Let me start by telling you that I have found the secret tosuccess is not a 20 step process. It's not even a ten-step journey.No, not even seven steps to success. It's three steps.Seriously. After all this time and experience I've stumbled uponthe secret to success, and it is a three step process! That's it,just three. And it's not going to be a secret for long. But beforeyou get overly excited it's not a shortcut, nor is it a silverbullet. But it is a simple three step process.Why are there No Shortcuts?As I look back on my life, I finally begin to see apattern emerging.You see, if you looked at my CV (resume for those of youpreferring American English), it's rather difficult to make senseof all the, rather odd, directions my career appears to havetaken.

The term "chef" is a little grand for myfirst real job. More chief pot washer and floor scrubber than chefexactly.

If you already know me, then you almost certainly know that myfirst career was as a chef. Well, perhaps the term 'chef' is alittle grand for my first real job that was frying eggs and bacon,peeling potatoes, washing pots and scrubbing floors.I did, later train as a commis chef, became a sous chef andbecame a head chef. I also did my stints behind the bar and waitingin the restaurant.You see, while I had some abilities in cooking, no one was goingto allow me to run a kitchen until I understood what was happeningin all parts of the kitchen, and to know my diners.I went to University to study hotel management because now Iwanted more than a kitchen. I loved being front of house as well. Ienjoyed running back of house too. My industrial placement, whichtoday would be Americanised into an internship, exposed me to thedelights of housekeeping and cleaning rooms after an Irish stagweekend. And many other delightful and disgusting moments.I presided over a disastrous lunch for 3500 militant unionistsat their conference that, due to my lack of leadership, was servedlukewarm and two hours late. Used the wrong extinguisher on a fryerfire to the amusement of everyone who did not lose their eyebrows.I even managed to spill soup on the lap of a kindly Royalpersonage.If you speak to anyone in the hotel business, they too canregale you with stories of exhaustion, disasters, drunkards andlearning. Yes, learning.But there are those who insist that ithas to be easier than this.Then I'll meet a young manager in another industry. They gotthemselves a degree in business, for example, and they get anAssociate Director title or a Vice President title. It's an entrylevel position but with a fancy name and a pretty fancy salary.They expect to be in a managerial role within a year or two andwant to know what they need to know to get there as fast aspossible.The expensive shortcut that isn’t

The MBA is regarded as an instant successsecret to megabuck salaries. Another myth.

Many have embarked on an MBA, and having spent a small fortuneon their education, want to know why they haven’t gotten to be asenior manager yet.People are signing up for courses that promise instant resultseven though they've been burnt more than once already.I've fallen victim to this thinking myself on many moreoccasions that I like to admit.I cast an envious eye on someone else's success and think thatif only I can emulate them, I too will have that instantsuccess.Of course, it's nonsense.You know that it is nonsense. You too have found out that thereare no shortcuts. Or at least, according to Maya Angelou,

there are no shortcuts to any place worth going.

So now, I look back and think, if only I had cut across themeandering path of my career. There are some useful diversions butmany useless ones.And ultimately, had I known that I was coming this way, I couldeasily have cut across.The trouble is, of course, that we don’t know which direction isthe real shortcut.If I had known that I would essentially end up teaching, writingand recording

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