Talk to people who have gotten their Kolbe result and seen it change their life for the better and you’ll hear the same thing from nearly all of them:
That’s not to say that they’re not thrilled to understand their natural ways of taking action at whatever age, but it is to say that learning your MO at an earlier age can save a ton of time and energy and help you avoid a lot of headaches.
Whitney Capps, an Executive and Team Coach, is one of the lucky ones. She got her Kolbe result at the age of 18, as she told Kolbe Corp VP of Sales Eric Herrera, on the Powered by Instinct podcast.
“Getting my MO was a huge difference maker in terms of my ability to understand and root into what was most important to me when I was going off to this incredible social experiment of college,” she explained. “And I didn’t have to look to other people to understand how I should be taking action. I actually got a lot of wonderful wisdom from myself through those years.”
Whitney also credits understanding her strengths with choosing a major, screenwriting, that lined up well with her 8-5-6-2 MO.
“It really did give me tons of permission to be myself,” she continued. “I mean, there’s no better way to say it than that.”
Herrera, for his part, did not get his Kolbe result when he was 18. Nor did his other guest, Executive and Team Coach Susan Spritz Myers.
“Speaking as someone who didn’t get their MO when they were 18,” Herrera said, “I really wish I would have had it. It would have saved me a lot of headaches and challenges and questions, because I didn’t really know what I wanted to be when I grew up.”
Luckily for Herrera, he was able to pick up on the fact his profession should not involve the things he doesn’t do when free to be himself. But he also notes that many people aren’t so lucky.
“A lot of folks end up in a role because, hey, this is what my parents did, or you’re going to make a good living; whatever reason they choose,” he continued. “And then they end up understanding this wasn’t the right path, and they go through all of that pain. So if you can get someone when they’re much younger and help them understand their strengths, you can have a giant impact in their life, both personally and professionally.”
Spritz Myers took the Kolbe A™ Index at age 40 and has often thought about the difference it would have made for her had she taken it earlier. So when it came to her children, she didn’t hesitate.
“I gave both of my children the Kolbe A when they were in high school, and they’re both Initiating Implementors,” she shared. “One is graduated, and one is in graduate school for physical therapy. And the fact that they got to go to college and make choices based on knowing that MO…I feel like is the best thing I ever did for them.”
“I saved them so much pain in the future because they’re on the right track for them,” she concluded. “It almost makes me cry when I think about it.”
