South Africa, June 21 -- It is astounding how many captains of industry in South Africa shy away from the media instead of realising the enormous benefits of creating direct personal relationships.
One of the biggest advantages of having a personal relationship with an editor or journalist is that nothing involving your company will get published behind your back simply because when a journalist has a personal relationship with a CEO there is very little chance that contact won't take place immediately.
My own experience in the corporate sector proved time and again that potential crises were nipped in the bud simply because editors and journalists whom I knew personally, and to whom I had a permanently open door, contacted me right from ...