The challenges talent leaders face these days with recruitment marketing remind me of my past life as a swimmer. Despite the early mornings, hard workouts, permanent goggle marks, and smelling of chlorine 24/7, I grew to love the challenge of the sport. Every race was about the water, the clock, and me — no one else. Yes, other swimmers were in the lanes beside me. But if I turned my head for a second to compare my position with theirs, or if I let them distract me from my strategy, that was it. The race was already over. All my fundamentals