What skills has your MasterMind group taught you?

Guest Contributor: Kayleen Reusser
Kayleen's Posts - Kayleen's Blog

Yesterday a friend, Kandice, and I were talking about a mutual friend whose son had recently been in a dirt bike accident and hit his head. the tragic news is that he may be paralyzed. The friend with me and I were trying to think of ways to help the mother and her family during this time. My friend said, "We'll put you in charge of the networking about this. You're good at that."

Really? I had not thought of myself as being especially good at networking or even being known outside of my MasterMind group as a networker. How did she know I networked? As far as I knew, this friend didn't even know I belonged to a MasterMind group, which I met in another city. Our friendship didn't delve into that type of discussion.

Even more interesting, why did she think I was a good networker? I've never really practiced it - I thought-outside of my MasterMind group.

In starting to think about my MasterMind group, I realized it has reaped benefits for me, including networking skills, outside of the time spent with the group.

Through the encouragement of this group, in 2008 I helped organize a volunteer group called Stitches of Hope (www.stitchesofhope.com) that creates beautiful handmade caps for people who have lost their hair due to cancer, burns and other illnesses (coincidentally it was with the same friend whose son was tragically injured). I say the MasterMind group encouraged me because when I told them about the organization, they never told me the idea was too big, too silly, -- too anything -- to attempt. That kind of support is hard to find in this world.

Since July 2008, our Stitches of Hope group has distributed 1,400 items to medical facilities in 7 US states. My co-founder and I have been interviewed on radio, TV, and via Internet. The publicity gained through writing my six children's books, which resulted from the feedback received through my MasterMind group, helped me prepare for these additional networking opportunities. Instead of being nervous so my voice shook during an interview, I thought of my MasterMind friends who thought I could do anything and proceeded calmly to give sensible answers.

I've already contacted our Stitches of Hope volunteers by email to fill them in on this sad development. When I asked for some of them to help me with mailing, stuffing and sorting, someone offered to do several of those tasks. That is a huge relief.

So I guess my friend Kandice was right. I am a good networker. Now I plan to use those skills to help my friend's injured son and her family with organizing the dozens of volunteers who want to help the family. I expect we'll have fundraisers to pay for the cost of transportation for the family to a rehab center across the country. That will take networking and organization, the same type I've used for my volunteer and other writing tasks.

What skills has your MasterMind group taught you that you've carried over to your private life? If you can teach them to others or better yet, use them to help others, you'll gain the maximum effect of the group.