of the enclosed I-9 Form). Your initial and continuing
       employment will be subject to your having the ability to work legally in
       the United States. If you anticipate having difficulty completing the
       Form I-9 or producing the required documents, please advise me as soon as
       possible.
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Mr. James R. Quandt
October 12, 1999
Page Three

8.   If you accept our offer of employment, you will become an "employee at
     will" unless or until we may otherwise agree in writing. This gives both of
     us maximum flexibility and permits either of us to terminate employment and
     compensation at any time with or without cause or notice except for such
     period of notice as may be expressly provided in writing under written
     company employment policies in effect at the time of such termination.

     If your employment with our company is terminated by us for any reason
     other than cause, we intend to request that Heidrick & Struggles, Inc.
     provide you with an opportunity to join Heidrick & Struggles, Inc. as an
     executive search consultant, if you and Heidrick & Struggles, Inc. mutually
     agree.

9.   Two copies of an agreement relating to trade secrets, confidential
     information, clients, etc., are enclosed. We ask that all employees sign
     this agreement. Please review and sign both copies and return one to me for
     processing. Of course, please call me if you have any questions about this
     agreement.

10.  You hereby confirm that you have advised us that you have not signed any
     agreement that will, in any way, affect your joining our firm or the
     performance of your work for us. You agree that in performing your job
     duties hereunder, you will not utilize, rely upon or disclose any trade
     secrets or proprietary information belonging to others. You represent that
     you will be able to accomplish the anticipated duties of your job without
     the use of any such trade secrets or proprietary information.

11.  This letter of agreement, which sets forth our entire understanding, can be
     amended only in a writing, which is signed by you, the President of
     LeadersOnline, Inc., together with either the Treasurer or Secretary of the
     company. You specifically acknowledge that no promises or commitments have
     been made to you that are not set forth in this letter.

To acknowledge your acceptance of our offer of employment, please sign and
return to me one copy of this letter together with the agreement referred to in
Item 9 above.

                               Sincerely yours,

                               /s/ MICHAEL T. CHRISTY
                               ____________________________________
                               Michael T. Christy
                               President - LeadersOnline, Inc.

Enclosure

cc: Patrick S. Pittard
    A. Larry Elliott
    Donald M. Kilinski
    Richard D. Nelson

ACCEPTED:

/s/ JAMES R. QUANDT            10-14-99
________________________       _____________________________
James R. Quandt                Date