Craig Donohue on risk-taking
From Leaders on Leadership: Craig Donohue · · Detroit PBS
“Taking calculated and measured risks and sometimes failing is actually okay. As long as we learn from our mistakes and our mistakes are fewer than our successes, we're on the right track. It's when we're never failing or never taking risks that we may not be successful in the long run.”
On , Craig Donohue, Chief Executive Officer, President & Director at Cboe Global Markets, spoke about risk-taking during Leaders on Leadership: Craig Donohue on Detroit PBS.
About Craig Donohue
In a 2015 interview, Craig Donohue discussed his leadership approach and the strategic direction of CME Group, where he served as CEO. He described derivatives markets as a mechanism for hedging and transferring risk, comparing them to insurance. Donohue stated that demutualization and becoming a public company unified stakeholders around shareholder value creation. He emphasized taking a long-term view, including continued investment during the recession, and pursuing growth through large-scale mergers and acquisitions that generate cost synergies. Donohue also noted that innovation in a technical, regulated environment is "an art not a science" and that calculated risk-taking, including occasional failure, is acceptable as long as lessons are learned. Donohue addressed regulatory and ethical topics, stating that preventing financial scandals requires ethical leadership and a conservative approach. He argued that derivatives are useful for risk transfer but that the regulatory framework for over-the-counter markets had not kept pace with their growth, unlike exchange-traded markets. He also said that CME Group has focused on its competitive advantages rather than diversifying for investors, who can seek their own portfolio diversification.