A year before I started the CFO Bookshelf Podcast, I wanted Amy Bruske to be one of the first 10 people that I interviewed, and I’m very thankful that she accepted the invitation. Amy is the President of Kolbe Corp. and the co-author of Business is Business.
Highlights from the Interview
- When Amy explains conative or natural instincts, she starts with the three parts of the mind.
- The cognitive part of the mind is easy to measure. Personality tests became mainstream in the 1950s and 1960s. Yet, the conative part of the mind is still largely ignored.
- Amy tells us how her life changed when she took the Kolbe A™ Index some 30 years ago.
- Our conative instincts are not genetic.
- Amy shares her natural mode of operation.
- A favorite success story between a father and son are discussed in the context of a family business.
The Family Business and the Book
Kolbe Corp. is a family business. Kathy Kolbe is the founder and her step-mother. Amy’s brother is the CEO.
- We discussed the book she co-authored with Kathy, Business is Business.
- Amy provides insights into a situation where the daughter had a great aptitude in IT, but she did not want to work in the family business.
- We overuse and misapply the term team all the time. Amy provides the context of the ideal team in any organization and how inertia comes about.
Concluding Notes
- Does the Kolbe A™ Index even apply for MLB baseball players? How about Amazon warehouse workers? I think you’ll be impressed with the answer.
- Amy reveals the topic she would deliver at a TEDx event.
- All Kolbe results are positive.
Business is Business
I recommend the book Business is Business: Reality Checks for Family-Owned Companies. I’ve read it twice, and if you own a family business and have family members working for or with you, I highly recommend it.
Relevant Links
- To learn more about Kolbe Corp., you can check out their website here.
- The Kolbe Wisdom™ page is a great primer on the conative mind and the Four Action Modes™.
- If you would like to take the Kolbe A™ Index, you can start here.
- If your company is interested in learning more, you can either reach out to Kolbe Corp. or find a certified consultant near you.
Mark’s Kolbe Results
During the show, I mentioned that I’m an 8-8-2-2. Bruce is an 8-7-2-3. Amy is a 3-5-8-3. Here is what my index revealed after I took the assessment which took less than 20 minutes. Notice I got a perfect score. You will too when you take your assessment.
Title photo by Gage Skidmore through the following Creative Commons license.
Leave a Reply