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Caspar Berry – Risk and Reward

Suddenly, as the world’s finances look increasingly precarious, “Risk” has become a subject very close to all our hearts. As a former professional poker player, living and working in Las Vegas, it was very close to Caspar Berry’s for about three years.

Caspar BerryCaspar Berry (pictured right) is a corporate speaker who held CEO members of two different experiential business learning groups enthralled as he talked to them about the the nature of risk and reward in business. Members of The Academy for Chief Executives heard Caspar tell how he’d thought that he was leaving the world of risk-taking behind when he left the world of poker to set up his own video production company which he later sold to Bob Geldof’s media empire, Ten Alps. But he hadn’t.

He spoke to chief executive mentoring and experiential learning group members about the business connection between an expert poker player and business decisions.

Members of Joe Adams’ Leaders Forum Group 6 (London) group listed their key learning points as :

  1. “You can’t control the cards” in the same way that you can’t always control the events that happen in business, but you can control the way you react to those events.
  2. Long term failure is not an option and “success is never final and failure is never fatal”.
  3. Taking calculated risks in business is very different to gambling, since in gambling you will always lose, but with calculated risk taking, you have an excellent chance of winning.
  4. Emotion should play no part in calculated risk taking; it should be based on careful assessment of the facts, backed up with analytical execution.
  5. Fear of failure in anything is negative, while the desire to succeed is always positive and may even influence the outcome.

Joe Adams“Caspar Berry is truly a unique speaker and his, workshop ‘The Metaphor of Poker’ is entertaining as well as instructional. Caspar is a highly skilled speaker/facilitator and the many parallels between poker, risk taking and business are enormously valuable to anyone who is able to take this small quantum leap. Caspar is very careful to distance himself from gambling and points out that calculated risk taking is on the agenda of every business leader all the time.”

Joe Adams,
Chairman, Leaders Forum Group 6

The Academy for Chief Executives, a leading provider of experiential business learning® facilitates peer groups of CEOs and Managing Directors who meet together every month to network and take full advantage of experiential learning. To hear great speakers like this every month and engage in The Board You Could Never Afford®, or to find a local group near you, visit www.chiefexecutive.com.

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