Welcome to March! The Spring Equinox is upon us. The light has been growing in the evenings so I don't have to get in my steps in the dark.

Renewal feels close.

I'm particularly excited about the conversations I've been having. Years of effort seem to be poised to now come to fruition.

24+ years ago, my best friend, Sherry, introduced me to a book that she was passionate about. I read it and together we imagined what a business would look like that practiced the principles the book promoted.

That was the kind of business that I wanted to work for. So, I adopted the idea and some of the language in creating marketing about my business, IDIC Designs.

Recently, I borrowed the book from the library because I could not find my copy for a reference check. And I've been re-reading it again.

I was wrong in trying to adopt the language of the book. I should have been reading and re-reading it regularly to implement its lessons.

Adopting the language of something but not acting on it is coercing, manipulating, or influencing actions from others under false pretenses. That was one of the very things the book was written to call out and eliminate.

It's fashionable these days to talk about purpose, passion, and authenticity in business. I think we should. I want to be better at being authentic, sharing my purpose, and having a larger impact.

But, for this month, I want to share with you my WHY. And to do that I'm going to turn over the rest of this column to Robert K. Cooper and Ayman Sawaf in Executive EQ: Emotional Intelligence in Leadership & Organizations.

This is Rob Ruder.

I'm the founder of IDIC Designs, LLC, a business dedicated to improving the use of digital technology in your work and personal life.

You can find me at: RobertRuder.com.

I'll see you next month!

Taken from page xiii of Executive EQ:

Emotional intelligence emerges not from the rarefied intellect, but from the workings of the human heart. EQ isn't about sales tricks or how to work a room. And it's not about putting a good face on things, or the psychology of control, exploitation, or manipulation.

The word emotion may be simply defined as applying "movement," either metaphorically or literally, to core feelings. It is emotional intelligence that motivates us to pursue our unique potential and purpose, and activates our innermost values and aspirations, transforming things we think about to what we live.

Emotions have long been considered to be of such depth and power that in Latin, for example, they were described as motus anima, meaning literally, "the spirit that moves us."

Contrary to most conventional thinking, emotions are inherently neither positive nor negative; rather, they serve as the single most powerful source of human energy, authenticity, and drive. They can offer us a wellspring of intuitive wisdom.

In fact, feelings provide us with vital and potentially profitable information every minute of the day. This feedback--from the heart, not the head--is what ignites creative genius, keeps you honest with yourself, shapes trusting relationships, provides an inner compass for your life and career, guides you to unexpected possibilities, and may even save you or your organization from disaster.

It is not enough, of course to just have feelings. Emotional intelligence requires that we learn to acknowledge and value feelings--in ourselves and others--and that we appropriately respond to them, effectively applying the information and energy of emotion in our daily life and work. A more complete definition is as follows:

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