Powered by Instinct

Strengths-based coaching can have an incredible impact for companies of all sizes and across various industries. When businesses commit to the people part of their organization, amazing results follow.  

Great strengths-based coaching requires expertise on instinctive strengths as well as expertise in coaching. It’s essential to know how to create buy-in from the top down, and to create a safe environment that allows individuals that show resistance to ask questions and eliminate doubts so the entire team can commit to increasing productivity, lowering stress, and improving collaboration. 

In this episode of Powered by Instinct, our guest is Jessica Harrington, Executive Business Coach at Carson Coaching. Jessica is a Kolbe Certified™ Consultant and recipient of the 2022 Kolbe Professional Award. If you’re interested in developing as a strengths-based leader, you don’t want to miss this one!  

Host: David Kolbe (8273)

Guest-at-a-Glance 

💡 Name: Jessica Harrington (7823)

💡 What she does: Jessica is Executive Business Coach at Carson Coaching. 

💡 Company: Carson Coaching 

💡 Noteworthy: Jessica was recently awarded the 2022 Kolbe Professional Award for being an outstanding Kolbe Certified Consultant. 

💡 Where to find Jessica: LinkedIn 

Podcast Insights 

⚡Some people are hesitant to take an assessment. Therefore, a consultant's job is to create a safe environment and help those individuals share their doubts and ask questions. ''I was matched with a team of ten people, and one of them was resistant to what they would consider an assessment index. And so, luckily, we had the opportunity — I feel it's important to do this, especially given that I work with smaller teams — to have one-on-ones before I went out there and met with the group in-person. And so, that opportunity was pivotal in their understanding of the difference that Kolbe brings to the table versus other experiences they had. It was a great foundation for us to have a great meeting to the point where that person sent an email after I left and thanked us for that opportunity.'' 

⚡Kolbe helps team members embrace and make the most of each other's differences, whether it is a new team or a group of people who have been working together for decades. As a result, people can define their strengths and accept that these may differ from their colleagues' strengths. Moreover, if used correctly, these differences will lead to positive outcomes, primarily in finance. ''And so, let's celebrate this. It is a huge opportunity for you to specialize here and there, to shine a light on it in a different way, and say there's a middle road that we have to take, especially in an industry that's so focused on compliance and doing certain things a certain way.'' 

⚡Kolbe is an excellent hiring tool, but it can also help you eliminate obstacles that prevent your team from delivering desired results. So again, it is up to Kolbe consultants to show how the assessment can be a game changer in a given work environment. ''Kolbe gets brought in when a lot is going on and in [the case of] some strife or dysfunction. And so, first, [we] let them know we're here as a positive reinforcement. At the least, we're going to give you better language to communicate with each other.' 

***
Find the freedom to be yourself by taking the Kolbe A™ Index or Kolbe Y™ Index for the youth in your life. Many successful companies work directly with a Kolbe Certified™ Consultant — find one in your area.

In this episode of Powered by Instinct, Amy Bruske and David Kolbe, the President and CEO of Kolbe Corp, respectively, discuss what it means to be an effective leader in modern times. They do so by asking questions every manager should ask themselves: 

• Do you spend the majority of my time working in ways that energize you versus on tasks that drain you?   
• Do you impose my way of doing things on others?    
• Do you know how each person on your team solves problems?  
• Do you know how to strategically group people together to solve problems and get desired results?  
• Do you effectively help each member of your team minimize stress in their position?   
• As your company grows, are you confident in your ability to create or redesign roles for the future?   

Follow along to see how your answers these essential challenges compare with Amy and David’s experiences, and to learn how you can grow as a strengths-based leader! 

Hosts-at-a-Glance 

Names: David Kolbe (8273) and Amy Bruske 3583)

What they do: David is the CEO of Kolbe Corp and Amy is the President of Kolbe Corp. 

Company: Kolbe Corp 

Noteworthy: Amy is one of Kolbe Corp's three senior master consultants. She is a sought-after speaker for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and entrepreneurial organizations in various industries. David works to empower individuals, businesses, and non-profits to use conative strengths in the ways they care about most. His combined experiences as a Legislative Director, lawyer, and CEO, while being a husband and father of four, bring an unusually interesting perspective to his work and presentations. 

