Caspar Craven, Motivational Speaker and CEO, Big Bold Goals
Caspar Craven is a leading authority in achieving Big Bold Goals through high-performance teamwork. A serial entrepreneur, he has built and sold a tech business for a seven-figure sum, worked as a CFO and at KPMG. He has twice sailed around the world – the first time as a team leader on a trophy-winning racing yacht in the BT Global Challenge in 2000-2001. And the second time as captain and team leader of his family team in 2014-2016 with his wife and three young children under ten years of age.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
LinkedIn - because it has the most relevant and insightful content for me.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
My obsession is with the setting, tackling and achieving Big Bold Goals that comes from an approach that puts people first. I believe everyone and every team has massive untapped potential. So, I love to inspire, provoke and cajole people into stretching what they believe is possible. And to then provide the tools and skills development to be able to achieve those audacious goals.
Right now, I do this as a motivational speaker and as the CEO of Big Bold Goals, where we run continuous leadership and teamwork development programmes for ambitious leaders and their teams to teach and develop the skills needed to achieve Big Bold Goals.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
I love what I do because it's the most meaningful thing I've ever done in the working world to be able to make a positive difference to other people.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
To learn to dance to beat your own drums.
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
Hearing stories of people who've been positively impacted by what we as a team do. That and knowing the ideas and strategies we've developed can make so much more of a difference to others and that it's our job to get those ideas out to a wider audience.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
That I never give up. I'm relentless curious and hungry to know more, do more and be more.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
In-person at live events.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
Curiosity, determination and a willingness to face my own inadequacies (of which there are many)!
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
It's better to learn something than to look good. Therefore, mindset by Carol Dweck should be obligatory reading for anyone who wants's more.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
People with humility and openness like Ray Dalio, Carol Dweck and Tom Bilyeu. Right now, I'm enjoying the sharp intellect of Dawkins, and I'm fascinated by the work of David Sinclair on increasing lifespan.
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
I love anything to do with the water. I love sailing, fishing and being by the sea. This summer, I've started to learn to row with my local rowing club on the River Thames - I adore the challenge of starting out again as a beginner and learning and developing new skills. My two oldest kids (16 and 14) both row, and I thought it would be something we could do together as well. So, you'll find me on the river three times a week with our crew.
I sit on the Development Board of a youth development charity, The British Exploring Society who do an incredible job providing access to the outdoors to young people who wouldn't otherwise be able to access it.
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?
A positive one. Change always creates opportunity. It helped catalyse a reset on our Big Bold Goals business and re-think what we as a team can do to positively shape the world. As a result, we're stronger, more focused and have developed products that meet the needs of businesses, their leader and teams. We want to be at the leading edge of the building and leading teams that change the world.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?
Yes and Yes. Having people who can speak the truth to you is vital, as is the gift of being able to pass that on.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
Be relentlessly curious and immerse yourself in the thinking and ideas of the greatest minds in your chosen field. Learn all you can and then develop your own ideas and approaches. Your greatest thinking and ability to make a difference is in front of you.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
A fixed mindset where any failure feels like a damaging body blow rather than a piece of feedback that you can take in, reflect on and use to make you stronger and more capable.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
"If it doesn't defy the laws of physics, then it's possible."
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
I like companies with bold missions, and I'm fascinated by the rise of decentralised finance and love following companies like Coinbase; they are making new markets and setting new ambitious missions. Similarly, in the space of genetics, self-driving cars (which will take to flight).
AI and the new boundaries that are being pushed in so many different fields. With many of our leaders, we love brands that embrace the transformation needed to adapt to our evolving world.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
Success is how you feel about yourself when you are alone with your thoughts and feelings. It's an entirely personal thing. It is whether I have done everything I can with the resources and skills that I have to make a difference to other people. It's not a destination I will ever arrive at, and it's something I aspire to every single day. I've learnt that the moment you think you've arrived is the day you start going backwards. So, be humble, keep learning and keep growing.