'The beautiful part of it, which is also the hardest and the most painful part, is the editing... [if] you put a book out into the world which will be around longer than you, you might as well put in the effort to get it right.'

David McQueen has never been one to shy away from tough conversations. In his book, The BRAVE Leader, he challenges all leaders to lean into the difficulty, to be more courageous and ambitious in their decision-making for inclusivity. 

And it turns out that willingness to engage and that refusal to settle served him well when it came to writing his first book. More at home on the stage than the page, David found this a steep learning curve, and he's open and honest about what he discovered along the way. 

But just like those tough conversations, the hard work of writing and editing paid for itself in spades, and the book is now the 'centre of gravity' for his talks and other activities.  

If you need to be braver with your book and/or your leadership, this week's episode is for you... 

Following last week's quadricentennial episode, a slightly belated but still brilliant best bits episode, showcasing the shiniest gems from the last few Extraordinary Business Book Club conversations. 

The theme is pushing through discomfort, and it brings together extraordinary stories, illuminating insights and gloves-down challenges from: 

• Errol Doebler on emotional regulation and the discipline of writing; 
• Sir John Tusa on the traits of people who Get Things Done;
• Bonnie Wan on writing her way out of the darkest moments; 
• Andy Brown on taking ideas further; 
• Sara Dalrymple on getting through the discomfort of selling; 
• Gillian Camm on getting through the discomfort of editing; 
• Naren Aryal on breaking through the trust barrier; 
• Sara Lloyd on how publishers, and writers, face up to challenge. 

Includes ice baths, coffee, deep breaths and showing up. 

• How can I start running when I absolutely hate running?
• What's your one big, albeit lesser known, tip for writing your first book?
• Have you tried smoked chili peanut butter yet?

When I put out the call for questions for this quadricentennial episode, I could never have imagined the response. From the playful to the profound, these questions have got me thinking and I hope they, and my answers, will get you thinking too. 

So for one week only, to celebrate this 400-episode milestone, you're asking the questions in the Extraordinary Business Book Club and I'm in the hot seat. Very strange, but very fun! 

"You have to get in front of what you're writing. You have to look at it and you have to type a key. If you don't, it's just not going to happen."

Errol Doebler knows a thing or two about discipline. He's been a Naval Surface Warfare officer, Navy SEAL officer, FBI special agent and SWAT operator before founding his leadership consulting firm Ice Cold Leader, which is also the name of his new book. 

Why ice-cold? Because ice baths form a key part of his own self-regulation regime, and because managing emotional responses is so foundational to effective leadership. Errol had to develop a conscious process for emotional regulation after a traumatic injury robbed him of that area of his brain; that process turns out to be valuable for anyone facing the stress and emotional discomfort that accompany leadership. 

Prepare to be challenged and inspired in roughly equal measure.