What if Rudyard Kipling quit writing when San Francisco Examiner told him, "I'm sorry, but you just don't know how to use English language." Or as a struggling artist, Walt Disney took seriously words of a prospective employer to "try another line of work" because he "didn't have any creative, original ideas."

What if ten year old Albert Einstein believed his teacher's words, "you will never amount to much." Or opera star, Enrico Caruso, gave up singing after his first vocal teacher counseled, "your voice sounds like wind whistling through a window."

Thankfully, they didn't believe what they were told. But many of us do. We accept someone else's opinion as our fact. We allow others to determine what we believe about ourselves, what we aspire to achieve, what we dream and what we become. Others people's limiting beliefs about us become our own as we give them power over our life.

Once upon a time, head hunters were no more than common cannibals. Some people still view them that way, but executive recruiters are a vital link in a chain that keeps major enterprises functioning well.

The top positions at any organization dictate fortunes of company, shareholders and employees ... and often communities in which they are located. A good executive head hunter can ensure that new company executives have skills required for position and challenges ahead. He can also ensure that right executive is chosen, one whose style will flourish in specific environment of that company.

However, modern executive recruiters face challenges to be effective. I caught up with Esther Barzel, co-owner of Online Recruiter Directory ( http://www.onlinerecruitersdirectory.com ).

Q: What are main challenges of executive head hunters in today's business climate?

A: To start with, geographic net has become much wider. A head hunter in , say, New York City or Toronto, can no longer rely on finding right candidate right in town. In fact, ideal candidate might be just minutes away by Internet, but he might be located in another country or even on another continent. We are looking at a new breed of executive recruiter.

Q: The Internet should make his job easier, right?

A: Yes...and no. He has to post requirements in more places and sift through more potential candidates to find jewel he seeks. So his workload has actually increased.

Q: Plus, I presume, he still faces challenges of yesteryear?