The Rare Find

A journalistic quest to discover the secrets of the best talent hunters, revealing how they spot superstars before anybody else.

Why are some people so much better than everyone else at spotting future stars? How do the best talent pickers in any field recognize future greatness-the subtle and reliable tells that indicate the potential for top performance?

George Anders set out to find the best talent hunters in the worlds of business, sports, pop music, movies, venture capital, academia, medical research, and the military. As radically different as these fields may seem, all share an intense belief in the importance of finding high achievers. Anders reveals some surprising insights as he explores, for example:

• How Hollywood casting agents size up candidates

• How venture capitalists pick winners like Apple and Google

• How the army's special forces culls top recruits

Anders pairs his frontline observations with the rapidly expanding research findings of...