Beth Comstock, former CMO and Vice Chair of GE, discusses her career path, implementing greener policies, learning from failure, and the decline of GE. She emphasizes the importance of embracing change, empowering advocates, and promoting diversity and inclusivity.
Beth Comstock emphasizes the importance of finding one's own leadership style and navigating a male-dominated industry.
Comstock highlights the need for leaders to embrace conflict, build influence, and create feedback loops to effectively drive and implement change.
Deep dives
Embracing Change and Seizing Opportunities
Beth Comstock shares her personal journey of embracing change and seizing opportunities in her career. She discusses how she transitioned from a career in journalism to becoming the vice chair of General Electric (GE), sharing the unexpected path she took and the lessons she learned along the way.
Overcoming Challenges in a Male-Dominated Industry
Beth Comstock discusses the challenges she faced as a woman in the corporate world, particularly in the male-dominated industry of GE. She shares her experiences of navigating a predominantly male environment and the importance of finding her own leadership style.
Driving Change and Innovation at GE
Beth Comstock highlights the importance of driving change and innovation within organizations. She explains how she led the eco-imagination initiative at GE, focusing on developing environmentally conscious products and navigating challenges in the face of skepticism.
Lessons on Leading Through Change
Beth Comstock reflects on the lessons she learned about leading through change. She emphasizes the need for leaders to embrace conflict, build influence, and create feedback loops to effectively drive and implement change.
Beth Comstock is comfortable with change. In college, she wanted to be a doctor, but organic chemistry wasn't her strong suit, so she shifted to journalism. When journalism didn't work out, she started working in publicity. So, when GE bought NBC in 1986 right as Beth was starting her career in advertising, she was ready to adapt again. She worked her way to becoming CMO of GE and then, the company's first female Vice Chair of Business Innovations.
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