"Which offer should I choose?" Mr. Hartmann, a well-trained, tall and slim man in his mid-forties, elegantly dressed, looked at me expectantly. With his slightly graying temples, dark eyes with a clear gaze, one could easily imagine him as the CEO or division head of a company. We had worked hard to be in this comfortable position for him. Six months had passed since we had started coaching. We had gotten to know each other well through the intensive coaching process. At the beginning he had been very downhearted, because he didn't understand what had gone wrong. He had always done a great job. And then suddenly he was told that they wanted to part with him. In our coaching we had worked out two essential things. He had relied too much on recognition through performance and paid too little attention to the network of relationships. Thus, without realizing it, he had lost the support of his superiors. This had not always been the case. In the course of our coaching, I had guided him through his biographical development back into successfully experienced behaviour and, using scenario techniques, we had worked out the future possibilities. This was how he had gone into the conversations and had scored well. I had managed the process with him in such a way that there was a window of 14 days for the decision for the three offers that were on the table. A comfortable situation for both of us. "Mr. Hartmann," I said, "let's go back to the goal-setting process and your personal utility analysis. With the results developed there, we can evaluate the offers for you." I flipped open the laptop, brought up the appropriate charts on the screen. Then I went to the flipchart and drew a matrix for the three offers, entered the essential points there and placed the personal criteria worked out next to them. Mr. Hartmann looked on with interest. I sat down with him again. In the meantime it had become dark, and the view from the office on the 12th floor fell on the brightly lit city with the usual after-work traffic. "How does that help us now?" Mr. Hartmann looked at me skeptically. "I still don't know what to choose." "Yes," I replied, "I can understand that. Let's go through offer by offer and discuss, based on your personal criteria, to what extent they are met. Then we can make an initial preliminary assessment. If that is not enough, we will go to a second round." "Ok," he nodded curtly, and so we discussed step by step pros and cons, proximity or degree of fulfillment according to his personal criteria. In the end, there was a clear favorite. He looked at me with satisfaction on the one hand, and a certain uncertainty in his gaze on the other. "This is the best offer, but also with the greatest risk of not making it". "Why?", I asked. "Because I don't have enough experience at the organ level yet. And I don't want to experience a situation like this again." "I understand that," I countered, "but that's what you have our job insurance for. That means I will be with you in this new job and help you meet this challenge." He looked at me, thought for a moment. Then he said, "I'll have to sleep on it for a night. This is moving too fast for me right now." I knew that reaction and told him it was good to proceed that way. "Just call me when you have come to a decision or if we need another round". He got up and we said goodbye. The next evening he called. "I've decided to go the risk route, but only if you'll continue with me." I congratulated him and replied, "I'd love to."