Investment in relationships is important in professional life, especially if you are a leader and want to bring out transformation, say industry veterans.

Addressing a gathering at the recent launch of the book ‘Creating Winning Relationship through Conversations with Self’ organised by the Madras Management Association in Chennai, L Lakshman, Chairman, Rane Group, said disruptions are brought by leaders, who initiate the seed of change under different social and political circumstances.

He said people need to trust the leader enough to follow them to bring on the change. “Unless you have invested in creating that trust, it cannot happen,” he added.

PC Ramakrishna, a veteran theatre artist, said this is applicable in theatre as well, where trust between actors is essential to bring out a good result. “Artistes operate from the stand point of trust; trust in their ability to bring out the best. It is like a musical performance where the singer trusts the violinist and other artistes to bring the perfect tune,” he said.

Raghavan Srinivasan, Editor, BusinessLine , said collaboration is the key in media industry as well. “A story you see in the paper is the culmination of team effort with leaders and other players that bring out the finished product. You need to collaborate if you want to accomplish,” he added.

Building relationships is key for gathering information, which a journalist typically does. “Gathering information depends on a journalist’s ability to have a engaged conversation with willing providers,” he said.

For that to happen, a journalist should be able to make meaningful connection with the person and that requires empathy and significant investment of time and effort.

TT Srinath, the author of the book, said all these reasons form the core of the book, which draws his personal experiences and his encounters with people in different walks of life. Srinath said that the objective of the book is to highlight the importance of relationships and why one should invest in and foster them.

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