OLYMPIC medallist Steve Backley revealed the secrets of his success at the North Hertfordshire College Business Excellence Awards. The four-time European and three-time Commonwealth champion, who also won two Olympic silver medals and Olympic bronze, laid

OLYMPIC medallist Steve Backley revealed the secrets of his success at the North Hertfordshire College Business Excellence Awards.

The four-time European and three-time Commonwealth champion, who also won two Olympic silver medals and Olympic bronze, laid down his javelin in 2004 and has put the sharp end of his mind to work instead in a number of areas.

Before taking to the stage to present last week's awards Steve let slip his top tips for businesses in an exclusive interview with The Comet.

He said: "Basically I'm talking about the five factors that I believe are inherent in successful people, factors that I believe can be learnt traits."

"The first is 'knowing what you want and having a plan'. The next is 'believing in yourself' and the third is 'knowing your weakness'. That's what differentiates arrogant people from successful people.

"The fourth trait is 'delivering your maximum' - normal life doesn't require it. And the final trait is 'to be passionate about what you do'."

Steve, 38, added: "Look at people like Richard Branson, and they have all of them."

So does he miss competing? Steve said: "What I enjoy about doing this sort of thing is I get to relive the best moments and help other people. It's also a little bit like performing."

He added: "The big competitions are great, but it's more enjoyable sitting in the stands!"

His many projects include being a commentator on the BBC 5 Live team, a corporate speaker, interests in online company PAC Training, co-hosting business development days for Javelin Business Strategies and being part of the Volunteer to Win scheme for the Olympics.

Regarding the 2012 Olympics he said it's great for pulling in the community,

"It's such a huge boost," he said.

"People underestimate the impact the Olympics have on industry. It's no surprise that many countries bid for the right to host it."

And he added: "If it inspires a whole generation then how much it costs is a drop in the ocean."

When questioned about obesity levels of children rising, Steve said: "It's a big issue and we've got a ready made solution in sport."

Regarding his own daughters, aged one and three, he said: "I'll expose them to as many different sporting situations as I can, but I wouldn't push them into one sport, quite the contrary."

Healthy competition is important in life, according to Steve. "Everyone's said there's not, but there are winners and there are losers."

And Steve should know. He's definitely a winner.

* SUCCESS was celebrated last week as the annual North Hertfordshire College Business Excellence Awards entered their fourth year.

The awards, held at the Goldsmith Management Centre in Letchworth GC were hosted by guest speaker Steve Backley OBE, three times Olympic javelin medallist.

Learners on a wide range of management and professional courses at the Goldsmith Centre nominated their companies for the awards which recognise and celebrate good performance and training programmes within organisations.

The Goldsmith Management Centre hosts the awards as part of its Centre of Vocational Excellence (COVE) for Management. The Comet was among the local organisations sponsoring the awards.

Granta Housing won the Best Employer for Company Training Award, Stevenage Borough Council scooped Best Employer for Motivating and Rewarding its Workforce through training while Johnson Matthey Noble Metals was the winner of Best Employer for Continuous Improvement Award.

The award for Best Employer for Training into Practice was won by Stevenage Leisure Ltd, Reynolds Diplomat Coaches took home the Best Employer for Train to Gain award and the accolade for Best Employer for Workforce Health and Wellbeing was given to Dacorum Borough Council.

The final award, to recognise outstanding performance, the Gold Medal Award, was won by Altro Floors limited.

Full details of the awards can be found at www.goldsmith-management.co.uk