Powered by Instinct

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Nov 2026

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Powered by Instinct is a podcast for professionals who think about how people's fundamental nature drives performance and want to get more out of themselves and the people around them. In each episode, Kolbe experts will interview top performers, team leaders, consultants, and coaches to discuss identifying team member strengths, aligning those strengths with their jobs, and optimizing individual and team performance. It's the perfect resource for curious, interested people who want to get more done, more naturally.

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November 5, 2026Episode 140 min

When You're The Only One Innovating: A 4-2-9-3 Kolbe A Index Result Unpacked | Private Sessions

Rod spent 25 years in higher education and eventually led a university, partly so he could set the agenda for change instead of waiting on it. Ideas come to him so easily that he has learned to share them in the first 20% of a project and keep quiet in the last 20%. So what happens when someone wired to experiment spends a career inside institutions built to protect the way things have always been done? In this Private Session, David Kolbe (CEO of Kolbe Corp) starts with Rod's Natural Advantage™, Idea-Generating Powerhouse, then walks through his full Kolbe A™ Index result one Action Mode® at a time: how he got around committees by building relationships with the people who could say yes, why he would rather read the report than do the research, why he was driven more to building programs than buildings, and what to do when your drive comes across as intensity. Along the way David explains what the report says about Rod's mental energy usage, and why one-size-fits-all leadership advice so often turns into good advice gone bad. Rod's Natural Advantage™: Idea-Generating Powerhouse. Rod's full Kolbe A™ Index result: 4 in Fact Finder 2 in Follow Thru 9 in Quick Start 3 in Implementor This session breaks down what each number means for a leader: how a 9 in Quick Start helps a team most at the start of a project, how a 4 in Fact Finder explains the research instead of redoing it, how a 2 in Follow Thru keeps just enough structure to move fast, and how a 3 in Implementor would be driven to build a program more than a building. Curious about yours? Discover your Natural Advantage™, then unlock your full Kolbe A™ Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage CHAPTERS: 00:00 Meet Rod, Wired to Try What Hasn't Been Tried 01:24 Natural Advantage: Idea-Generating Powerhouse 03:07 Rod's Full Result: 4-2-9-3 03:55 Quick Start: A 9 Inside a 500-Year-Old Institution 09:19 Fact Finder: The 4 Who Explains the Research 17:23 Follow Thru: The 2 Who Fights Bureaucracy (Trust Issues vs. Systems) 22:50 Implementor: The 3 Who Builds Programs, Not Buildings 29:40 Leading the Way You're Wired 35:13 Is Your Mental Energy Really Unlimited? 41:54 When Passion Comes Across as Intense WHAT YOU'LL LEARN - What a Natural Advantage is (and how it's just one piece of your full result) - How a full Kolbe A Index result reveals strengths across all four Action Modes (Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start, Implementor) - When an Idea-Generating 9 in Quick Start helps a team, and when they start to frustrate one - Why a system built to manage behavior is fixing a trust problem with the wrong tool - Why your mental energy goes further when you work the way you're wired ABOUT KOLBE Kolbe measures how you naturally take action, your conative instincts. It's not personality. It's not IQ. Every Private Session follows the same path: the guest's Natural Advantage first, then their full Kolbe A Index result, one Action Mode at a time. You see yourself in someone else's session before you ever take the assessment. Discover your Natural Advantage and unlock your full Kolbe A Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage Learn more about Kolbe: https://www.kolbe.com Subscribe so you never miss a new Private Session. *** 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 .

