How to create winning relationships with trust, empathy, and Torah wisdom

We all want our relationships to thrive, but how do we build them using the blueprint of Torah? Marketing strategist Yitzchok Saftlas took up the challenge: What if he could focus on building strong connections using the Torah’s timeless wisdom, offering actionable tips for fostering trust, respect, empathy, connection, mutual growth, and lasting success in both personal and professional life?

When Dale Carnegie wrote How to Win Friends and Influence People back in 1936, he surely had no idea that close to a century later, people would still be using his model for improving their relationships and interpersonal skills. That’s because before he passed away in 1955, Carnegie unlocked a secret — that contrary to some of our natural instincts to control and manipulate in order to steer our connections in a certain direction, healthy relationships are built on genuine interest in others, sincere appreciation and empathy, shifting focus from ourselves to others by being a good listener, remembering names and important facts, avoiding criticism, making people feel important, and focusing on their needs — all pathways to building authentic trust, rapport and mutual respect.

We all want relationships that not only survive but endure and thrive — at home, at work, and within our communities. But how do we build them? And is there a Torah blueprint for maximum positive connection and influence with minimum fallout?

The idea to delve into this wasn’t lost on Yitzchok Saftlas, CEO of Bottom Line Marketing Group, a Brooklyn-based agency that serves corporate, nonprofit, and political clients. The former radio show host, popular podcaster, and marketing strategist is always happy to share a wide range of innovative business tips from top CEOs and industry leaders, but what if he could focus on building strong connections through the Torah’s timeless wisdom, offering actionable tips for fostering trust, connection, and mutual growth and creating lasting success in personal and professional life?

“I’ve always been passionate about sharing stories and insights,” says Saftlas. “I hosted a radio show for more than eight years before transitioning to podcasts, and along the way, I interviewed many Fortune 500 executives from various backgrounds. The Gemara recognizes that there is wisdom among the non-Jewish nations, yet at the same time, it is understood that all wisdom originates in the Torah, so it was exciting for me to search for and discover these concepts within our holy Torah.”

The fruit of that research was A Practical Guide to Winning Relationships: Life Lessons for Building Enduring Relationships through the Prism of Torah Wisdom (ArtScroll) which Saftlas wrote together with Binyamin Rose, Mishpacha’s longtime news editor and today’s editor at large.

Saftlas attributes the profound influence Rav Avigdor Miller ztz”l had on him to his initial foray into this element of successful business – and of life in general.

“People who know me well are aware of the profound influence Rav Avigdor Miller ztz”l had on my life and the personal connection I was privileged to share with him,” he says. “My father would sometimes take me along to his shiurim, where I began to see his Torah-based approach to life. Then, in the late 1980s and 1990s, I was fortunate to join Rav Miller on his well-known walks, where we had meaningful conversations.