In this post, we will look at what a mastermind group is and how you can both run and profit from your own mastermind group.
Contents
What Is a Mastermind Group and How Can Running One Help Your Business?
A mastermind is a group that gets together to work on a common goal, usually related to professional growth. It’s a meeting of peers sharing their experiences and expertise, giving each other advice and support. Mastermind groups are popular among professionals because they can be extremely transformative.
Mastermind Groups Enable You to Grow
People join mastermind groups because they give you a chance to challenge yourself and work towards your goals with the help of supportive, invested peers. If you’re feeling that you’re up against a barrier and you can’t break through to the next level, a mastermind group can help you do that.
Create Deep and Lasting Relationships
Through this group, you’ll create deep and lasting relationships with people in your network. It’s a great way to partner with others and share a valuable, possibly life-changing experience together. This dynamic lasts long after the meetings are over. It gives you the chance to form a relationship like this with new people in your business network.
Commit and Be Accountable
One of the reasons mastermind groups are so effective at creating lasting change is that they teach you accountability. You’ll discuss changes you want to make with the other members and they’ll hold you to it. It’s like a support group where you have to stick with your plan or you’ll feel as if you let them down.
Valuable Feedback from Your Peers
During meetings, you can pitch any wild idea you have to your peers, and you’ll get immediate feedback from people who know what they’re talking about. You get to test out marketing ideas before you unleash them on the public. Other members may have advice for improving your ideas before you launch.
Opening up to Your Group
A mastermind group offers a confidential space to discuss sensitive matters and get advice. You can open up without fear of being judged or leaking confidential information. It offers an open, accepting atmosphere where you can talk about anything troubling you.
Gain Uncommon Knowledge
This meeting is an exclusive place where you receive value that you won’t get in any web search, online forum, or information product. It’s a place to pick up uncommon knowledge that only comes from industry insiders.
Encouragement and Inspiration
Your group members will cheer you on as you confront challenges with ideas they’ve helped you brainstorm and push yourself to the next level. It energizes you to know that your peers are there for you. This energy and momentum will keep you on track and enable you to grow much further than you ever imagined.
How to Start a Mastermind Group
You can join mastermind groups to gain the benefits mentioned above, but even better, you can create your own. You just need to assemble a group of like-minded peers from your business network and create a plan for what you’ll work on together.
4 Reasons Why A Mastermind Group Works
Having a mastermind group is like having a whole bunch of batteries connected together. On its own an AA battery may give you 1.5v. But putting 2 together would give you 3v , 4 together would give you 6 volts. etc. Just like having more brain power gives you more ideas etc.
The principle of superposition of waves states that when two or more waves are incident on the same point, the total displacement at that point is equal to the vector sum of the displacements of the individual waves. Basically when 2 or more constructive waves superimpose/combine they make a bigger wave.
The mastermind group / Mastermind Principle is just like this. Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, defined a mastermind as a “coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.”
The benefits:
1. A group of people available to help you succeed
2. Benefit of differing perspectives, input and feedback
3. Access to resources and connections that you might not have had on your own
4. Receive accountability and inspiration from the group, enabling you to maintain focus in achieving your goals.
Having a mastermind group can be very powerful in aiding direction and growth within your business. But as Napoleon Hill says “in a spirit of harmony”. This means your mastermind group must be harmonious, working together, sharing for the common good. Having one bad egg can act like a destructive interference that can hinder your efforts.
So in business or if you have an idea that you want to develop, find yourself a mastermind group. A harmonious group of people who can all come together to help each other out. From experience when all members are open and happy to share and contribute is when the best results take place. It can really help you focus in achieving your goals.
Here’s what the wikki says – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Law_of_Success
The Master Mind Principle
Dr. Hill defines “as a mind that is developed through the harmonious cooperation of two or more people who ally themselves for the purpose of accomplishing any given task.” Hill uses ideas from physics to illustrate the synergy that occurs between like-minded individuals. He also warns of the danger to the mastermind group of any single member who thinks negatively. Another key insight from Hill is that knowledge is not power – it is only potential power. He defines power as “…organized knowledge, expressed through intelligent efforts.” The mastermind group makes this happen.
What to Expect When You Join a Mastermind Group
A mastermind group is a collection of peers who offer encouragement, support, and accountability to each other. They work together on the challenges and problems each person faces. It’s an enriching activity that enables you to grow and overcome obstacles in your business or life.
Are you interested in checking out a mastermind group? If so, here’s an idea of what you can expect.
