Taking on new members for your Mastermind Group needs to happen in order to replace people who either aren't coming physically (they quit for whatever reason) or aren't coming mentally (not doing their homework, arriving late at meetings, not contributing). When you have a Mastermind Group, part of what makes it work is a close-knit environment where there is trust and mutual appreciation for eachothers' goals. It's difficult to bring new members into a fully formed, functioning group. It can upset the delicate balance that exists or bring up fears that normally stay hidden. For example, the last time we added members to one of my Mastermind Groups, one of the existing members started doubting their value ("But, I always liked being the youngest. If I'm not the youngest in the group any more, what's my shtick?"). Having a clearly defined process for adding new members eases both of these concerns.
I've been in one of my Mastermind Business Groups for seven years and have watched many members come and go. There are certain things that make the transition to adding new members easier:
Have clearly defined membership criteria - Every single group I am in has some sort of membership criteria. Not surprisingly, the group that has the squishiest, most vague criteria also has the hardest time admitting new members because well, almost everything goes! We've even invited people to join the group that didn't have a business when the Mastermind group's stated purpose revolved around business. Whoops! When you have clearly defined membership criteria, turning potential new members away doesn't need to be about them but about their qualifications to join the group. It's not personal - it's just that they don't fit your groups' desired membership demographics. And, if they do fit all the criteria, that's when you start working down the list below.
Have clearly defined expectations - One of my Mastermind business groups will literally kick you out if you miss two meetings in a year. Another one of them has fines for being late. Expectations don't need to be draconian attendance or late policies. I'm in one Mastermind Group that has no attendance or late fees but they do have required reading every month. It doesn't matter what your expectations are so much as that you can write them down and share them with potential new members so that they know what they are signing on for and what the group will expect from them.
Give every existing member veto power - Every so often, one of the existing members just has a bad feeling or takes an instant dislike to a potential new member. It may be irrational but discounting the existing member's concern is a surefire way to breed a poisonous resentment that will culminate in either the existing member leave or the new member washing out in a few months. Giving each and every member the power to approve or disapprove how their group is formed also ensures that everyone is accountable for their own Mastermind experience.
Have a three month trial period - Sometimes, it just doesn't work out. It's not that the new member is bad person. It's just a "fit" thing. They'll probably be very happy in another group, but your group isn't it. Having a probationary period helps make this decision less emotional and more of a procedural thing.
If there are other things that you've found to ease the transition of adding new members, I'd love to know about them. Since I'm in three Mastermind Groups, there is room to grow and improve the policies and procedures in all of them.
This weekend was our Mastermind Group Yearly ReSet. What is a Yearly ReSet?
It's where all of the Mastermind group members stop their busy lives, get away to a fresh location and spend a full eight hours focusing on the upcoming year. It's a time to reflect on the previous year and build upon our successes for the next year.
The agenda for our group looked like this:
8 a.m. Coffee, chatting 8:30 Short hike outside to wake up 9:30 Guest Speaker
This year, our guest speaker was Janet Ott and she spoke about the path from goals to reality
Your Yearly ReSet might have a different program and that's okay. It's all about finding a time to sit down, be quiet and get out of your comfort zone to define what you really want out of the next step of your life. Ideally, it's great to have an overview of your ten and twenty year plan so you can marvel at your progress and continue to chart your path. This ReSet isn't just about looking forward though. It's also about celebrating the successes of the previous year and focusing on the positive forward progress on your ultimate life goal.
While business is, of course, about money, it's about other things too. Business is also about your values and the vision you create for your company, both now, and in the future. And defining these values and vision, or what your company stands for, is where a lot of the fun comes in! This is also where a Mastermind Group can help you reach your Values in a realistic and supportive manner.
For the first ten years at Bramble Berry, our mission was to be the best at customer service in our industry. In everything we did, this is what we were striving for. Now, we're updating that a bit as we continue to grow. We want our new vision to move towards the idea of providing opportunities to change lives. Initially, it took us nearly three years to decide which values we wanted for Bramble Berry. And going through this was not always an easy process. At one point, we had pages and pages of potential value statements. We even once had a value that said 'profitability will never be our ultimate goal.' But it turned out, that a value statement like that, just wasn't very practical. Having a Mastermind Group to go back to, month after month, with my potential Values Statements was invaluable. They could and did mirror back to me my own words, "Well, you actually said three months ago that you were running out of capital. Maybe having a value around profitability not being important doesn't work for you?"