August 31, 2026Episode 1026 min

Staying Grounded When Life is Unpredictable: An 8-7-2-3 Kolbe A Index Result Unpacked | Private Sessions

Cameron runs his whole life on a plan. His alarm is set at 5 AM every single day, weekday or weekend, he swims about eighteen miles a week in the ocean and the pool, and he wears a Garmin that logs his distance, his speed and the currents, then splits the numbers by where he swam them. He built a career in guest operations at theme parks and water parks in Chicago, Philadelphia and Cleveland, writing the standard operating procedures other people executed. He is between career jobs now, doing contract work, which means the structure a job used to hand him is gone. It also means unpredictability, which can be a struggle for someone hard-wired to control chaos. So what happens to a man built on systems and stability when nobody is setting his schedule? In this Private Session, David Kolbe (CEO of Kolbe Corp) reads Cameron's Kolbe A™ Index result out loud for the first time. He starts with Cameron's Natural Advantage™, Chaos Controller, then breaks down the full result one Action Mode® at a time. By the end, the advice Cameron keeps hearing from everyone around him, stop overthinking it and just put yourself out there, looks less like good advice he keeps failing to take and more like instructions written for somebody else. Cameron's Natural Advantage: Chaos Controller. Cameron's full Kolbe A Index result: 8 in Fact Finder 7 in Follow Thru 2 in Quick Start 3 in Implementor This session breaks down what each number means, why a job search is harder on somebody wired this way than on almost anyone else, and why the schedule he now has to build for himself is the tool that replaces the one his job used to supply. Curious about yours? Discover your Natural Advantage, then unlock your full Kolbe A Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage CHAPTERS: 00:00 Built to Stick to a Plan, With No Plan Left 00:57 Natural Advantage: Chaos Controller 05:10 Fact Finder: The 8 (Researches Everyone Before He Reaches Out) 06:40 Follow Thru: The 7 (Needs the Schedule the Job Used to Give Him) 11:03 Implementor: The 3 (Builds It in His Head, Not With His Hands) 20:05 Quick Start: The 2 (Find What Works, Stay With It) 23:59 Working With the Way You're Wired WHAT YOU'LL LEARN - What a Natural Advantage is (and how it's just one piece of your full result) - How your full Kolbe A Index result reveals strengths across all four Action Modes® (Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start, Implementor) - Why an 8 in Fact Finder researches every person before making contact, and why that is not hesitation - What a 7 in Follow Thru loses when a job stops supplying the structure, and how to rebuild it ABOUT KOLBE Kolbe measures how you naturally take action, your conative instincts. It's not personality. It's not IQ. Every Private Session follows the same path: the guest's Natural Advantage first, then their full Kolbe A Index result, one Action Mode at a time. You see yourself in someone else's session before you ever take the assessment. Discover your Natural Advantage and unlock your full Kolbe A Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage Learn more about Kolbe: https://www.kolbe.com Subscribe so you never miss a new Private Session. *** 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 .

August 24, 2026Episode 940 min

Staying Hands On In Retirement: An 8-6-1-7 Kolbe A Index Result Unpacked | Private Sessions

Jim flew helicopters for a living for 57 years, 27 of them as a military pilot and 30 more as a civilian air rescue pilot running emergency medical, search and rescue, and law enforcement missions. Every one of those flights ran on the same rule: if an order came down and it was not clear to him, he had to dig in and find his own answers. He is retired now, living on the road in a 41 foot motorhome with a car towed behind it, and the outside pressure that used to force every decision is gone. So what happens to a man built to dig in when nobody is setting his deadlines anymore? In this Private Session, David Kolbe (CEO of Kolbe Corp) reads Jim's Kolbe A™ Index result out loud for the first time. He starts with Jim's Natural Advantage™, Hands-On Hero, then breaks down the full result one Action Mode® at a time. By the end, the procrastination Jim came in worried about looks less like a discipline problem and more like an 8 in Fact Finder with nothing left to stop it. Jim's Natural Advantage™: Hands-On Hero. Jim's full Kolbe A™ Index result: 8 in Fact Finder 6 in Follow Thru 1 in Quick Start 7 in Implementor This session breaks down what each number means, why fixed-wing pilots cluster exactly where Jim does, and why the checklist that ran his career is the one tool he needs to rebuild now that it is gone. Curious about yours? Discover your Natural Advantage™, then unlock your full Kolbe A™ Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage CHAPTERS: 00:00 You Need to Build It, Touch It, Construct It 00:45 Natural Advantage™: Hands-On Hero 02:48 Fact Finder: The 8 (Has to Be the Expert, Redoes the Research) 04:20 Quick Start: The 1 (Find What Works, Stay With It) 10:30 Implementor: The 7 (Every Repair on a 41 Foot Coach) 18:00 Follow Thru: The 6 (Lives Inside a Plan, Does Not Build It) 22:56 Redoing the Research She Already Did (Not a Trust Problem) 29:33 Working With the Way You're Wired WHAT YOU'LL LEARN - What a Natural Advantage is (and how it's just one piece of your full result) - How your full Kolbe A Index result reveals strengths across all four Action Modes (Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start, Implementor) - Why an 8 in Fact Finder redoes research somebody has already done, and why that is not a trust problem - What happens to a 1 in Quick Start when retirement takes away the outside deadline ABOUT KOLBE Kolbe measures how you naturally take action, your conative instincts. It's not personality. It's not IQ. Every Private Session follows the same path: the guest's Natural Advantage™ first, then their full Kolbe A™ Index result, one Action Mode® at a time. You see yourself in someone else's session before you ever take the assessment. Discover your Natural Advantage™ and unlock your full Kolbe A™ Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage Learn more about Kolbe: https://www.kolbe.com Subscribe so you never miss a new Private Session. *** 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 .

