Whatever you set as your goal, this book will help you to achieve it. Some of the advice is about progressing your career; some is simply about succeeding in life. All the advice comes from my own life experience. The lessons I teach are, in part, a record of, and a tribute to, the mistakes I’ve made.

I begin by asking you to look within yourself so that you can decide what you really want. I then explain how to take control of your life so you can focus on the attainment of your goals. I cover the prerequisites for success and the core abilities you will have to deploy.

I then survey the core skills you will need to acquire and illustrate each lesson with anecdotes from my own experience.

There are sections on negotiating, on politics in business, on client relations, on innovation and on how to deal with professionals.

And, at a personal level, I offer my thoughts on managing your personal brand and on personal integrity.

Towards the end I give a summary of 52 tips which I hope will help you on your way.

This book gives the following guarantee:

If you follow the advice, you will succeed. That’s it. No weasel words. No qualifications. No ‘Terms and Conditions’ in microscopic print. What’s more, there’s no gimmick, no magic trick, no silver bullet. I don’t offer a hitherto undiscovered management technique, a uniquely innovative approach to problem-solving or a catchy sound bite that says it all. Nevertheless, I stand by my promise that if you follow my advice, you will succeed.

As evidence of my good faith, I’m giving all the royalties from this book to charity. In the past, you must have wondered why anyone who had discovered the secret of success would ever decide to take time off from pursuing their career to write a self-help book. Surely, if they had the secret of success, they would spend their time following their own advice rather than sharing it with others. They certainly wouldn’t want or need royalties from a book.

And you’re right. After years of trial and error, I’ve followed the advice in this book and I don’t want or need the royalties. So I won’t take any. On the other hand, the advice in this book is priceless and I don’t want you to undervalue it. So you’ve had to pay for it. But all my royalties as author (10% of sales) will go to the British Red Cross. Like your success, that’s guaranteed.