"Perfect weather today," my friend said, and I nodded in agreement. We had arranged to meet for a round of golf and were standing on the tee when an athletic man in his mid-forties approached us, tall, slim, smart sunglasses on his nose and dressed in the latest golf fashion. "I'm here alone, may I join you?" he asked us. My friend and I looked at each other briefly, nodded almost simultaneously, and invited him into our flight. We introduced ourselves briefly. Then we teed off one after the other. You could tell right away that he was a good golfer. This was confirmed over the next few holes. As usual, we got on the phone and started talking. Everyone talked about what they were doing. When Peter heard that I was working as a coach, especially intensively coaching managers, he perked up and just said, "We should talk about that after our round." I looked at him, said, "Yes, I'd love to". Then we concentrated again on our game with the little white ball, because every golfer knows how quickly even a small distraction is punished. My friend said goodbye right after our round, because he had to go to an appointment. Peter and I sat down on the terrace of the clubhouse, enjoyed the sun and our cappuccino. Then Peter started to talk. At the moment he has a lot of time, which he is now investing in improving his handicap. The last job had been very stressful. They parted peacefully, but the opinions about the future were very different. "I can understand that", I said, "and it happens more often than you think". That seemed to reassure him somewhat. "What do you think," he asked me, "do I even have a chance in marketing now that I'm in my mid-forties?" "Why not? What I've heard sounds like a lot of experience in very different fields. There's bound to be an interesting new job for you." He looked at me questioningly. "And how do you get it? I haven't applied in half an eternity". I smiled and briefly explained how we handle such a situation, the process behind it and how I could guide him. His face brightened. He seemed to like that, "That sounds really interesting". "OK, I said, then come to my office this week and we can discuss everything else". He nodded and we made an appointment. By the time we met in my office, he had everything ready. His aging resume as well as all of his references. I looked them over and asked him, " Haven't you done any continuing education in all these years?" He looked at me in amazement. "Is that what you need? A lot of it was in-house. I'd have to ask personnel if there was anything else. Why does it matter? I have my university degree, after all." "But that's not enough," I replied, "today you're expected to keep learning. And your competition is people over 35 who speak three languages, have two degrees and have been abroad at least once for an extended period of time." It took him a little while to realize the gist of the statement for himself. He looked at me and said, "Okay, got it, I'll ask. So how do we go about this now?" I thought of a good comparison off the top of my head. "It's like playing golf. You need good preparation, a few practice swings at the driving ranch, and then you hit the course. The better the first tee shot, the better the position for the next shots. And you need the right club for the approach to the target, depending on the distance. But none of that helps if you mess up on the green. There again, the old golfer's adage: 'Driving for the show, money for the putting' literally applies. "Well, make that golfer a viable applicant," he said with a laugh. He had liked the comparison and we started our coaching process. From the biography, the picture emerged of an enthusiastic person who could nevertheless be very even-tempered. With his high flexibility he was able to adapt to quickly changing situations. With his creativity, he quickly found new solutions and, as some examples had shown, he was also very good at dealing with difficult people. Of course there were limits. That was what had ultimately led to the separation. In the goal-setting process, we had worked out that he no longer wanted to work for the Group, even if that might mean no longer being internationally active. He said he didn't really need that anymore. Well positioned with fresh and meaningful documents, we went to the market after three weeks. The first tee went very well and offered a number of opportunities to target. After another three weeks, four opportunities had solidified. One of them seemed to be particularly interesting, as this one suited his ideas the most. And indeed he very soon received from there an invitation to a second interview, which we prepared thoroughly. He got back to me the same evening: "Just think, the manager was very taken with it. Now I just have to convince the owner. But I can't tell him the same thing again, can I?" "No, you can't," I replied, "I'll think of something. Come to my office tomorrow." We agreed on a time, and he was there five minutes ahead of time, as usual. He looked at me expectantly. Before I presented my idea, I wanted him to tell me how the conversation had gone, what they had talked about, and if there was anyone else in the running. "I think there is one more candidate who came into the conversation through a contact with the owner". I looked at him and said, "That could be dangerous". "Why?" He looked at me questioningly. "Well", I said, "such proximity is sometimes crucial, but I do have a solution". "Well come on out with it," he said impatiently. "You're a marketing man, aren't you". He nodded in agreement. "That's exactly what we're going to use. After what you've told us, it's important to very quickly and strikingly show the owner who you are, what you can do, how you'd approach the new job, and what assets you bring to the company. And we wrap that up in 10 pages in a perfect presentation using marketing tools like the persona to characterize you. We'll practice that beforehand. And after the interview, you hand both of them that document. Everyone who comes in after that has to deal with it." "Sounds good, but what do I do if that one got there before me? "Don't worry," I said, "it still works. I don't think the other one has dealt with the new job that much." "Ok, let's try it then." We prepared everything and practiced the interview situation several times. Then his big day came. He was a little nervous, and we arranged for him to call me afterwards. The interview was scheduled for 2:00 Friday afternoon. I was expecting his call late in the afternoon. It wasn't until after eight o'clock that the phone rang. He sounded relaxed and joyfully excited at the same time, "Think it worked out great. Instead of the planned hour and a half, we spent over four hours talking least about the job, but about the opportunities the company has, what all I could do, where to start first. It was really more of a strategy meeting. And at the end, the CEO gave me a tour of the company and showed me my future office. That was good work, thank you." I was pleased and just said, "Good punch in. When do we play the next round?"