Where to find Amy: LinkedIn 

Where to find David: LinkedIn 

Podcast Insights 

🎙️As a leader, you are also a team member, and it is in everyone's best interest for you to be aligned with your strengths. It means that no one expects you to know all the answers. But they need you to meet your needs and focus your energy on resolving the issues you are best at. That way, you lead by example and encourage them to do the same. ''There are enough challenges out there. So I want to remind everyone that mental energy is finite. You only have a certain amount of it to give. So you have to make hard choices every day. There are times when you have to work against your grain; that is the reality of being a leader. But you wanna minimize that because you need to have some energy left over for some of the most important decision-making.'' 

🎙️An effective leader knows their success formula. So, aside from building or delegating experienced employees to build processes and selecting a high-quality tech stack, an effective leader also understands the importance of gathering excellent individuals and encouraging them to establish and use their strengths. ''Building a team around you takes time, but getting the right people in place means I don't have to do those things. So that is my constant focus.'' 

🎙️A team of like-minded individuals doesn't guarantee success. On the contrary, a collaboration between different approaches is more likely to get results. In addition, such a team allows a leader to focus on more strategic tasks. Therefore, if you’re wondering what makes a good leader effective, it is the skill of delegating and building a diverse team. ''The team of the best players at every position isn't necessarily the best because they might not fit well together. [...] If you get too many people with the same strengths, it's not an effective team.  

***
Find the freedom to be yourself by taking the Kolbe A™ Index or Kolbe Y™ Index for the youth in your life. Many successful companies work directly with a Kolbe Certified™ Consultant — find one in your area.

No matter who you are and where you work, knowing your instinctive strengths will help you thrive. But one field that’s seen particular advancements using Kolbe is the financial industry.  

To explore why that is, our host Eric Herrera welcomes Libby Paul, Talent Development Manager at Keating & Associates. They talk about the benefits of Kolbe in the financial space, how it matches employees with work that fulfills them, and the impact of Kolbe on team development. 

Host: Eric Herrera (5392)

Guest-at-a-Glance 

💡 Name: Libby Paul (8623)

💡 What she does: She's the Talent Development Manager at Keating & Associates. 

💡 Company: Keating & Associates 

💡 Noteworthy: Libby provides talent development services and coordination to approximately 50 staff. Through thoughtful onboarding plans, development of in-house training resources, facilitating continuing education and growth opportunities, staff supervision, and connection to the KA culture, she loves supporting and elevating her staff to work to their unique abilities and experience ongoing growth at KA. She's a Kolbe™ Certified Consultant, providing interpretation and workshop services within the organization and to her valued business clients. 

💡 Where to find Libby: LinkedIn 

Key Insights  

⚡The financial space is about understanding people. The financial field involves not just money management but people management as well. So, it's important to understand people and relationships. Libby explains, "Financial advisors are in the relationship and productivity space as well as in the advice space. So, they're busy working with individuals and families. They're working in marriages. They're also working with business owners, helping them move forward, not just in a financial way, but reaching the dreams and goals that they have for their personal lives and for their business lives. So I think when you have financial advisors who know that their work with their clients on their financial goals is going to touch that personal side, they are really looking at how can I help this individual, or this company, or this spousal group reach their aspirations in a meaningful way." 

⚡ The more you understand your clients, the better you can help them. Knowing your own Kolbe Index can significantly improve your relationships with others, including your clients. Libby says, "Being able to know our clients inside and out and understand how they operate naturally really helps our advisors to be able to come alongside their clients and tailor their advice to help them reach their goals in a meaningful way, to help them take action naturally to reach those goals, and it also gives them a lot of good communication insight into how these clients are going to receive the information from them." 

⚡ Kolbe allows people to be the best authentic versions of themselves. The most powerful thing about Kolbe is that it allows people to be authentic and true to themselves. Libby explains, "I really had my eye on certification for years. I've been with Keating for seven years, and I was greatly impacted by Kolbe at the very beginning of my time at Keating because I have a passion for coaching others and wanting them to be the very best, authentic versions of themselves and seeing how Kolbe enables people to have that personal insight and also confidence in their own strengths — owning those as a value, as a positive thing in their life, and not apologizing for how they're wired — has been a really great thing." 

