Tachi Yamada, formerly of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, stated the following:

A second key lesson was from a doctor named Marcel Tuchman.

He was the most compassionate person I have ever met in my life—I mean, full of human kindness. And every time he met somebody, you had the sense that he cared more about them than anything else in the world. So what I learned from him is that when you actually are with somebody, you’ve got to make that person feel like nobody else in the world matters. I think that’s critical. So, for example, I don’t have a mobile phone turned on because I’m talking to you. I don’t want the outside world to impinge on the conversation we’re having. I don’t carry a BlackBerry. I do my e-mails regularly, but I do it when I have the time on a computer. I don’t want to be sitting here thinking that I’ve got an e-mail message coming here and I’d better look at that while I’m talking to you. Every moment counts, and that moment is lost if you’re not in that moment 100 percent.103 Based on Yamada’s comments and your own experiences, answer the following questions:

A. What do you think Yamada means by the statement, “that moment is lost if you’re not in that moment 100 percent”? How does this relate to listening? Do you think this is a reasonable expectation in the workplace?

B. What kinds of electronic gadgets and communication tools can take focus away from a conversation? What are some principles for making sure these gadgets and tools are not distracting?

C. Do you believe kindness is an important principle of listening and communicating in business? Can kindness be developed?

If so, how?