August 17, 2026Episode 839 min

The Unconventional Financial Advisor: A 7-3-7-3 Kolbe A Index Result Unpacked | Private Sessions

Alex has been told her whole life that she starts a hundred things and never finishes any of them. Her husband named a room in their house Hobby Corner. She is also a CPA and a financial advisor with her own practice, three children under six, and a profession built entirely on systems and checklists. So how is someone who isn’t wired to stick to a plan running a finance business that works? In this Private Session, David Kolbe (CEO of Kolbe Corp) reads Alex's Kolbe A™ Index result out loud for the first time. He starts with her Natural Advantage™, Multitasking Hero, then breaks down the full result one Action Mode® at a time. By the end, the productivity advice she spent years failing at looks less like a discipline problem and more like a system built for somebody wired the other way. Alex's Natural Advantage: Multitasking Hero. Alex's full Kolbe A Index result: 7 in Fact Finder 3 in Follow Thru 7 in Quick Start 3 in Implementor This session breaks down what each number means, why most accountants sit at the opposite end of Follow Thru, and why the schedule she keeps trying to build was never designed for the way she takes action. Curious about yours? Discover your Natural Advantage, then unlock your full Kolbe A Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage CHAPTERS: 00:00 Start a Hundred Things, Finish None of Them 01:20 Natural Advantage™: Multi-tasking Hero 03:25 Follow Thru: The 3 (Most Accountants Are a 7) 07:25 Implementor: The 3 (Why a 100-Page Plan Would Kill Her) 09:20 Fact Finder: The 7 (Gets Every Answer, Never From a Checklist) 16:32 Quick Start: The 7 (Do It Now, Not on a Schedule) 18:09 Her Husband Is a 7 in Follow Thru (Where They Complement) WHAT YOU'LL LEARN - What a Natural Advantage is (and how it's just one piece of your full result) - How your full Kolbe A Index result reveals strengths across all four Action Modes (Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start, Implementor) - Why a 3 in Follow Thru means she does not have to finish everything she starts - Why time blocking works for some people and will never work for others ABOUT KOLBE Kolbe measures how you naturally take action, your conative instincts. It's not personality. It's not IQ. Every Private Session follows the same path: the guest's Natural Advantage™ first, then their full Kolbe A™ Index result, one Action Mode® at a time. You see yourself in someone else's session before you ever take the assessment. Discover your Natural Advantage™ and unlock your full Kolbe A™ Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage Learn more about Kolbe: https://www.kolbe.com Subscribe so you never miss a new Private Session. *** 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 .

