No man is an iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee…

—John Donne, Meditation 17, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions (1674)

The same holds true in 2016 as it did back in the year 1674 when this passage was originally put to paper. In the case of Hiring Greatness with two authors, it was not one man nor was it two men who ultimately helped shape this book.

Our team at Wiley continuously amaze me with their patience, kindness, and raw intellect. Shannon, Liz, Peter, and Abirami are a force of nature within the publishing industry. It has been David's good fortune to have worked with them for many years.

Many other people lent their expertise as well, and without their help it would not have been possible for this book to be in your hands. Therefore our underlying gratitude goes to Fred Teshinsky, Jim Rulseh, Carl Albert, Peter Dubois, Jim Donnelly, Janette Levey Frisch, Esq., Rayanne Thorn, Joe Zinner, and Heather Bussing.

Insight into the profession of executive search and recruiting has been scarce and much of what the authors have learned comes from other disciplines beyond HR. As such there are giants in the business whose influence we would like to recognize: A. Robert Taylor, John Tarrant, Peter Leffkowitz, Bill Vick, Tony Bruno, Steven M. Finkel, and David's first mentor Robert (Bob) Heanault.

The authors would also like to thank the thousands of clients and candidates with whom we have worked through the years for allowing us to help make their companies and their careers a success, which in turn has allowed the authors to not only grow professionally, but personally as well and in turn enjoy the lifestyles we have worked so hard and so long to achieve.