The New Year and Mastermind Groups

Guest Contributor: George J. Sierchio
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So as the year winds down, many people are looking back at 2009 and forward into 2010. This is a great idea from both a business and personal perspective.

With that said, this is the time to look at your current mastermind group. Or if you aren't in one, consider joining one that can help you achieve personal and business goals for 2010.

Just like everything else in business and life, you should be measuring results with metrics as you go along in reaching your goals. Questioning whether or not your current mastermind group is still working or if it was working for you at all is important. Whether it was a free peer based group or a paid facilitated group, there is no use wasting your time if you are contributing more to the group than you are getting back, not getting the help you need to reach goals, or you just plain do not click with the group anymore.

If you have never belonged to a mastermind group, now is the time to think about the goals you have and the type of group that can help you get there while also being able to contribute to the other members as well.

So as we make our way through December, check back and see if you reached all of your goals, make your new list, set the metrics to know if you are making your way towards those goals and determine what your next move is going to be with a mastermind group for 2010.

Best of luck to you and your mastermind group(s) for a terrific 2010.

What is a Mastermind group to you?

Guest Contributor: Kayleen Reusser
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Someone asked me the other day what a MasterMind group is. The answer has evolved for me over the past few years I've been involved with one. At the beginning I would have said it was a group of people who were determined to advance their careers and enhance their lifestyles through meeting with other like-minded people. A simple answer, but that is what I believe my MasterMind friends thought of our group too.

Today, I'd say a MasterMind group is an important part of society that influences and affects various parts of culture as much as its members can undertake to become involved.

In other words it is more altruistic as well as self-serving.

Today my MasterMind friends are writing books for children and developing businesses to enhance people's health. I've also written books for children and started a charity to distribute caps to people who lose hair for medical reasons, such as cancer or burns.

Sure, we'd all like to make money while we're doing these tasks, but I know from spending much time with my group that we really see the good in helping others with our talents and interests.

These changes didn't develop overnight. None of us were in the midst of these plans when we started the group. It's pretty exciting to think where we could go if we continue to help people.

Have your goals altered somewhat since joining a MasterMind group? If not, maybe its time to think of how you can help other people with some of your plans. You'll never regret it.

Mastermind Group Focus

Guest Contributor: George J. Sierchio
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I have to say that with the business coaching I do for technology business owners (IT consultants, engineering consultants, etc) the lean towards marketing and sales being just about the only important thing in a business from an operations standpoint is alarming.

Of course it's understandable as these are very important cogs in the wheel that many people are not very good at since they are completely different animals from the "technical" side of the business that they started the company for in the first place.

That being said, the operations side of a business has many facets that in some way tie into marketing and sales. These ties make marketing and sales easier to understand and more fruitful in the efforts taken to make them better. So it's a terrible mistake to not take into account things like client management, employees/subs, financials, metrics, revenue streams, exit planning and other pieces of the puzzle.

Why am I saying this? Because the mastermind group(s) you choose to be a part of need to address all business concerns. Whether that be one group for marketing and another for other facets or just one group that hits upon everything.

I hate to be the one that tells you this but a marketing or sales breakthrough that doubles your business from one year to the next can be more crippling than losing half of your business.

How? Let's take clients for an example. If you have 10 clients and you explode to 20 or 30 clients in say a month, can your business handle taking care of and managing this new load? Will your old 10 clients end up unattended to make way for the new ones eventually leaving you with 10 again in a never ending cycle? Do you have the in-house person-power and possible financial means to handle double the work load? Can you see where I'm going here?

Not hitting upon the whole big picture is truly doing a great disservice to your business, your personal well being, and your group members.

Please keep in mind that a business is a living, breathing entity that requires all parts to work together. So make sure your mastermind groups allow you to better and grow the entire business and yourself by focusing on the big picture.

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.

Visualize Success

Guest Contributor: Kayleen Reusser
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In our MasterMind group we have talked about the importance of visualizing our successes. We encouraged each other to "see" in our mind's eye the best-selling book we would write and "picture" the book signing with streams of people waiting to talk to us.

Hold on - that dream is so good I'm taking a few minutes to "see" it again right now.

(pleasurable moment)

OK, I'm back, full of enthusiasm for "picturing" more personal successes. If you've never done this, give it a shot. Don't leave anything out.

Start with what you'll be wearing. I feel most successful wearing suits, so in my mind's eye, I'm wearing a nice-looking wool, or, if its too hot, linen suit and blouse with comfortable shoes. As much as I like looking fashionable, comfortable shoes is one area I refuse to budge.

I have an ensemble in my closet right now -- one for each season since I'll be successful for more than the month of May! -- that looks good and which I feel good in. They are part of my picture.

Of course, I'll undoubtedly make enough money to have purchased a new suit by then. I could go a step further and find a picture of a suit in a store ad and put my head on the model and then place the revised picture on my visualization board, which sits in my office in plain site.

