E17: Stephen Page OBE: Chair of Faber & Faber on the opportunities you see out of the corner of your eye

The Creative Adventure

In this episode, we chat with the accomplished and thoughtful Stephen Page OBE.

Starting his working life in a bookshop he soon realised he wanted to be "nearer to the story", and found his way into his first role in publishing. Cutting his teeth in sales and marketing, Stephen's relentless, enterprising approach saw his career rise with successes at Transworld and Third Estate before arriving as CEO of Faber, where he steered the business for 20 years.

Now Chair of Faber he is establishing himself as a leadership coach, on the Board of Creative Access, a member of the Creative Industries Council and lecturing on publishing and creative writing.

We hear Stephen's reflections on his own story and the creative forces that have shaped his career and life as a whole.

We talk about:

• How he was drawn to imaginative places in childhood
• How growing up as a twin shaped him
• Falling in love with books when inter-railing in the 1980s
• Finding the thing he wanted to move towards and going after it
• How a grounding in sales and marketing taught him about all aspects of publishing
• The importance of always adding skills in developing your career
• How by not knowing the rules, you can break them without noticing
• What emerges when you allow yourself to see things through the corner of your eye
• The creative process of walking down the road to see down the cul-de-sacs
• Recognising your ambition and not being shy to act on it
• What it takes to be a leader, "being in the room"
• His sense of duty working and contributing towards opportunities in the creative sector
• How he is working with creative leaders, and leaders in general, as an executive coach

Stephen:

https://stephenpagecoaching.com/

https://www.faber.co.uk

Us:

www.linkedin.com/in/greg-vartoukian

www.linkedin.com/in/andrewwainstein

www.boxlist.com

https://www.andrewwainstein.com/