August 10, 2026Episode 736 min

Keep the Chaos at Bay: A 6-7-2-6 Kolbe A Index Result Unpacked | Private Sessions

George spent more than a decade editing for big companies like Meta and the NFL, and every time he landed the dream job it burned him out. So he left Los Angeles, moved to Texas, had a daughter, and started his own podcast agency to build a calmer, more predictable life. So why does someone who is wired to control chaos still experience it every single day? In this Private Session, David Kolbe (CEO of Kolbe Corp) reads George's Kolbe A™ Index result out loud for the first time. He starts with his Natural Advantage™, Chaos Controller, then breaks down the full result one Action Mode® at a time. As he interprets it, the restlessness George keeps trying to fix starts to look less like a problem to solve and more like the exact instinct that makes him good at what he does. George's Natural Advantage: Chaos Controller. George's full Kolbe A™ Index result: 6 in Fact Finder 7 in Follow Thru 2 in Quick Start 6 in Implementor This session breaks down what each number means, why the constant reach for more control is a strength and not a flaw, and how to work with your instincts instead of against them. Curious about yours? Discover your Natural Advantage, then unlock your full Kolbe A Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage CHAPTERS: 00:00 Left the Chaos, Still Feels It Every Day 01:00 Natural Advantage: Chaos Controller 05:35 Follow Thru: The 7 (Builds the System and Sticks to It) 17:00 Fact Finder: The 6 (Researches Before He Leaps) 21:20 Quick Start: The 2 (Creative, Not Seat of the Pants) 28:00 Implementor: The 6 (Needs to Get His Hands on It) 34:00 Working With the Way You're Wired WHAT YOU'LL LEARN - What a Natural Advantage is (and how it's just one piece of your full result) - How your full Kolbe A Index result reveals strengths across all four Action Modes® (Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start, Implementor) - Why a "low" number is a strength, not a weakness - Why planned, structured creativity is just as creative as the seat-of-the-pants kind ABOUT KOLBE Kolbe measures how you naturally take action, your conative instincts. It's not personality. It's not IQ. Every Private Session follows the same path: the guest's Natural Advantage first, then their full Kolbe A™ Index result, one Action Mode® at a time. You see yourself in someone else's session before you ever take the assessment. Discover your Natural Advantage and unlock your full Kolbe A™ Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage Learn more about Kolbe: https://www.kolbe.com Subscribe so you never miss a new Private Session. *** 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 .

August 3, 2026Episode 638 min

Ask Your Questions: A 7-6-5-3 Kolbe A Index Result Unpacked | Private Sessions

Katie grew up in a house of journalists. As an Answer Authority, she also asks a million questions, naturally needing to know everything. Now she produces live TV, and the hardest moment of her day is the one where somebody wants an answer before she has had time to find the right one. Breaking news, weather, and things going wrong are just the job. She absorbs all of it so seamlessly that her newsroom leans on her without ever quite registering that she was the one holding it together, and she has spent her career saying yes to everything and giving herself credit for none of it. Between that, and her natural strength for researching and getting to the bottom of things, Katie is a great fit for the job, and David is giving her permission to recognize her natural contributions in dealing with the chaos around her. In this Private Session, David Kolbe (CEO of Kolbe Corp) reads Katie's Kolbe A™ Index result out loud for the first time. He starts with her Natural Advantage, Answer Authority, then breaks down the full result one Action Mode® at a time. As he interprets it, the thing Katie keeps trying to fix about herself stops looking like a flaw and starts looking like the reason she is good at her job. Katie's Natural Advantage: Answer Authority. Katie's full Kolbe A™ Index result: 7 in Fact Finder 6 in Follow Thru 5 in Quick Start 3 in Implementor. This session breaks down what each number means, why the strengths that get used the most are often the ones that get recognized the least, and how to work with your instincts instead of against them. Curious about yours? Discover your Natural Advantage, then unlock your full Kolbe A™ Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage CHAPTERS: 00:00 Says Yes to Everything, Takes Credit for Nothing 00:54 Natural Advantage: Answer Authority 01:56 Fact Finder: The 7 (Has to Know Before She Answers) 05:15 Follow Thru: The 6 (Finds the System, Doesn't Build It) 07:44 Quick Start: The 5 (Absorbs the Chaos, Never Creates It) 19:27 Implementor: The 3 (Imagines It, Hands It Off to Build) 24:02 Working With the Way You're Wired WHAT YOU'LL LEARN - What a Natural Advantage is (and how it's just one piece of your full result) - How your full Kolbe A™ Index result reveals strengths across all four Action Modes® (Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start, Implementor) - Why the strengths that get used the most are often the ones that get recognized the least - How to stop trying to fix instincts that are already working ABOUT KOLBE Kolbe measures how you naturally take action, your conative instincts. It's not personality. It's not IQ. Every Private Session follows the same path: the guest's Natural Advantage first, then their full Kolbe A™ Index result, one Action Mode® at a time. You see yourself in someone else's session before you ever take the assessment. Discover your Natural Advantage and unlock your full Kolbe A™ Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage Learn more about Kolbe: https://www.kolbe.com Subscribe so you never miss a new Private Session. *** 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 .

