The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called ‘The Human Moment,’ about how to make real contact with a person at work: … The fundamental thing you have to do is turn off your BlackBerry, close your laptop, end your daydream and pay full attention to the person.

Goleman uses the idea of a “human moment” to argue that genuine workplace connection is less a matter of technique than of attention. The quote frames modern office technology—phones, laptops, even mental distraction—as the chief obstacle to empathy and rapport. By insisting on turning devices off and “pay[ing] full attention,” he links emotional intelligence to presence: the capacity to notice another person’s cues, respond appropriately, and build trust. The passage also implies that productivity tools can undermine the very collaboration they are meant to support, and that leadership and teamwork depend on deliberate, undivided engagement in face-to-face interaction.