The best person for the role is not on the market. They are busy being excellent somewhere else.
That is the problem with waiting for applicants. The applicant pool is, by definition, the people available. The person you actually want is employed, delivering, and not thinking about a move until the right one finds them.
Reaching that person is a different job than posting a role. It takes knowing who they are before you need them, understanding what would actually move them, and having the relationship to make the call.
That is the work of a search, not a listing. The reach into the passive layer, the read on fit, the discretion to have the conversation without noise.
The teams that hire well are not the ones with the widest funnel. They are the ones with the right name and a warm way in.
AP places the leaders who were never looking. That is the point.