July 27, 2026Episode 545 min

The Power of a Plan: A 7-8-2-4 Kolbe A Index Result Unpacked | Private Sessions

Raymond plans everything. He is an elementary school teacher, the rock for his students and his family, and for years he has quietly wondered whether the thing that makes him steady is actually holding him back. He is rarely spontaneous, and he has started to think of that as a flaw. So why does someone this dependable feel like he is missing out? In this Private Session, David Kolbe (CEO of Kolbe Corp) reads Raymond's Kolbe A™ Index result out loud for the first time. He starts with his Natural Advantage™, Master of Planning, then breaks down the full result one Action Mode® at a time. As he interprets it, the hesitance to leap stops looking like a weakness and starts looking like the reason everyone around him can count on him. Raymond's Natural Advantage: Master of Planning. Raymond's full Kolbe A Index result: 7 in Fact Finder 8 in Follow Thru 2 in Quick Start 4 in Implementor This session breaks down what each number means, why the instinct to look before he leaps is a strength and not a hesitation, and how to work with your instincts instead of against them. Curious about yours? Discover your Natural Advantage, then unlock your full Kolbe A Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage CHAPTERS: 00:00 A Plan for Everything, and the Fear of Missing Out 01:25 Natural Advantage: Master of Planning 06:01 Fact Finder: The 7 (Research First, Then Decide) 10:00 Follow Thru: The 8 (Builds the System, Lives Inside It) 17:29 Quick Start: The 2 (The Rock Who Keeps Chaos Out) 25:37 Implementor: The 4 (Thinks It Through, Then Touches It) 33:10 Working With the Way You're Wired WHAT YOU'LL LEARN - What a Natural Advantage is (and how it's just one piece of your full result) - How your full Kolbe A Index result reveals strengths across all four Action Modes (Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start, Implementor) - Why not being spontaneous is a strength, not a weakness - Why you cannot use a plan you did not build yourself - How to plan for spontaneity without becoming a different person ABOUT KOLBE Kolbe measures how you naturally take action, your conative instincts. It's not personality. It's not IQ. Every Private Session follows the same path: the guest's Natural Advantage first, then their full Kolbe A Index result, one Action Mode at a time. You see yourself in someone else's session before you ever take the assessment. Discover your Natural Advantage and unlock your full Kolbe A Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage Learn more about Kolbe: https://www.kolbe.com Subscribe so you never miss a new Private Session. *** 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 .