***
Find the freedom to be yourself by taking the Kolbe A™ Index or Kolbe Y™ Index for the youth in your life. Many successful companies work directly with a Kolbe Certified™ Consultant — find one in your area.

When you understand and embrace the power of instinctive strengths, it can make a huge difference at work. But the learning doesn’t stop there.  

A greater understanding of instinctive strengths can also provide incredible support in your personal journey, and in the growth of those you care about most — including your children.  

In this episode of Powered by Instinct, our host and CEO David Kolbe welcomes Kolbe Certified™ Consultant Clare Willson. Clare shares the breakthrough she felt when she first took the Kolbe A™ Index and why she decided to become a Kolbe Certified™ Consultant and Youth Specialist. She details how Kolbe helped her empower her son and how she helps other parents do the same.  

If only Clare had discovered Kolbe when she was young. It would have helped her process and appreciate her strengths when it comes to organizing. If you need to create shortcuts and need flexibility when it comes to working with systems and procedures, make sure to tune in for some great conversation on the topic!
 

Host: David Kolbe (8273)

Guest-at-a-Glance 

• Name: Clare Willson (9234)

• What she does: Clare is a team strategist at Riff Creative Studio. 

• Company: Riff Creative Studio 

• Noteworthy: Clare is also a Kolbe Certified Consultant, a Kolbe Certified™ Youth Specialist, and a former teacher. 

• Where to find Clare: LinkedIn

Podcast Insights 

🎙️Kolbe helped us improve our family relations. Like most of our guests, Clare had other family members take a Kolbe Assessment. Once they saw each other's results and compared them, it was easier for everyone to understand the other and improve their communication. ''My dad was a strategic coach, so he had also taken Kolbe. [...] My mom took it, my sister, my brother, their spouses, and all of our kids. [...] My son is ten years old. So it's baked into how we interact with each other. 

🎙️We can be more effective parents if we embrace our children's strengths and teach them to do the same. Clare was a teacher and is now a coach working with startups, business owners, and parents. As she says, working at school and having Kolbe ''under her sleeves'' helped her build a relationship with her son and motivate him to be his true self. However, she knows that's challenging for many parents, so she dedicates one part of her calling to showing them how. ''You don't have to be an expert to approach your kids this way. I think it does start with an understanding that the Conative is a separate, special part of the mind, that it's a real gift, and that there's a pattern that is predictable and that exists not only with you but with each of your children. And if you can find a way to work with that and understand it, you don't have to be an expert and know all the nuances. You have to start and learn as you go, and be curious.'' 

🎙️Kolbe builds better team players in business and daily life. ''If you are using this for your business, then you know that it works, and you know its power. And so, maybe it's just a question of time when people stop and say, 'I could have a big transformation like this in my family life as well.' Well, you absolutely can. Especially if you're using it for business, you already know it works. So imagine what it would be like to have this kind of teamwork within your own family.'' 

***
Find the freedom to be yourself by taking the Kolbe A™ Index or Kolbe Y™ Index for the youth in your life. Many successful companies work directly with a Kolbe Certified™ Consultant — find one in your area.

Finding the right balance between the leaders of your organization is absolutely critical to success, and instinctive strengths play a huge role in that balance. So, how do you ensure that your CEO and COO, can collaborate in a way that propels you towards completing your company’s mission? 

“I realized why people thought I was crazy!” — In this episode of Powered by Instinct, Cameron Herold, the founder of COO Alliance, joins our host Amy Bruske to discuss Kolbe and how taking the assessment changed his perspective on how he approaches diversity of strengths in the work environment. Cameron also discusses company culture, leadership dynamics, and the breakthrough moment when he discovered just how much not understanding the instinctive strengths of others impacted his ability to collaborate with them.


Host: Amy Bruske (3583)

Guest-at-a-Glance 

Name: Cameron Herold (4393)

What he does: Cameron is the founder of COO Alliance. 

Company: COO Alliance 

Noteworthy: Cameron is also the host of the Second in Command Podcast and the author of several books. He is known by the nickname the “CEO Whisperer”. 

