Growing up on a farm in Canada, the Aberhart brothers always knew they were different than other members of their family — especially their dad.
Dan Aberhart
Years later, Dan, Terry, and their dad, Harvey, are not just running Aberhart Farms in Canada together; they’re growing multiple thriving businesses — including consulting other farmers. In all of their work, they focus on building the best team possible. Terry identified that “if we can figure out how to attract, maintain, and leverage the best people, we will have a strategic advantage over every other business out there.”
The Aberhart’s have been able to build their productive teams by strategically using the Kolbe System™ to understand how people instinctively take action.
To start, the Aberhart’s used the powerful Kolbe A™ Index to identify all the natural strengths of their leadership teams and each employee to get the right people doing the right tasks. “It’s about understanding people’s strengths and instincts and how they go about doing their work,” Terry said. “It’s useful to know that when someone doesn’t respond to something the same way you do, that’s not because it’s right or wrong, it’s just normal. It’s how they’re programmed.”
Most recently, the team found success using Kolbe’s streamlined RightFit™ hiring process, which helps leaders identify what a job demands and whether a candidate’s instinctive approach is likely to make them successful. “Our last hire, we just nailed it on the button,” Dan said. “And I think this is one of the greatest tools that I have in my toolbox as a business owner.”
Kolbe Indexes are uniquely powerful, not only because of their reliability, but because they provide immediately actionable insights. That’s why the Aberhart’s have put so much faith into Kolbe’s comprehensive system. “There’s never been anything as simple, as practical, and as foundational that you can physically act upon in your business without a manual,” Dan said.
Discovering natural instincts through Kolbe not only helped the people part of their businesses; it helped explain the noticeable and lingering differences within the family. “Our dad is a lot more risk-averse with his CounterActing Quick Start. I just didn’t know that and that’s why we clashed on a lot of things,” Dan explained.
Now, after using Kolbe to identify how each family member naturally takes action and is better suited to take on specific tasks, they’re able to thrive instead of butt heads all the time. “It’s been great for us brothers, especially,” Dan said. “When Terry’s talking to me in any conversation now, he just says, ‘Oh, that’s your Quick Start.’ Like, ‘Oh, that’s your Fact Finder.’ He just recognizes that about me, so he knows how I do the things I do on a very, very deep level.”
The Aberhart’s are quick to point out Kolbe can help you thrive in many aspects of life beyond growing a business. “It removes a lot of the friction that I think we all feel in our lives,” Dan said. “If you start to understand [Kolbe] and if you start to understand other people’s MO, then it unlocks a lot of understanding, and it gives you a lot of power. It gives you a lot of flexibility and a lot of freedom from the pain that comes from marrying the wrong person, hiring the wrong person, or expecting the wrong thing from other people.”
Get more insights to running a family business with Kathy Kolbe & Amy Bruske’s book – Business is Business.
Kathy and Amy have more than 30 years of experience running their own family-owned business.
In Business is Business, the mother-daughter duo translate their deep expertise and first-hand knowledge into practical and actionable advice. Their goal is to help readers and family business owners to find joy, success, and sustainability in their businesses.
You can learn more about the Aberhart’s various businesses here and how you can leverage The Kolbe System to optimize your organization here.