Today, Bramble Berry's core values are as follows:
(1.) To be an industry leader
(2.) To stand behind our quality products
(3.) To show L.O.V.E. to our customers and employees (L.O.V.E. stands for: changing Lives (the L), creating Opportunities (the O), delivering high Value (the V), and encouraging creative Expression through the five senses (the E).
(4.) To be socially responsible
(5.) To recognize that profitability equals opportunity
These values are important because they stand as the benchmark against which we measure our actions. Every decision we make goes through these filters.
For example, when we're thinking about whether or not to bring on a new line, we have to ask ourselves, "Does this line meet the standards outlined in our values?" If the line is a sub-par product, then our answer has to be "no". Another good example can be found with some of the really cool stuff now coming out of China. While there are some really fabulous, and readily usable products being offered from Chinese manufacturers, we have decided not to use many of them because the waste that these manufactures produce goes against our core values. We have also decided not to carry Sandalwood essential oils, despite their popularity, because when looking at Sandalwood's endangered species status, and comparing it with our values, we have found that carrying it just doesn't match up with how we've stated that we want to run the business.
Developing core values in a vacuum is difficult at best. Utilize the resources you've built around you, your team of advisors in your Mastermind Group, to ensure that your values match the things that you've been talking about, saying and doing in your meetings. Developing core values can help guide you through the many business decisions that will come your way, and they will certainly help to ensure that you're building a company you can be proud of.
One tangible benefit I have received from my Mastermind Business Group is an increased awareness about Goal Setting.
Most people know how to set goals - after all, New Year's Resolutions come about every year. One of the reasons that goals often aren't met is because they are wishy washy amorphous goals. Something like: "I want to be more healthy this year" is useless in terms of measurability. There is an oft-used acronym about Goals: they need to be SMART. Goals have to be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time oriented.
Using the SMART acronym, the wishy-washy goal around health could be transformed into:
I will lose 10 pounds of December 15 I will work out for 30 minutes per day for the remainder of the year I will eat 3 apples every week for the next three months
Having a Mastermind Group around me helps me to make and keep goals. Not only do they review them and help to craft them so they are specific and measurable, but they all make their own goals for themselves. Once a year, my Mastermind Group meets in a weekend setting. We hire a coach to facilitate part of the meeting and as a group, we sit down and make individual goals for the upcoming year. It's a financial and time commitment to do this (taking a weekend off and hiring a coach isn't free) but it is such a valuable tool to our individual and collective success that we gladly invest the time and money.
Having a group of other high achievers working towards their goals is inspiring. Listening to the other women in my Mastermind group meet their goals, month by month, energizes me. And, like many people, I have a competitive streak so work harder to meet my goals when I know I'll be giving a report about the goal once a month to my accountability team.
If you've made goals in the past that haven't worked out, consider reviewing them with a trusted friend to ensure that they are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time oriented. If you have a Mastermind Group, consider adding Goals and Goal Review to your monthly meetings. Moving forward on a clearly defined path with the support of others is a tangible benefit to having a Mastermind Group.
The concept of a Mastermind Group was introduced to the world in a formal manner by Napolean Hill, the author of "Think and Grow Rich" in the 1900's. Of course, informally, the concept had other names "Good Ol' Boys Network", "Bible Study Groups," "YWCA," You see, the concept is really about getting like minded people together to work towards their goals collectively. It doesn't have to be about business - it can be about working out, hobbies or stamp collecting - just so long as everyone in it has a like minded interest in pursuing certain set goals. Napolean Hill defined the Mastermind Principle as, "The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony. No two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind." That sounds a whole lot like the biblical passage, "Where two or more are gathered, there am I." Even the ancient Christians understood the power of groups that were focused together on the same thing.
Masterminding is the what happens when two or more individuals get together in the spirit of cooperative harmony to accomplish some goal, activity or result. All the great leaders in the history of the world have used this concept: Jesus had his disciples, Andrew Carnegie had his team to help build the world's largest steel company, Bill Gates has Steve Ballmer and Paul Allen. Who do you have? What support network have you set up to help you meet the goals you've set out for yourself?
The coauthor of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, Mark Victor Hansen, said: "One plus one, doesn't equal two. It becomes the power of eleven." Something magic happens when two or more people combine their single dream to form a dream team.