A Welcoming Community
The whole idea of a mastermind group is for members to support and encourage each other. You’re going to find a warm, welcoming, supportive environment. There’s no sense of competition. The goal is to lift up each individual member.
Meetings on a Regular Schedule
Mastermind groups meet on a regular schedule. It might be once a week or once a month. Some meet in person while others hold their meetings virtually. They all have different schedules, but they all meet regularly. During each session, specific topics and actions will be discussed. In the next session, the members will need to follow up and have a sense of continuity.
Sharing and Participating
During meetings, each member gets a chance to share their successes and challenges. You’ll end up in the “hot seat” at some point too, so you should be ready to share. This is how mastermind groups help you grow. For example, you might be asked to share a success you’ve had in the last 30 days. Each meeting might focus on one member’s biggest current challenge so that others can offer help solving it.
Bring Plenty of Ideas
Along with sharing successes and challenges, you’ll also need to pitch ideas. Mastermind groups are places where members can brainstorm together, harnessing the whole group’s brainpower to come up with new ideas. Don’t be afraid to pitch something crazy or unusual. That’s the whole point of being part of a group with an open, accepting environment.
Guidelines to Follow
Each mastermind group has its own guidelines and structure. Some are more structured than others, but there are always going to be some rules you’ll need to follow. You can check these rules out when considering joining a group.
The point is not to restrict members but to give the group the right structure that will be the most enriching for its members. For example, meetings might open with 10 or 15 minutes of warming up, sharing success stories, or following up on progress from last time. They might end with action items for members to carry out.
What a Mastermind Isn’t
A mastermind group isn’t a class or coaching session. It’s not a situation where you sit passively and absorb information. It’s also not a situation that’s all about any individual member. Ideally, mastermind groups have a few to ten members. It’s a small enough group that everyone gets a chance to interact.
Mastermind groups vary a great deal in topics, goals, and structure. Keep this in mind when you’re considering groups to join or creating your own.
The 4 Steps to Creating Your First Mastermind Group
A mastermind group isn’t just a social activity with your friends and business partners. If done right, a mastermind group can be extremely transformative for everyone involved. You can get a great deal out of joining a group, but you can also create your own with just a little planning. Here are the 4 steps to creating your first successful mastermind group.
1. Decide on a Type and Purpose – mastermind group agenda
There are several types of mastermind groups. Some are based around a mission or goal that you and the other members work toward together. It could be a personal change in your lives, or it could be a change in the world that you’d like to see. The first step for this type is to choose your goals.
Other mastermind groups are based around a certain topic where all the members pool their expertise and offer each other advice. In this case, your first step is to choose the right topic that’s not too broad or too specific. To get ideas, you might want to look at mastermind groups that are being offered in your niche.
2. Choose Your Members
You can either put out a call to people who’d like to join your group, or handpick them yourself. For your first group, it’s a good idea to personally choose the members initially. Then, you can potentially add other members once it gets going.
Who should be in your mastermind group? Try to think about the type of people who would offer the most value to other members. Think about people with interesting experiences and deep expertise.
They should also be people who are easy for you to relate to personally. You’re going to spend a great deal of time together and grow together, so these need to be people you like. Go through your network and make a big list, and then narrow it down to the right number.
3. Set the Ground Rules
Decide on the ground rules to your mastermind group. These decisions include things like:
- When and how often you’ll meet
- How long each session will run
- Whether sessions will be topic-based and what those topics are
- Rules and guidelines for changing members
- Any other rules you feel need to be in place.
You should create a document that lays down these rules so that you can easily explain them to potential members. Remember that these are rules to help the group work more smoothly and offer the most value possible, not to restrict members.
4. Run Your Mastermind
Finally, it’s the big day of your first meeting. As the leader of the group, you act as facilitator. This doesn’t mean that you’re “running” the group, but just making sure it moves along according to agenda and follows the rules you’ve put down.
A great way to plan your mastermind group is to first check out or join a few existing groups to see what they do during their meetings. This will give you an idea of what to do and what not to do in your own group.
7 Mastermind Group Mistakes Facilitators Should Avoid
Have you ever attended a mastermind group? These meetings can be just what you need to push you out of your comfort zone and give you access to the experience and expertise of your peers. But they can also fall flat and end up a total waste of everyone’s time if the facilitator isn’t up to the task. Here are the 7 mistakes that can ruin mastermind groups.
