Winning by stealth
Russell Reynolds CEO Clarke Murphy talks about the biggest changes in executive search in recent decades -- and draws parallels between ocean racing, his passion, and headhunting.
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THERE are about 10 sleek boats bunched together near the mouth of the harbour in Malta when one of them suddenly rolls off precariously to one side, breaks free of the gaggle and makes an unexpected lunge forward in what a voiceover commentator in the YouTube video calls "the most daring of starts".
But trouble soon strikes. Not long after its bold push, one of its sails rips. It starts to fall behind its peers, hardly an auspicious start to a prestigious ocean race that involves sailing nonstop around Sicily in gruelling conditions that involve a lot of Mediterranean seawater and very little sleep.
Its chances look slim. But later on, something surprising happens again. In the dead of night - the very last leg of the contest - the vessel ekes out a second wind. It stealthily picks up speed, overtakes a rival under cover of darkness and surges towards the finish line. Though it has lost two key sails in the course of the race it still, somehow, manages to come in fourth.
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