Steve Lear

Being financially literate is only important if you have money and cash flow.

Without cash flow, most people will not accumulate assets; without assets, they will not experience financial freedom; and without financial freedom, they will have a less fulfilling life. But strong career-readiness skills can lead to a career path that provides lifelong economic mobility.

SteveLear.org is expanding its financial literacy focus to include career-readiness training that promotes key skills such as effective communication, critical thinking and problem-solving, teamwork and collaboration, and self-awareness about instinctive strengths.

One of the most effective career-readiness tools I have relied on for over 35 years is the Kolbe Corporation’s work on conation, the third part of the mind.

The mind is commonly described in three parts:

• Cognitive (thinking) – what you know and how you process information. This includes your skills, knowledge, and intelligence.
• Affective (feeling) – your emotions, values, motivations, and attitudes.
• Conative (doing) – identifies your natural way of getting things done. This third part of the mind is more of an energy gauge, describing the instinctive way you take action and solve problems.

While your cognitive and affective mental aspects can change with learning and experience, Kathy Kolbe’s groundbreaking work demonstrated that a person’s conative strengths are innate, a natural mode of operation that remains stable throughout life.

While the conative aspect represents only one part of the mind, my personal opinion is that it’s the foundational aspect of how you work with others, with the cognitive and affective aspects layered over it. However, no one aspect is more important than the others; they are all equally important.

Understanding how your unique third dimension of the mind works in concert with the other two is a critical aspect of self-awareness, a key career-readiness skill.

The Kolbe article, “The Best Leaders Know These Four Things About Their People,” demonstrates how conative knowledge can be practically applied across all career fields.

If you’re part of a team, this article will help you understand what your leader might be thinking. If you’re the leader, I assure you this information will enhance your leadership capabilities.

Dr. Jeffrey Stamp, a Teaching Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota, teaches courses in creativity, concept design, sales, strategic leadership, and entrepreneurial thinking to the next generation of leaders.

He confirms Kolbe’s value in providing practical applications for teamwork, productivity, and role fit. “The gap between college and the workforce is often filled with ‘conative stress’—the exhaustion of trying to work against one’s natural grain. Our goal in all my classes at the University of Minnesota is to develop career-ready leaders who understand their Kolbe Wisdom. When a student knows their instinctive way of doing things, they stop trying to be ‘everything’ and start being exactly what the team needs. That is the cornerstone of modern leadership.”