A Legendary Sportsman Inspires Corporate Success at BusNSW Conference
At this year’s BusNSW Conference, we were excited to host a genuine Australian sporting legend (and indeed cult hero), Australia’s first ever Winter Olympic Gold Medallist, Steven Bradbury. Few could forget Bradbury’s extraordinary win at the 2002 Winter Olympics, which saw him take gold after his fellow contestants succumbed to an ‘all-in-fall’.
We caught up with Steven ahead of the conference, to learn how keeping a cool head (or feet) in a crisis has its rewards, even in the corporate world:
What do you think others can learn from your experience in winning a Gold Medal?
Steven Bradbury: Whatever your passion, if you show up every day and put in your best effort, then, eventually, you too can be the Last Man Standing. Winning Olympic Gold or making a million dollars are not the real measures of success. Success is about doing your best for yourself, and being satisfied that you give it everything you’ve got.
It obviously took an incredible amount of training and persistence to make it to the Olympic final—do you ever get frustrated by the perception that you were lucky?
Steven Bradbury: People always ask that exact question: ‘does it annoy you that everyone thinks you won because you were lucky?’ Nobody actually says, you only won because you were lucky, people understand that you don’t end up in a five-man final at the Olympic Games because you strapped on skates a few weeks earlier.
How has winning a Gold Medal against the odds changed your life?
Steven Bradbury: Totally, who could have guessed that a speed skater from Brisbane would need an agent, and would move on to become a fulltime Motivational Speaker and MC.
Do you get recognised when you’re out and about?
Steven Bradbury: I still get recognised a lot. People say: ‘Best Olympic moment ever’, ‘I remember what I was doing when you won’, and ‘[it’s the] most Australian thing I have ever seen.’
What has been the most surprising thing about translating your success into the role of Public Speaker?
Steven Bradbury: I am continually surprised that it is still going and growing! It has been almost 10 years since I won gold and I am now busier than ever.
What has been the most unusual event you’ve been asked to speak at, and how did you go about preparing for it?
Steven Bradbury: In February 2012 I am going to Whistler in Canada to speak at an elite business group to about 80 multi-millionaires. At this stage I am still waiting for the brief, but what can you teach people who are already really successful and very clever? Any advice on how to prepare for this would be welcomed!
What are you most looking forward to at the BusNSW conference?
Steven Bradbury: After every gig I do I always have someone come up to me and tell me how much they enjoyed my presentation, what they took away from it, and how they might be able to apply some of my success tips in their life. Amazingly, the part of my presentation that really hits home is different for everybody, even after speaking for eight years.
You’ve competed on Dancing with the Stars, achieved the prestigious Order of Australia Medal; what’s next for Steven Bradbury?
Steven Bradbury: I have been competing in different motorsport categories for five or six years and next year I have my fingers crossed that I’ll be racing in the V8 Ute series. Potential sponsors welcome! My wife Amanda and I also have three children under three years of age, so my kids will be the biggest part of my life for the next 20 or so years.
Steven Bradbury is Australia’s first ever Winter Olympic Gold Medallist, and featured as the headline speaker at the 2011 BusNSW Conference held in October this year.