Where to find Cameron: LinkedIn 

Podcast Insights 

🎙️Kolbe helped me understand that our differences should connect and not separate us. Similar to our previous guests, Cameron explains how Kolbe brought a new perspective on how people get things done, especially in the workplace. Being different, as Cameron says, is an advantage in helping businesses grow. ''I did my Kolbe profile in 2002, then I did it again around ten years ago, and both times, the number was the same: 4, 3, 9, 3. So I feel confident that that's my grounding. But one thing I had to learn from doing some work with Kolbe was how to work with the high Fact Finders and the high Follow Thrus to understand their styles so that I can accommodate them and not be too fast for them. [...] I think the biggest gift I can give them is to say, 'Do you have any more questions? What other questions might you have?' Or sometimes to say, 'Here's my bucket. Keep telling me all the cool shit you want to. I might not let it sit in my brain, but I'm quite happy every once in a while to let you tell me more,' because that’s what they need to do.'' 

🎙️It took me years to recognize and understand my strengths, but once I did it, everything fell into place. Cameron loves to work under pressure and leave everything to the last minute. This approach has always worked for him. However, it was hard for him and those around him to understand or approve of his way of doing things. ''I'd built three companies prior to doing my first Kolbe profile. So, I'd already done some pretty big substantial businesses. When I did the Kolbe, all of a sudden, I realized why people thought I was crazy, why they thought I was making it up on the fly or shooting from the hip, or why my thinking out loud bothered them. Because they didn't understand where it was coming from and how it made me. So it gave them a glimpse into me.'' 

🎙️My goal is to help my manager grow as a leader. Cameron is an entrepreneur, speaker, and educator. He is a lifelong learner and believes in constant growth. In addition, he is on a mission to share his skills and knowledge with others and help his team members develop as professionals. ''One of the biggest shortcuts that I'm obsessed about right now is not just growing my skills as a leader, but how do I grow the skills of all of the managers in my company, so that I give them the leadership skills.'' 

***
Find the freedom to be yourself by taking the Kolbe A™ Index or Kolbe Y™ Index for the youth in your life. Many successful companies work directly with a Kolbe Certified™ Consultant — find one in your area.

On the latest installment of the Powered by Instinct Podcast, Kolbe Corp CEO David Kolbe talked with Dana Anspach about what it means to trust your gut in the high-stakes world of finance. Dana is a Kolbe certified™ Consultant and the founder and CEO of Sensible Money, a financial planning firm that regularly uses Kolbe theory to cater to their clients’ instinctive needs. Understanding those needs allows Dana and her team to present and share information in the best possible way for each client, while also better understanding and anticipating client questions and reactions. 

David and Dana also discuss the impact Kolbe has had on her professional life, why Kolbe is the only assessment she uses with clients and with new and existing employees, and how taking the assessment helped her grow as a leader. 

Host: David Kolbe (8273)

Guest-at-a-Glance 

Name: Dana Anspach (6582)

What she does: Dana is the founder and CEO of Sensible Money, LLC. 

Company: Sensible Money, LLC             

Noteworthy: Dana is an influential thought leader in financial services and gives advice on financial planning and retirement. She is also a Kolbe Certified Consultant.  

Where to find Dana: LinkedIn 

Podcast Insights 

🎙️Kolbe changed the way I see people. Dana was the type of person who, as she says, thought her way was the only way to do certain things. As a result, she didn't understand why others took different approaches and struggled with assignments while she finished quickly. But then, she took the Kolbe assessment, which was a life-changer. The results helped her understand herself and, most importantly, her coworkers. ''I used to be a lot more arrogant in thinking that my way of doing things was best. And I would think, 'This is easy for me; why can't you do it?' And then I started to see things so differently. This is easy for me because that's within my strengths, and that is easy for them because it's within their strengths.'' 

🎙️Kolbe is an essential part of our hiring and employee training. Moreover, Dana's company suggests clients take Kolbe A as it helps the team understand clients better, how they collect and process information, and determine their needs. As a result, Kolbe has become an integral part of the company culture. ''We train on it every year. We have a folder with everybody's Kolbe A indexes and a folder with their A to A with all their immediate team members. And they can request one with anyone on the team if they want to see it. And so, once a year, we ask everyone to go in — it's part of the training we have built into our process — to look at it, and we will ask them to share some things they learned from revisiting their Kolbe. We'll ask them to share some things they saw and insights they had in working with others.'' 

