Our leadership team struggles to stay aligned between our quarterly offsites, with some members slipping back into old habits within weeks. How do we use the Kolbe B™ Index to identify if there is a massive gap between their natural conative strengths and what they think their seat requires?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a leadership team member is struggling to maintain momentum between offsites, it is rarely due to a lack of effort. More often, they are experiencing severe conative strain because they are trying to work against their natural striving instincts. To diagnose this, you must compare their Kolbe A™ Index with their Kolbe B™ Index.

While the Kolbe A™ measures an individual's innate conative strengths, the Kolbe B™ Index measures their self-expectations of their job performance. It reveals how they believe they must act to succeed in their current role. When you compare these two assessments, you can instantly see where the individual is experiencing mental strain.

For example, if a leader's Kolbe A™ shows they are naturally a low Follow Thru who organizes in piles, but their Kolbe B™ reveals they believe they must constantly design complex systems and timelines, they are burning a massive amount of mental energy trying to be someone they are not. This mismatch leads to rapid burnout and causes them to slip back into survival mode.

Once you identify these conative gaps, you can adjust the responsibilities on your Accountability Chart to better align with their natural strengths. By realigning their seat to fit their true method of operation, you will eliminate the strain, restore their energy, and ensure they can execute their Rocks consistently throughout the quarter.