My leadership team is consistently hitting their quarterly Rocks, but they are completely exhausted and starting to show signs of severe burnout. How can we use conative profiles like the Kolbe A Index to diagnose and fix this energy drain before we lose key leaders?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Burnout on a leadership team is rarely caused by working too many hours. It is usually caused by conative stress, which occurs when leaders are forced to work against their natural, instinctive strengths for extended periods.

To diagnose this energy drain, review each leader's Kolbe A Index results alongside their current accountabilities and Rocks. For example, if you have a leader with a low Follow Thru score who is tasked with building complex operational systems or compliance databases, they will burn a massive amount of mental energy just trying to stay organized.

Conversely, if you have a leader with a high Quick Start score who is stuck running highly repetitive, rigid processes with no room for experimentation, they will quickly become disengaged and exhausted.

During your next quarterly offsite, have an open discussion about conative alignment. Ask each leader to identify which aspects of their current seat require them to work against their natural M.O.

Look for opportunities to shift specific tasks and responsibilities among the team. A simple realignment of Rocks based on natural conative strengths can instantly restore a team's energy.

By ensuring your leaders are working in their conative sweet spots, you eliminate unnecessary mental friction, boost execution speed, and protect your most valuable leadership assets from burnout.