🎙️It takes maturity and something like Kolbe A for leaders to acknowledge that they are not perfect. When asked whether the Kolbe assessment had a more significant impact on her productivity or leadership skills, Dana said that it was the latter. ''Leadership starts at the top, and if you're not willing to look inside yourself and some of that shifts to the affective side of being able to say, 'I'm willing to look at myself and see what needs to change to be a more effective leader and that my way isn't always right.' I can see how leaders can fall into that trap of, 'I'm great. Look what I've accomplished.' But my favorite saying is: ‘What got me here won't get me there.’ And some of that is my Kolbe and me constantly looking for how I could do better and how this could be more effective.'' 

***
Find the freedom to be yourself by taking the Kolbe A™ Index or Kolbe Y™ Index for the youth in your life. Many successful companies work directly with a Kolbe Certified™ Consultant — find one in your area.

The Kolbe A™ Index is the only assessment that measures how you naturally take action. Of course, once you’ve taken the Index, there are several actions you can take to better understand and build on your conative strengths. 

First of all, you’ll want to have an appreciation of what your result means.  

So, in this episode of the Powered by Instinct podcast, our host Amy Bruske walks us through the four Action Modes®: Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start, and Implementor. She explains Kolbe numbers in detail and shares tips to help you better understand your results, and how you can use them going forward.


Host: Amy Bruske (3583)

Key Insights  

⚡ All Kolbe A results are positive and equal. It's important to understand that there are no right or wrong Kolbe results. Amy explains, "All results are positive. So, there are no good or bad or right or wrong Kolbe results. All of the results are absolutely positive and equal. So, one person might have an eight in one of Kolbe’ Action Modes and another person a two — those are equally positive. So, people have the same amount of mental energy or striving energy to get things done — you are equal to anybody else in your ability to execute." 

⚡ Kolbe A is unchanging. Our surroundings or genetics don't determine our instincts. And the same goes for our Kolbe A results. Amy says, "The good part about that is you can know what to count on in yourself and other people. The bad part about that is if you're trying to change your significant other, you can stop now because that is not going to work. There are some things about how people take action that are natural and are not going to change over time." 

⚡ There are four Kolbe Action Modes. Kolbe's four Action Modes show how you take action and approach problems. Amy says, "Fact Finder is how you gather and share information. Follow Thru is how you organize or design things. Quick Start is how you deal with risk and uncertainty, and Implementor is how you handle space and tangibles."

Episode Highlights  

The Fact Finder mode is how you handle information 

"Fact Finder is how you gather and share information. We all give information; we all receive information. How you do that falls on this continuum from someone who is going to be very specific in that seven through ten range up to someone in the one through three range who is going to simplify." 

The Follow Thru mode is how you organize and design 

"Think of this as a continuum from someone who is systematic on the seven through ten range up to someone in the one to three range who is more adaptable. Now, those of you who fall in the seven through ten range in Follow Thru, you do your best problem-solving when you design a plan first, when you absolutely have a system in place for how things get done, and you're the one who naturally gets pleasure out of crossing something off your list." 

The Quick Start mode is how you handle risk and uncertainty  

"Think of it as a continuum from someone who is naturally going to jump in and innovate solutions up to someone who's going to stabilize. And those of you that fall in the seven through ten range, you do your best problem-solving when you can experiment. You jump in, and you try things out." 

The Implementor mode is how you handle space and tangibles 

"Think of it as this continuum from someone who is going to naturally build a solution or demonstrate something in three dimensions up to someone who's going to envision or imagine a solution." 

***
Find the freedom to be yourself by taking the Kolbe A™ Index or Kolbe Y™ Index for the youth in your life. Many successful companies work directly with a Kolbe Certified™ Consultant — find one in your area.

Are you ready to use your natural instincts to improve your business, your team, your career and — your life?! Listen to THIS episode for pro tips that will set you up for sustained success. 

Welcome to the 10th episode of Powered by Instinct. In the previous nine episodes, we talked with Kolbe experts, CEOs, and entrepreneurs about hiring, onboarding, employee engagement, company culture, and how the Kolbe A™ Index helps improve these processes.  

You’ll find answers to the following questions, and much more: 

• What is the Kolbe A Index? 
• What assessments should I be taking, and should I combine them with Kolbe? 
• Why should I use Kolbe for hiring? 
• How can Kolbe help me build and maintain an engaged culture? 
• What has Kolbe done for other businesses and individuals, and how can it do the same for me? 