July 20, 2026Episode 443 min

Know When to Pivot: A 4-4-7-4 Kolbe A Index Result Unpacked | Private Sessions

Eric sells pens to astronauts, leads a sales team, and is currently competing on a national game show. But every big idea he starts dies at the same point (what he calls hour 4) and he has spent years reading that as a lack of motivation. So why does someone this driven keep abandoning his best work halfway? In this Private Session, David Kolbe (CEO of Kolbe Corp) reads Eric's Kolbe A™ Index result out loud for the first time. He starts with his Natural Advantage™, Idea-Generating Powerhouse, then breaks down the full result one Action Mode® at a time. As he interprets it, the hour 4 problem stops looking like a discipline issue and starts looking like a job description: Eric is built for the start, and his real work is finding the people who finish. Eric's Natural Advantage: Idea-Generating Powerhouse. Eric's full Kolbe A Index result: 4 in Fact Finder 4 in Follow Thru 7 in Quick Start 4 in Implementor This session breaks down what each number means, why the same instinct that wins duels on a game show also runs his sales team, and how to work with your instincts instead of against them. Curious about yours? Discover your Natural Advantage, then unlock your full Kolbe A Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage CHAPTERS: 00:00 Great at Starting, Gone by Hour 4 01:05 Natural Advantage: Idea-Generating Powerhouse 09:47 Follow Thru: The 4 (Goes With the Flow, Skips the Script) 10:50 Fact Finder: The 4 (Key Facts, Then Move) 11:15 Implementor: The 4 (Imagines First, Builds Second) 11:40 Quick Start: The 7 (Best When the Plan Breaks) 19:49 The Hour 4 Problem and the Ego Trap 30:46 A Pivoter Married to a Planner 38:19 Working With the Way You're Wired WHAT YOU'LL LEARN - What a Natural Advantage is (and how it's just one piece of your full result) - How your full Kolbe A Index result reveals strengths across all four Action Modes (Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start, Implementor) - Why quitting at hour 4 can be a strength, not a lack of discipline - How to hand your ideas off (and why the finishers deserve just as much credit) ABOUT KOLBE Kolbe measures how you naturally take action, your conative instincts. It's not personality. It's not IQ. Every Private Session follows the same path: the guest's Natural Advantage first, then their full Kolbe A Index result, one Action Mode at a time. You see yourself in someone else's session before you ever take the assessment. Discover your Natural Advantage and unlock your full Kolbe A Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage Learn more about Kolbe: https://www.kolbe.com Subscribe so you never miss a new Private Session. *** 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 .

July 13, 2026Episode 328 min

Born to Procrastinate: An 8-1-7-6 Kolbe A Index Result Unpacked | Private Sessions

Ava is a college student killing it on the debate team and eyeing law school, but she puts everything off until the last minute, and she has been told her whole life that it is a flaw. She’s majoring in national security and intelligence, the one who takes over every group project and wrote a 20,000 word paper in the final two weeks. So why does her best work keep showing up at the last minute? In this episode of Powered by Instinct: Private Sessions, David Kolbe (CEO of Kolbe Corp) reads Ava's Kolbe A™ Index result out loud for the first time. He starts with her Natural Advantage™, Multitasking Hero, then breaks down the full result one Action Mode® at a time, and gives her the advice no teacher ever would: she should procrastinate, because pressure is how she is built to work. By the end, a lifetime of last-minute guilt starts to look like a strength she was never taught to use. Curious about your instinctive strengths? Discover your Natural Advantage, then unlock your full Kolbe A Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage Ava's Natural Advantage: Multitasking Hero. Ava's full Kolbe A Index result: 8 in Fact Finder 1 in Follow Thru 7 in Quick Start 6 in Implementor. This session breaks down what each number means, why real deadlines bring out her best work, and how to use an 8-1-7-6 in school, debate, and a future law career. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Killing It at Debate, Cramming Every Deadline 01:30 Natural Advantage: Multitasking Hero 03:37 You Should Procrastinate (The Counterintuitive Prescription) 06:50 Follow Thru: The 1 (Open-Ended by Design) 08:15 Implementor: The 6 (Get Out of the Library) 09:35 Fact Finder: The 8 (Never Guess, Calculate) 11:15 Quick Start: The 7 (Built to Throw Curveballs) 14:07 Working With the Way You're Wired (Ava's Questions) WHAT YOU'LL LEARN - What a Natural Advantage is (and how it's just one piece of your full result) - How your full Kolbe A Index result reveals strengths across all four Action Modes (Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start, Implementor) - Why a 1 in Follow Thru means she doesn’t need to finish everything she starts - How to procrastinate on purpose: real deadlines, binged research, and studying on your feet ABOUT KOLBE Kolbe measures how you naturally take action, your conative instincts. It's not personality. It's not IQ. Every Private Session follows a similar path: David walks through the guest's Natural Advantage first, then their full Kolbe A Index result, one Action Mode at a time. You see yourself in someone else's session before you ever take the assessment. Discover your Natural Advantage and unlock your full Kolbe A Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage For the student in your life: KolbeYouthIndex.com Learn more about Kolbe: https://www.kolbe.com Subscribe so you never miss a new episode of Powered by Instinct: Private Sessions. *** 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 .

