Catalysing Conversations

Earlier this week, I had an intriguing dialogue with two of my colleagues - Masaru Miki and Suguru Takamatsu. It was a candid conversation that revolved around the philosophies of business, life, and purpose. Many of you may be familiar with Duologues , my platform for conversations with leaders across the spectrum and, exchange learnings from their experiences. Catalyzing Conversations is an internal communications platform to engage with business leaders within Panasonic where we discuss not only their professional but personal experiences and learnings too.

I have always believed that rich communication is central to ensure - the seamless flow of information, increase transparency, reduce the chance of misunderstanding, build mutual trust, to name a few. This dialogue reiterated how communication can be the key catalyzer for an organization. In this musing, I will try to share brief excerpts of my learnings over the years and some takeaways from this insightful conversation.

Both Miki san and Suguru san, who’d spent a substantial amount of time with Panasonic India on an expat posting from Panasonic Corporation in Japan, have not only accepted our vibrant culture but tried to imbibe the same. During the conversation, both leaders had positive things to say about their Indian experience. Commonalities in form of hard work, mutual respect, energy & passion towards making a sustainable organization were some of the key aspects. Some of the other aspects that were deliberated were the challenges that they faced, learnings derived out of it, and the legacy that they wish to leave behind. It was also interesting to see their bird’s eye view for Panasonic India’s long-term strategy. What I observed during this dialogue was that these leaders exuberated three key traits of a catalyst i.e., Ambition, Resilience, and Humility.

There were two key aspects that emerged out of the conversation – ?first, focused on the society talking about our value systems, collective wisdom, common beliefs, and the sustainable strategy for business. The second aspect centered around individuals and how every individual is unique and has their own set of capabilities and character. For instance, Suguru san wanted to be a jack of all trades and master of few; Miki san wanted to take a structured approach to master one at a time. ?These conversations brought forth an important point that irrespective of - the geography, the culture, the diverse nature of people, we at Panasonic are unified and are working towards a common goal of becoming - ONE Panasonic.

I believe, every organization has its distinct sense of capabilities that define them. We as leaders, need to cultivate these through ‘open communication platforms’ to foster a collaborative culture contributing towards organizational growth.

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