This episode is chock-full of information, innovation, and insight to help you take your business, your team, and your career to new levels, powered by instincts. 


Host: Eric Herrera (5392)

Podcast Insights 

🎙️The Kolbe A Index is an assessment of your strengths, your natural abilities, and the way you creatively solve problems. In the first episode of Powered by Instinct, we talked with the creator of Kolbe Index, Kathy Kolbe. We discussed what distinguishes it from other similar assessments and explained the revelations it leads to. ''So, it's not how smart you are; it's not your personality type. It's how you get things done when you do what is best — when you do it your natural way. So, what are your natural inclinations in problem-solving?'' says Kathy. 

🎙️The Kolbe Index helps you improve your hiring process. Companies use different tests and take different interviewing approaches to find the best fit for a particular role within their organization. But sometimes, even the best candidates do not meet their expectations. A Kolbe assessment is a valuable tool to avoid such a situation. ''People know what to say in an interview. I used to train on behavioral interviewing for years, and we would coach people on how to answer interview questions. And so, if you ask someone what they will do or how they will handle a situation, they know what you're looking for — there's a right answer. And so, by looking at it using an objective assessment, like the Kolbe Index, you're gonna get the information that you need. It also takes out that bias you might have when you listen to someone,'' explains Amy Bruske, President of Kolbe Corp. 

🎙️The Kolbe System™ helps you improve employee engagement. Culture is one of the core elements of your company. It is a tool that enables you to align your vision and mission with the rest of the team. But if you want your employees to work on a shared goal, you must nurture a culture of open communication and trust and allow them to show and use their natural strengths. The Kolbe Index helps you identify those and boost employee morale, teamwork, and productivity. ''If you have people engaged in their roles, they're a great fit for the culture of the organization, and they're a fit for their job. So that person will love their job, and engagement automatically goes up. And those are the people you want to build the future on. So an engaged culture is one where everyone's firing on all cylinders, contributing at high levels, and there is teamwork and knowing who should be doing what. Those kinds of things are factors that are hard to measure, but we can focus a lot more on that and a lot less on buying fun stuff and great outings and bringing your dog to work and all of the things that sound like great perks but don't necessarily move the needle,'' says Amy. 

***
Find the freedom to be yourself by taking the Kolbe A™ Index or Kolbe Y™ Index for the youth in your life. Many successful companies work directly with a Kolbe Certified™ Consultant — find one in your area.

Employee engagement has always been important. It has never been more important than it is now.  

The realities of the pandemic, combined with technological advances, have created a new era where remote work is a standard part of business. Company culture is critical, a bigger mission is vital, and an environment that employees value is essential. 

In this episode of Powered by Instinct, our host David Kolbe welcomes Stefan Wissenbach, the founder and CEO of Engagement Multiplier. After spending years in consultancy, Stefan realized his purpose was to help companies improve employee engagement by offering tools that can measure and build upon it. After all, as Stefan says, “what gets measured can be improved.” 

Stefan and David discuss steps to improve the employee experience, and Stefan shares a valuable framework that he refers to as ABC: Alignment, Belonging, and Clarity. They also talk successful teams.  


Host: David Kolbe (8273)

Guest-at-a-Glance 

Name: Stefan Wissenbach (5492)

What he does: Stefan is the founder and CEO of Engagement Multiplier. 

Company: Engagement Multiplier 

Noteworthy: Stefan has been working with entrepreneurs and business leaders for three decades on an industry that ''hit the headlines'' once the pandemic began and continues to be a giant priority in the post-pandemic business world: employee engagement.  

Where to find Stefan: LinkedIn 

Podcast Insights 

🎙️It's time for companies to focus on employee experience. Companies put a lot of effort into measuring specific business segments, such as finance. But, as Stefan suggests, we need to extend that practice and measure employee experience if we want our business to thrive. ''We spend a huge amount of time in business measuring financial performance. [...] Also, if we're doing any marketing, we are very clear on measuring stats. [...] For many years, I spent a lot of time measuring the guest experience but not enough time, in my opinion, on measuring the employee experience. And yet, without a great employee experience, there is no great customer experience.'' 

