Pitfalls of Peer Run Mastermind Groups

Guest Contributor: George J. Sierchio
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In this post I'd like to talk about something that happened to me just last week with a peer run (unaffiliated) mastermind group I was involved in as somewhat of a warning to a particular pitfall.

I would like to first lead with saying that I have written about the differences between true mastermind groups facilitated by a paid mentor versus completely peer oriented groups. What happened to me last week is one of those things that are always a possibility.

So after being courted for a few months by a friend/colleague to join and participate in his current mastermind group I decided the members may be a good fit and the meeting structure of a half day once a month fit pretty well. The location was on the cusp of being a bit far for me but it seemed the group was worth it.

I attended my first meeting last month. After spending about 4 hours with the group and seeing how they worked with them doing their due diligence on me as well, I was happy and excited to get moving and attend the next meeting.

As required, I filled out the new member forms and exercises as well as began to participate in-between meetings with the other members via email giving feedback and such on the accountability issues of the others. All was good until 3 days before the next meeting.

This is when an email came from the person who started the group. He had decided that his time with the group was done for his own personal reasons. Of course this was a blow to the group but to make matters worse, it was his offices that we were using to hold the meetings.

So not only did the creator leave a huge hole in a small group that just took on 2 new members (I think it was now up to 7 after a year or so in existence), but 3 days before the next meeting we had nowhere to go. The only suggested place to go was brought up by the second in command of the group which now brought the location well out of my area making the group not worth attending any more.

To me, that was a lot of time and effort committed to get very little results. I knew going into it that this could always happen and due to the fact that this was a free peer led group that the possibility of volatility was always going to be there. Unfortunately it happened much quicker than anyone would have figured with no warning signs at all.

Please keep these pitfalls in mind when joining a group. There is no way to know when or if something like this will occur but understand that the possibility is always there without a mentor led group. I'm not telling you that these types of mastermind groups are not worth it, but I am saying that besides the extra accountability and educational pieces found with mentor led groups, these peer led groups are exposed to extreme volatility so be aware of it when joining one.

Obviously I also recommend looking into a participating in a mentor led group to get that extra edge it brings and to not have to worry about abrupt changes. The right group will be well worth the money as you will see it come back to you in many forms.