Develop positive relationships – Cyril Aklasi

Cyril Aklasi, Founder and CEO of FH&C Company Limited has advised the youth to develop positive relationships in their workplaces, communities, schools and wherever they find themselves.

In an interview with the media, the businessman recounted how positive relationships he developed years ago played a critical role in the earlier stages of his business and how they continue to support and promote his businesses.

Technology and social media are gradually diminishing the personal relationship and friendship that existed years ago. Infact, there have been documentaries and PR initiatives geared towards correcting this anomaly globally but the problem still exists.

The Ghanaian greeting trend, “hello”, “goodmorning”, “good afternoon” etc. as usually heard at local bus stations is almost not heard since commuters are always “glued to the screens of their phones”. The CEO admonished the youth and Ghanaians in general to eschew such acts and appreciate the presence of people by communicating and building relationships.

In explaining how to achieve that, Mr. Aklasi mentioned that first and foremost, the ability to listen effectively was important to build relationships. Most times, people do not appreciate the opinions of others and by so doing dominate social conversations. It is important that people pay attention to what others say in communication.

He also mentioned the acceptance and celebration of differences as an important contribution to relationship building and the need to keep and maintain trust. He stressed “certainly, it’s a desire or an expectation that people understand and accept our point of view however, it would be awkward if everyone thought and acted the same because there would be no diversity”.

There is documented evidence of many business developed and built by friends either in college or their neighborhood. An example is the American multinational information technology company Hewlett-Packard built by two friends; William “Bill” Redington Hewlett and Dave Packard in 1939. Another example is Starbucks, built by three partners who met while they were students at the University of San Francisco.

Mr. Aklasi noted that not all relationships would generate into business ideas but could generate into a long-lasting friendship. but was worth the time in building them. He shared his thoughts on this and many other topics when he was visited by the media. Mr. Aklasi is founder and CEO of FH&C Company Limited; a Ghanaian owned business firm specialized in commodities trading, real estate, construction and civil works, investor representation and agribusiness.