Beth Comstock is the author of Imagine It Forward: Courage, Creativity, and the Power of Change. Beth served as NBC Universal’s President for Integrated Media as well as the General Electric Company’s Vice-Chair and Chief Marketing Officer, where she led efforts to promote growth and innovation. In her book, Imagine it Forward, Beth draws lessons from her 30-year career as a change-maker and offers her wisdom on cultivating courage, resilience, and creativity to spark innovation.

Beth joins me today to share her insights and wisdom on fostering creativity, innovation, and connection in an organization. She explains why she wrote her book and illustrate the process and challenges she experienced while writing it. She defines what social courage means and describes how she cultivated it. She explains what an agitated inquiry is and how you can use conflict and opposing perspectives to nurture innovation. She also discusses how fear prevents people from writing a book and shares her advice on promoting your work.

“People want to take different paths. To innovate, use that tension to get better ideas and a better view of the future.” – Beth Comstock

This week on The School for Good Living Podcast:

• The inspiration behind her book, Imagine it Forward, and the challenges she encountered in writing it
• Why Beth turned down Steve Jobs twice
• The impact of drafting press releases as if they had already been announced
• What social courage is and the micro-challenges Beth made to cultivate it
• The risks Beth took in her career and why she invited herself to meetings she wasn’t part of
• The meaning of agitated inquiry and how conflict can be leveraged to spark innovation
• How Beth has always had coaches and the qualities of an effective coach
• The importance of giving ourselves permission
• What stops people from starting their book and the importance of knowing why you want to write a book
• Beth’s writing rituals and how she planned the structure of her book
• Beth’s advice on book promotions and why she recommends reading your book out loud before getting it published

Resources Mentioned:

• Imagine It Forward: Courage, Creativity, and the Power of Change by Beth Comstock
• The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp
• Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
• The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have by Mark Nepo
• Drinking from the River of Light: The Life of Expression by Mark Nepo

Connect with Beth Comstock:

• Website
• Beth Comstock on Instagram
• Beth Comstock on Twitter
• Beth Comstock on LinkedIn

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