A Checkup for a healthy Mastermind Group

Guest Contributor: Julia Wert-Marrocco
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How healthy is your Mastermind Group?

When you go to the doctor for a regular physical, there is a list of things she checks, such as your blood pressure, your temperature, and how you are feeling currently. She might have you do some blood profiles,and she will review what medications you are currently taking. She will listen to your breathing and your heart with her stethoscope, and probably check your ears, nose and throat. (say "AAAAAH"!)

When is the last time your MasterMind Group had a checkup? Here are the three major items to check to make sure your MasterMind group is healthy:

1. Chemistry. (Esprit de corps) Does your group have a common understanding and is it acting as a "mass mind"? If not, you could have conflicting ambitions, or your purpose may not be clear. Each participant in the group must know the purpose of the group. It is worth reviewing on a regular basis. What are some of the things you can do to have better chemistry in your group? This would be a wonderful topic for your MasterMind Group to discuss at your next meeting.

2. Organized knowledge. In Napoleon Hill's book "Magic Ladder to Success" he says "Power is organized knowledge, expressed through intelligent action!" Without a doubt, each of our biggest asset is our own brain. The brainpower we have must be gathered together in an organized manner. You already know your group has brainpower. The question is, how is it being organized? Honing this one facet can really take your gorup to the next level. This is a great topic to address in one of your meetings: How can you organize your knowledge better to have more success?

3. Perfect Harmony. Harmony, Dr. Hill says, "is the nucleus around which the MasterMind must be developed". Think of a small Chamber orchestra or a Barbershop quartet. The harmony comes from practice, blending individual sounds together, and using collective listening as much as using vocals or instruments. The groups who are the best have been together the longest. A group can have chemistry and organized knowledge without being in harmony. How can you listen more carefully to each other, and blend together as one mind? There's another topic for a future meeting!

Above are the three items you need to have in your checkup. As with the doctor's checkup, these items can show signs of deterioration, yet with attention and treatment, can be repaired and revived. All this is dependent on your commitment to the group, just like your commitment to your health. The doctor can say "quit smoking" and you may choose not to, and you may die from it. Your MasterMind Group is no different. It is a living, breathing organism, a collective mass of power that, cared for, will thrive and serve you. Uncared for, it can slowly wither and die.

Give your group a checkup on these three items. You may be amazed at what comes out of this exercise. And remember, you are an important member of the group, so give yourself your own individual "checkup from the neck up", as the oldtimers say. Are you contributing? Are you actively listening? Are you bringing your most valuable asset (your brain) to the meeting and using it to serve the greater good? Are you in harmony? Are you moving in the same direction as the rest of the group toward your collective purpose?

I wish you great health, both in body, in your brain, and in your collective mind.