Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - November/December 2023 - 17

MY RECIPE
FOR
Here is Robert McKeon's Recipe for Success.
Robert McKeon
CDM, CFPP
success
ROBERT MCKEON, CDM, CFPP is a graduate of the CIA (Culinary Institute of
America in Hyde Park, N.Y.) and has been in food service working in restaurants,
hotels, catering, and health care for over 30 years. He currently owns and operates
Food Safety Chef and focuses his training on certification classes with Food
Protection Manager (ServSafe), Allergen Awareness (AllerTrain), and Alcohol
Training (TIPS Responsible Alcohol Service). He is also a professor/instructor at
Montgomery College, Hagerstown Community College, Maryland University, and
Arlington Public Schools.
Be grateful, thankful, and be a blessing. Short staffed?
Be grateful for the staff you have. Delivery was short
on product? Be thankful for the food that arrived.
Ask yourself every day how you can be a blessing to
employees and residents.
Volunteer. Find a cause you believe in and devote time,
effort, and energy to it. There is no greater satisfaction in
life than doing something for the betterment of others.
Serving ANFP as a volunteer has been an honor for me.
Plan ahead. Map out your calendar and set tomorrow's
goals today. Plan ahead, but be ready to make changes
based on the obstacles thrown your way.
Find balance. You can exercise too much; you can
exercise too little. Same with cleaning, eating, etc. Find
balance every day and realign things when needed.
Set expectations. Clearly state what you want and have
an open mind. No one is a mind reader, so walk them
through it and demonstrate. Never call someone out or
embarrass anyone when giving direction.
Forgive. Are you holding a grudge or bitter towards
someone? You didn't like the way someone said or
did something towards you? It's best to forgive, not
necessarily for them, but for your sake. There are 86,400
seconds in a day. Don't waste another second having
what someone did hold you back from being your best.
Admit mistakes. We are human; we will make mistakes.
Today is a new day, embrace it. If we have to apologize for
anything that happened yesterday, do so, then move on.
Embrace learning. We are always learning and must
accept change. If you said or did something wrong, own
it, correct it if you can, and try not to do it again. Think
of a new strategy to best conquer the problem the second
time around. The issue may pop up again, but now you
have experience to confront it in a better way.
Plant the seed. Everything starts as a seed-idea,
concept, thought, and plan. Plant the idea, nurture it,
be patient, and give plenty of encouragement. You may
have to pull away the weeds, give a lot of attention, and
wait a while before the little bud pops up out of the
ground. If done right, you will bear the fruit. Same with
our staff, loved ones, and our craft. My past boss and
mentor Master Chef Kenneth Juran used to tell me, " Don't
learn the tricks of the trade, learn the trade. " He was
right, there are no shortcuts in life: being consistent and
present makes all the difference.
Be happy. For me, true happiness is still being content
even when life does not go your way. Happiness is
contagious -others want to be around happy people.
You can choose to be miserable or happy, please always
choose happy!
Find previous 'My Recipe for Success' articles at www.ANFPonline.org/myrecipeforsuccess
NUTRITION & F OOD SER VICE EDGE | NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2023
NUTRITION & F OOD SER VICE EDGE | NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 20
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http://www.ANFPonline.org/myrecipeforsuccess
Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - November/December 2023

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