Next I'm checking my make-up and hair -- flawless. Funny how I critique each professional woman's hair on the news - if its messy, I wonder how neat her desk is. Probably no correlation, except to me.

In my picture I'm smiling at my fans and, though my teeth are not model-perfect, I'm using them to convey a confident spirit and happiness at what I've accomplished. It's okay to be proud of ourselves if we've accomplished something difficult like writing a best-selling suspense novel.

That picture in my mind is so stimulating and exciting I want to keep it there and have it happen in real life. That spurs me to think of new plot angles, perfect my writing, spend more time at it, and be kind to people in general. I think being kind is the root of all happiness and success.

What picture do you have in your mind's eye of your success?

If you don't have one, take a few minutes right now to create one. Don't rush. This is too important to miss a single detail. Enjoy the process.

Until next month, Take care,

Go Broad Or Go Niche?

Guest Contributor: Michelle Rumney
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This summer I've given a lot of thought to what type of Mastermind Groups I'd like to start or become involved in over the coming months. The question is, is it better to be in a general business group to reach the widest possible range of people, or is it better to narrow down the focus entirely and have specialised groups in particular niches?

Well, that depends mainly on what the purpose of the group is. It's so important when you join or start a group to know why you're joining or starting it. If you don't have a purpose or vision statement for your group, you may find that after 3 or 4 meetings, everyone's just turning up for the coffee - it better be good! Eventually, those who have better things to do will go off and do them and you'll lose the heart of your powerful mastermind.

So between you as a group, make sure you write a short paragraph about what your group's purpose is and read it out loud at the start of every session.

Keep on purpose!

Meanwhile, back to the question of to niche or not to niche. Well, this week, with all that new moon and new season energy around, I'm starting two new mastermind groups - one for photographers and one for writers. The writers want to improve their writing skills and the professional photographers want help with marketing and business development. These are pretty specific groups, niches even. As a coach, it's fairly straightforward for me to prepare some specific exercises and workshop-type activities to get the energy flowing at the beginning.

But will these groups be wide enough to really engage with the spirit of the mastermind, where diversity and difference all adds to the name of the game?

I'm trusting of course that it will - among the writers, there are those that have their work already published and those that are starting from scratch, there are playwrights, novelists, historians and new bloggers... everyone has a unique story and, going back to the group purpose, of course everyone can improve their writing skills, whatever their current level.

The photographers are more of a concern - with their aim of getting help with marketing and business development, even though, like the writers they all have a unique personal story, there's the danger that they will all be at a similar level in their businesses. How many already-successful-in-business photographers are likely to join a group that offers help in making a photography business successful? By defining the group purpose as it is, the ceiling of possibility is already invisibly capped.

What's needed here is a redefined purpose for the group so that it will attract the widest range of experience and diversity among its members as possible. Move the goalposts so that they are a far enough stretch for the people you want to attract and hopefully everyone will benefit.

What are your own experiences of the range within your mastermind groups?
Do you find the broader ones more engaging, or the specialist ones, where common problems are faced?

What have been your negative experiences, if any, within the groups you've been part of?

What have been your most valuable experiences, and what do you think was the most important dynamic within that group?

Please post your comments below...

Thanks, Michelle

Inspire Others

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

I've started a new job this month in a public middle school working in the library as an aide. It is a challenge as I'm not used to working with that age group. Part of my duties includes teaching a library class to 5th graders. They seem to have different attitudes than when my kids were that age - more smart alecky! But after taking a few to the principal's office daily for a couple of weeks, we seem to have come to a sort of agreement. They behave and I won't report them. Out of a class of 25 I'm happy to say that other than a few altercations last week that were typical for the age (talking all of the time, tipping chairs), everyone is finally listening to me.

You may ask what this job has to do with a MasterMind blog entry. Just this - I'm using the class to teach the kids to read good books and use the library, both of which hopefully will lead them to clearer thinking and expanding views of life that will help them fulfill their life goals.

I tell them almost daily, "There's a big world out there. You don't have to live in our small town all of your life. Go out and see it. You can always come back if you want. Think of what you'd like to be when you grow up and then start getting good grades so you can go to college to see your dreams come true here or wherever you live."

We have a world map on the wall. Whenever a student in the class reads a book from another country, I allow them to put a push pin on that spot. I also have a globe so they can find out where the country is in relation to the US.

My husband and I told our own three kids that same advice and they are now living in Indonesia; flying airplanes for the Air Force and making the Dean's List at college.

As a side note, I was thrilled - and somewhat surprised -- to find Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill in our school library. This was one of the first books my MasterMind group read to inspire us to set goals. I'm going to re-read it and point it out to several 8th graders at the school.

Are you using your opportunities in life to encourage others to live their dreams? Everyone is in a place where they can inspire others.

Until next month,