1. No Focus
Each mastermind group should have an overarching goal that’s specific and related to helping its members grow. This is what makes the group effective. By the end of the meetings, each member feels they’ve accomplished something. Without a clear goal, your mastermind is just a social activity.
2. Lack of Accountability
Members need to be committed. The whole purpose is to give each person an action plan to enact so they can overcome the challenges and problems they’re facing. Once they’ve implemented this plan, they need to come back and report on their progress. Holding members accountable is what makes a mastermind group so transformative.
3. Uneven Contribution
In an effective mastermind group, everyone should be contributing equally. It shouldn’t be dominated by one individual. The facilitator needs to make sure that the quiet members are getting their chance to participate, as well as those who are more talkative. The facilitator isn’t doing their job if they leave the group vulnerable to the most vocal members. Some facilitators prevent this by adjusting the structure of the sessions so each person gets a turn in the hot seat.
4. Letting Anybody Join
You should be very careful about who joins your mastermind group. Some facilitators choose each member themselves from their own business network. Others create a vetting process for those who want to join. Your group should be limited to people who have value to contribute and who will follow the guidelines.
5. Too Many Members
A common mistake is creating a mastermind group that’s too large. While you have many people in your network who you’d love to have in your meetings, it gets unwieldy if there are too many people. Most groups have just a few to ten members. If you want to have more, consider holding multiple groups.
6. A Mastermind Group Isn’t a Classroom
If not done right, a mastermind group can turn into a classroom where the facilitator is acting as a teacher. The role is not to control the group but make sure it adheres to its structure and guidelines, and each member can get the maximum value out of the sessions.
7. People Aren’t Showing Up
Except for when it absolutely can’t be helped, each member should be at each meeting and participating fully. If members are not making it to meetings, the sessions should be rescheduled or there should be rules in place to keep people going.
If you want to learn more about mastermind groups, a good way to get a feel for it is to check some out. Find out what groups are offered in your niche to see how they choose members and lay down ground rules. If you have time, you might want to join one yourself.
How to Promote Your Mastermind Group
You have a great idea for a mastermind group that will offer value to all members who join. Now, the only challenge is to get the word out there. How do you tell people about your mastermind group while also getting the right members you’re looking for? Here are the best practices for promoting your mastermind group.
Who is Your Mastermind Group For?
Before you start promoting, it’s important to understand that a mastermind group is different from other things you’d want to publicize. For a mastermind group, you want to be very particular about who you offer membership to, and you need to have the final say on who joins and who doesn’t. This is not a situation where you want to cast your net as wide as possible for maximum exposure.
In fact, many mastermind groups simply don’t promote. They reach out to people within their network and ask them to join. Some groups start naturally with just a few peers hanging out together and realizing they have the nucleus of a group that could transform people’s lives.
If you choose to handpick your group members, you should reach out to each individual with a message that explains the benefits of your group. The message should set expectations, explaining the rules and the structure.
Who’s Right for Your Mastermind Group?
Since you need to target carefully where you promote your mastermind group, you should first identify the type of people you want in it. Some things to look for include:
- Professionals in a similar field or industry
- People with a common goal they’re working toward
- People with various expertise, experience, and skills that can help the other members
- People willing to commit and follow the rules
- Professionals with a similar level of experience or expertise
What other qualities are important for you? Identify who you’re looking for first before you start promoting.
Where to Promote and Find the Right Members
The best place to promote your mastermind group is in online forums and groups within your niche. The members here are already interested in your topic and committed enough to spend time interacting with others. The people who provide the most value on an online forum would make great members for your mastermind group.
Long before you start planning your first mastermind group, join online groups in your niche. Spend time there getting to know members and helping others so they get to know you as well. Once you’ve figured out the topic and structure of your mastermind group, you can post about it there.
Another good place to promote your mastermind group is your email list. If you have a list of subscribers and you’d like to offer them an exclusive opportunity to work with you, you can do it here. Over time, you can segment your list to the people who might make great mastermind members.
You can also use social media to source group members. Join social media groups and do the same as you’d do with online forums. Keep in mind that if you blast out promotions to everyone publicly on social media, you’ll get a great deal of interest and need to vet people carefully. On the other hand, if you have a private group or select group of followers, you’ll have a much better chance of finding the right members.
Crafting Your Promotional Message
At the core of any kind of promotion is material that explains succinctly what your mastermind group is about and the benefits it offers, along with the rules and structure. Make sure you have this ready before you get out there and tell people about your mastermind group.
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