🎙️A sense of belonging is as essential as the paycheck. A high salary is not the strongest retention tool in the modern-day business world. On the contrary, today's workforce wants to feel valued; employees want to know that their opinions and efforts matter. ''We're in the era of belonging. People want to feel part of something. It's right in the middle of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. If you remove it, people are just there for a paycheck. Those are the employees you're gonna lose. But self-actualization and everything else is built on belonging. So, to create a sense of belonging, being open with your team and communicating with them about the organization and their perception of it, what you're doing and everything else is fundamental.'' 

🎙️Promote open communication. Employee engagement will improve once you develop a culture of trust and communication. Companies must encourage employees to speak openly about the things that positively or negatively affect their productivity and share ideas, doubts, and concerns. A leadership team may comprise experts capable of creating a good communication strategy, but if you are making it for employees, you must involve them in the process. ''We spend too much time, as leaders, focusing on revolution rather than evolution. We need to listen, understand, and then implement.'' 

***
Find the freedom to be yourself by taking the Kolbe A™ Index or Kolbe Y™ Index for the youth in your life. Many successful companies work directly with a Kolbe Certified™ Consultant — find one in your area.

EOS Worldwide helps entrepreneurs live their ideal life. One of the ways EOS Implementers™ and companies running on EOS accomplish this is through the use of Kolbe assessments and solutions. Likewise, Kolbe Corp proudly runs on EOS to help others use their instinctive strengths to accomplish what they care about most.  

So, why not get two visionaries together to help provide more insight for everyone about the people part of business? 

In this episode of the Powered by Instinct podcast, Kolbe Corp CEO and Visionary David Kolbe welcomes Mark O'Donnell, the CEO of and Visionary at EOS Worldwide. They talk about how the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) prepares you for tough times, why culture beats strategy, how EOS utilizes Kolbe and vice-versa, and why fun-loving teams are more productive. 

 

Host: David Kolbe (8-2-7-3)

Guest-at-a-Glance 

💡 Name: Mark O'Donnell (2-2-10-3)

💡 What he does: He's the CEO and Visionary at EOS Worldwide. 

💡 Company: EOS Worldwide 

💡 Noteworthy: Before becoming the Visionary at EOS Worldwide and an Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS) Implementer™, Mark was a self-described serial entrepreneur. Now, he's living his ideal life and is passionate about helping other entrepreneurs get there too. 

💡 Where to find Mark: LinkedIn 

## 

Key Insights  

⚡ EOS is a tailor-made system that prepares you for tough times. Every business goes through some rough patches. That's just how the world works. So, how do you prepare your business for those tough and unpredictable times? You put rock-solid systems in place. Mark talks about how EOS helps companies prepare for the unpredictable. "It was challenging, exciting, and most of all, fulfilling to see that these companies running on EOS were performing better. They were withstanding the storm in ways that other companies couldn’t. Are you familiar with 'Getting Things Done’ by David Allen? He talks about setting up a system that you can execute when you're sick and in bed with the flu. And EOS, as a system, is the equivalent of that — it is a really simple system, and you can execute on that system in any environment. And so, when you're under pressure, you don't rise to the occasion; you sink to the lowest level of your training and preparation. And EOS was just tailor-made for that." 

⚡ Cohesive and fun-loving teams are more productive. While execution is vital, some things are far more critical to a company's success, especially if we look at the long haul. According to Mark, culture can make all the difference. He explains, "I would argue that cohesive and fun-loving teams can achieve high levels of execution and productivity over the long haul over a team that is just really good at executing, but they hate each other. So, it's a little bit about longevity, and a little bit of it is more of a human approach to it because we got one life to live here. And why would you spend time working with people you don't like, doing things you don't like, even though you might be good at it?" 

KEY QUOTE FROM MARK O'DONNELL:

"Kolbe is the tool that our Implementers teach at a very high level, and we've always been an organization that believes in simplicity and getting the most done in the least amount of time. And Kolbe is that one tool that can make a huge difference in an organization. It creates a common language amongst the leadership team — and hopefully the entire organization — where you are making a big leap in team health in less than an hour's worth of time." 

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Find the freedom to be yourself by taking the Kolbe A™ Index or Kolbe Y™ Index for the youth in your life. Many successful companies work directly with a Kolbe Certified™ Consultant — find one in your area.