THOUGHT LEADERSHIP JOURNAL

"THE MOST BASIC AND POWERFUL WAY TO CONNECT TO ANOTHER PERSON IS TO LISTEN. JUST LISTEN. PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WE EVER GIVE EACH OTHER IS OUR ATTENTION." - Rachel Naomi Remen |Clinical Professor at UCSF

In a world of endless distractions, it becomes easy to spread ourselves too thin.  We resort to things like “multi-tasking” to help us cope with the many demands that are placed on us.  While multi-tasking can be an effective tool in certain circumstances, it becomes a destructive one when it comes to interpersonal communication. Ask yourself, “how does it feel when someone is emailing while talking to you?”  Most would say disrespectful.  Here is a tougher question, “how would your customers feel?”  

The bottom line is, multi-tasking while communicating sends a message of disrespect.  In a study done and doctors and bedside manners, it was found that doctors who give 30 seconds of their full attention are rated significantly higher by patients. Having to re-ask what a pati...