Executive recruitment, in a way, is like searching for a gemstone in a bag of beans. You started hunting for a new sales executive, looking for a playwright of future success. In the evening, as you sip your mead by candlelight, you begin to think that Shakespeare has left the building or indeed the globe. You have interviewed several candidates for the bountiful role you have tucked in your top pocket, but everyone is lacking. You were hoping for a writer, a linguist, a storyteller. But oh my, all you managed to find were five candidates who talked and rattled on but never listened, and two old hounds who had years of experience but were too set in their ways to take on new skills. Your client is a forward-thinking company that likes to take the scribbles of curiosity in a mind map session and set the wheels in motion. They have come to you because they are looking for some reassurance that those shining ones are still out there somewhere. And at the moment, you are finding that you