(FORTUNE Magazine) – Brent Harrison can't perform monologues like Robin Williams or hit buzzer-beating jump shots like Kobe Bryant. But when someone approaches Harrison with a job offer, the 36-year-old computer industry executive now responds with a refrain once reserved for elite actors and athletes: "Call my agent."

That would be Jeff Hyman, 35, a smooth-talking former managing partner at executive-search firm Heidrick & Struggles. Last October, Hyman founded Canal Street, a fledgling talent agency that aspires to guide the careers of mid-and senior-level executives the way IMG and William Morris have long shepherded their rosters of superstar athletes and entertainers. Hyman's venture is still nascent: So far he and the two agents who work for him represent just 35 executives earning between $125,000 and $600,000 a year, all in the San Francisco Bay Area and most in tech-related fields. But Hyman's aspirations are far greater: to create a paradigm for the way companies and executives interact.

Since the demise of the Hollywood studio system and the rise of free agency in professional sports, the use of agents in those areas has become ubiquitous. But until Hyman came along, the agent model had never translated to corporate talent. The longer job tenures of corporate execs would make for infrequent--and therefore unprofitable--agenting work, the thinking went. The subjectivity that comes with judging executives would make an agent's value questionable. And compared with the limited universe of which sports agents must keep abreast, the business world seemed infinite and unknowable.

Hyman is convinced, however, that those realities have changed. The mass layoffs and shorter job tenures that followed the Internet bubble mean that executives now have to juggle two careers: their current position and the ongoing search for the next one. As the time and travel demands of executive life continue to grow, most corporate warriors barely have time for the former. "Executives need to be responsible for managing their careers, but most don't have the connections, the know-how, or the time," Hyman says. Using headhunters isn't a great solution, he contends. "Recruiters work in the interests of the corporations that pay them. But no one was working in the sole best interests of the talent."

So Hyman has stepped into the void, acting as part executive recruiter, part career coach, and part compensation attorney. He helps his clients define what they want to do and where they want to work; scours the marketplace for openings; and prepares them for interviews and salary negotiations. Unlike a typical search executive, Hyman isn't looking to fill a particular opening but to develop a career. He helps his clients with just about every move they make: negotiating raises at their current jobs, making a strong impression on bosses and colleagues, finding speaking engagements and other opportunities to build visibility. He meets with clients monthly to discuss their goals --often at a nearby Starbucks rather than at clients' offices--and conducts weekly performance audits by phone.

In exchange for those services, Hyman's firm charges 3% of clients' gross salary as an annual retainer, and another 5% of whatever dollar-generating items he gets them--whether a speaking engagement, a raise, or a new job. That may sound like a lot. But client Harrison says the cost has been well worth it. Last year he was a senior director of strategic development at an America Online satellite office in San Francisco. Further advancement would have required him to relocate to AOL headquarters in Dulles, Va.--a move he and his family weren't eager to make. So Harrison decided to pursue opportunities elsewhere. But after five years at AOL, he faced a host of daunting questions as he reentered the job market: What did he want to do? What was available? What was he even worth?

Last November he signed up with Hyman. Soon after, the agent arranged a meeting with Apple's vice president of human resources. By March, Harrison had landed a VP of marketing position at the computer maker's PowerSchool division. His compensation increased by about 15%. His work is more challenging. And he gets to keep his family in San Francisco. "Jeff provided me with comprehensive market knowledge, information, and access. Even if I devoted 20 hours a day, seven days a week, I couldn't re-create what he gives," says Harrison. "It is very unlikely that I would have ended up in this particular role in this particular company if it weren't for him."

Like many new ideas, Hyman's have been met with skepticism from veterans of the executive-search game. "The concept is great," says Bruce Ellig, a former vice president of human resources for Pfizer and author of The Complete Guide to Executive Compensation. "But I don't think this is going to be a mass answer. It will work only in a narrowly defined marketplace with a narrowly defined set of skills."

Hyman is undaunted. His business model "is no more limited than the executive-search business, which is a $10-billion-to $15-billion-a-year industry," he says. "We are just approaching it from the other end."