June 29, 2026Episode 239 min

You Don't Have to Finish What You Start: A 4-3-9-3 Kolbe A Index, Unpacked | Private Sessions

Jenna Cooper has more ideas than she can finish — and no one's told her that's okay. She's chief of staff at a large state health agency, mom to a 5- and 2-year-old, and on her own time she's launched a block-level neighborhood organizing effort: potlucks, yard sales, cleanups, the whole thing. But the part where she stumbles? Remembering the knife to cut the birthday cake. 👉 Discover your Natural Advantage, then unlock your full Kolbe A™ Index result: https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage In this Private Session, David Kolbe (CEO of Kolbe Corp) reads Jenna's Kolbe A™ Index result out loud for the first time. He starts with her Natural Advantage, Idea-Generating Powerhouse, then breaks down the full result one Action Mode® at a time. Along the way, he gives her advice she didn't expect to hear: you don't have to finish everything you start. Jenna's Natural Advantage: Idea-Generating Powerhouse Jenna's full Kolbe A™ Index result: 4 in Fact Finder 3 in Follow Thru 9 in Quick Start 3 in Implementor This session breaks down what each number means, how her ideas-first instinct shows up at work and at home, how to stop confusing "I don't love this" with "I'm bad at this," and how to share the planning load at home instead of carrying it alone. ⏱ CHAPTERS 00:00 — More Ideas Than She Can Finish 01:08 — Natural Advantage: Idea-Generating Powerhouse 06:20 — Fact Finder: The 4 (Distilling, Not Drowning in Data) 13:30 — Follow Thru: The 3 (You Don't Have to Finish What You Start) 24:08 — Implementor: The 3 (Envisioning, Not Building) 28:45 — Where She Lets Quick Start Run Free: The Block Party Project 30:35 — At Home: Letting Her Husband Lead the Planning 34:51 — The Birthday Party and the Forgotten Knife 37:00 — What Jenna's Taking Into the Week 📌 WHAT YOU'LL LEARN What a Natural Advantage is (and how it's just one piece of your full result) How your full Kolbe A™ Index result reveals strengths across all four Action Modes® (Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start, Implementor) Why not finishing every idea you start can be a strength, not a flaw How an initiating Quick Start shows up in your career and your personal life How to share the planning load at home based on how each partner is wired How to read a 4-3-9-3 result and spot it at work the next day 🧠 ABOUT KOLBE Kolbe measures how you naturally take action — your conative instincts. It's not personality. It's not IQ. Your Kolbe result is stable for life: research shows it stays statistically the same even decades later. At work, your result shows what kinds of work you'll naturally take on, what you'll resist, which roles fit your strengths, and how to collaborate with teammates who take action differently. Organizations use Kolbe for hiring, team building, leadership development, communication, and reducing the friction that comes from conative mismatches between people. At home, it shows how one partner naturally plans while the other digs into research, how your kids will naturally approach school and chores, and how to stop trying to change the people you love into someone they're not. The shared insight: you get more done, with less stress, when you work with your instincts instead of against them. 🔗 LINKS Discover your Natural Advantage and unlock your full Kolbe A™ Index result → https://linktr.ee/naturaladvantage Work with a Kolbe Certified™ Consultant → https://www.kolbe.com/consultantsearch Learn more about Kolbe → https://www.kolbe.com 🔔 Subscribe so you never miss a new Private Session. *** 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 .