What if the person who irritates you most is exactly who you need on your team?

In this eye-opening conversation, host Eric Herrera sits down with Marit Peters, President of the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas and recent winner of the Kolbe Professional Award for Individual Leadership in Building Conative Excellence. With over 20 years of experience transforming teams across industries—from aviation startups to medical laboratories to insurance agencies—Marit reveals how she uses Kolbe to predict team success with startling accuracy.

Discover why diversity of strengths matters more than you think, learn the "silent brainstorming" technique that ensures every team member contributes, and find out why Marit refuses to work with clients who won't embrace this approach. Whether you're building a startup from scratch, stuck in unproductive meetings, or wondering why your team can't finish projects, this episode will change how you hire, coach, and collaborate forever.

Host: Eric Herrera, VP of Growth and Strategic Alliances @ Kolbe Corp (Kolbe: 5-3-9-2)

Guest-at-a-Glance

💡Name: Marit Peters, President & Executive Director of the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) (5-3-9-2)

💡What she does: Marit has spent more than 20 years helping organizations go from stuck to thriving. In addition to being the President and Executive Director of the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas, she is also the CEO of Catalyit.

💡Company: Independent Insurance Agents of Texas

💡Website: https://www.iiat.org/

Jaw-Dropping Moments

• Marit reveals a time when team dynamics were so polarized that continuing the project was impossible—and how the assessment predicted it before they even started.
• How understanding cognitive differences saved a family business relationship where the CFO sister was constantly frustrated by her CEO brother's "endless questions."
• A company that started with 10-12 people and grew to over 75 employees in just 5 years by strategically hiring based on conative diversity from day one.
• The moment when someone with a 7-7-3-3 profile admitted they hated working with others who had the exact same profile—proving that matching styles doesn't guarantee compatibility.

Key Quotes from Marit Peters

"Kolbe is kind of like oxygen. If I don't know somebody's Kolbe, I don't really know how to interact with them. I feel like I'm doing them a disservice by coaching."

"We hear about diversity all the time, but for me, diversity is about how we think and how we problem solve."

"If you want things to maintain status quo, don't hire me. I'm not the right fit. If you want somebody to come in and blow things up and look totally different and challenge things and take risks, I'm your person."

"It's fun when you go into an organization and you inventory the team and you find out, wow, we could tap into this talent, and you're not even using it."

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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.

In our first episode of 2026, we dive into the inspiring journey of Azure Standard, and the details behind their transformative journey with Kolbe. Karen Slusher, Chief Experience Officer of Azure Standard, sits down with Eric Herrera to share how Azure Standard embraced Kolbe’s principles to unlock the full potential of their team, foster a culture of conative excellence, and drive organizational growth. This commitment recently earned Azure Standard the Kolbe Enterprise Award for Organizational Leadership in Building Conative Excellence—a recognition of their dedication to empowering people and building a thriving workplace. If you’re curious about how Kolbe can spark real change, or you want to hear firsthand how Karen led Azure Standard through this evolution, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in for practical insights, candid stories, and the keys to building a stronger, more dynamic organization.

Host: Eric Herrera, VP of Growth and Strategic Alliances @ Kolbe Corp (Kolbe: 5-3-9-2)

Guest-at-a-Glance

💡 Name: Karen Slusher, Chief Experience Officer @ Azure Standard (3-2-10-3)

💡 What she does: She helps run Azure Standard, an organic food distributor and manufacturer with an organic farm. They do a lot of different things in that organic and natural space, and acts as a community across the United States of people who just want to build healthy and abundant lives.

💡 Company: Azure Standard

💡 Website: azurestandard.com

Jaw-Dropping Moments

• When Karen describes crying and then getting angry after truly understanding her Kolbe results, realizing she hadn’t been able to be her authentic self for much of her life.
• A young employee, on the verge of quitting and estranged from his parents, reconnects with his family and changes his life path after a Kolbe training session.
• Karen shares how Kolbe transformed her marriage and family dynamics, reducing friction and improving communication with her husband and adult children.

Key Quotes from Karen Slusher

"When you suddenly sense that freedom for yourself, you want everybody to have that freedom. There's a joy within you that just explodes."

"It's given us permission to stop asking people to be someone else as an organization."

"We’re intervening before people burn out, before they're frustrated, before some conflict arises."

"It’s freed us up to be who we truly are, right across the board in every dynamic or every part of our lives."

"If I sound like I'm a Kolbe advertisement, I am—and they're not paying me to say this. I'm just telling you: go, because it will make a massive difference all around."

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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.

In this episode of the Powered by Instinct podcast, Kolbe CEO David Kolbe sits down with Bill Isaacs, Founder of Dialogos. They delve into the core principles of organizational communication, the essence of dialogue, and how to unlock individual and team potential. Learn how to turn conflict into opportunity, the transformative power of genuine dialogue, and the groundbreaking impact understanding instinctive strengths can have to propel your organization to new heights. Don't miss out on these insider tips to supercharge your leadership and team performance!

Host: David Kolbe,CEO at Kolbe Corp (Kolbe: 8273)

Guest-at-a-Glance

💡Name: William Isaacs, Founder and President at Dialogos(Kolbe: 6393)

💡What he does: He helps to shape the field of dialogue-driven leadership and systemic change.

💡Company: Dialogos
��Book: Dialogue: The Art of Thinking Together
��Website: https://www.dialogos.com/

Jaw-Dropping Moments

• When Isaacs explained how “shared ideals” almost always produce the opposite of what people hope for.
• When he said trust isn’t a prerequisite for change — it’s the result of people witnessing each other truly listen.
• The private-equity story where a massively failing company turned the corner in three hours once people finally said the things they hadn’t felt safe to say.
• The 40-40-20 Rule: Only 20% of “questions” people ask are real questions.
• The revelation that people don’t think first and act later — actions emerge from the flow of conversation and relationship.

Key Quotes

“To communicate, you don’t have to agree. If you give up trying to agree and simply work toward understanding. That’s transformational.”

“Trust is an outcome, not an input. It arises when people genuinely endeavor to listen in ways they normally wouldn’t.”

“Most meetings are serial monologues. Dialogue only begins when we suspend our certainty and start to inquire.”

“It takes more time not to have the conversation you need to have.”

“If you’re a hundred percent certain the other guy is the problem, you can count on the fact that you don’t have it right.”

“Leaders are much more likely to be successful if they understand the architecture and wiring of the people they’re leading — including themselves.”

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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.