The benefits of a Mastermind Group are many. For me, just having a group of people who all own businesses and have similar issues is gratifying. Realizing that there are others out there like me gives me a sense of shared endeavor. But, a Mastermind Group goes much deeper than all of that. You'll get experience and skills by listening to others with slightly different areas of expertise. You will make real, measurable progress in your business and personal life. You'll develop a close repertoire with your new support network. And, if you're thinking of starting a small side business, you'll save yourself a lot of money by bouncing your ideas off this group of people. You'll have a great celebration when you reach milestones; after all, you have your own built in cheerleading squad. And, back to those goals that you made two years ago with Lynn or last year after Jody's speech? You dramatically increase your chances of reaching your goals, as a group of people will assist you brainstorming solutions and action steps. By sharing your goals and results AND getting inspired by the progress made by others in your group, you are motivated by accountability.
So, how do YOU start your own personal dream team?
First, look around you? Have you surrounded yourself by people who inspire you? Individuals who lead lives of distinction? My goal with my three Mastermind Business Groups (yes, I said THREE. I have three Mastermind Business Groups. Two in Seattle and One in Bellingham, Washington). It's not because I'm a big loser and I need tons and tons of help. It's because having a deep well of experience and support to draw from is a key to my success. Thirty year old's don't have multi million dollar, debt free, international, consistently, 10 years and running, profitable businesses. Mine didn't happen by accident. I'm really not all that special or fantastic. I 100% believe that without my Mastermind Groups dragging me, driving me and pushing me to new levels of success that I wouldn't be where I am today. I surround myself with people who are better than me. They're smarter than me. They're more well read. They run bigger businesses. I try and suck up everything they tell like me like a water starved plant.
Starting your Mastermind Group means first, determining a purpose and looking around and seeing if there's anyone in your current circles with a shared common interest to you. It doesn't have to be to rule the world, or to start the next Mrs. Field's Cookies - you can have a Mastermind Group around working out, around cooking healthy, about beating diabetes, about Bible Study - all of mine happen to be business related but yours don't have to be.
Once you have your purpose, the next step is to identify people who would be complementary in your Mastermind Group. If you're starting a group to work on exercise goals, having similar skill levels would be a good idea. After all, if there's 6 tubby, out of shape people and 1 ultra marathoner, either the six people are going drop out because they're so dejected about the entire thing or the 1 ultra marathoner will get drummed out because they have nothing in common. Basic Ground Rules for what you want in your Mastermind Group are essential to making sure that your group will succeed. My Bellingham Mastermind Group has ground rules. One, we have to be women. Two, we have to started our own businesses without help. And Three, we've gotta be scrappy. Gotta be fighters. My Seattle Group? They don't care if you're a man or a woman. They don't care if you started your own business. Their ground rules are that you be under the age of 40, with a business that you own 25% of or more that's grossing over $1million dollars a year. So, for your Mastermind Group, figure out your purpose and then figure out the criteria for joining the group.
Next, establish guidelines. This is pretty easy. How do you want your meetings to go? Do you want them in the evenings? The mornings? Once a week? Once a month? Two hours? Four hours? Will there be snacks? One of my groups meets on the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 7:30 in the morning and the the meeting lasts for 2 and a half hours. There is light breakfast food. Another one meets at 6:00 p.m. on a mostly monthly schedule, whenever we can get our calendars to align. We meet at a restaurant, drink alcohol and those meetings last for four hours. So, your guidelines can be whatever works for you and your group.
Then, figure out what a meeting looks like? What are you going to cover EVERY SINGLE TIME? My Seattle Group has a 5 minute regimented check in and then 2 presentations or problems that the group listens to and then jointly group problem solves. This format works because, the Mastermind Concept is all about using the power of the group's energy to solve bigger than life problems. My Bellingham Group? We have homework, books reports, and a much longer update process that involves talking about our goals and our progress on them. We rarely mastermind about problems but instead focus on getting more success out of our lives. These are two different ways of approaching the same issue of "business." So, your group can customize it however you want but it's important that you have a stated way of running your meetings.
During the period it's important to establish guidelines for how you operate with each other like not putting down other speakers, a solutions-orientation versus a problem-orientation, sharing time so or having a time keeper, confidentiality, and mutual respect. This is probably the most important step as it creates the atmosphere for you to operate in. My Bellingham Group calls this attitude "remaining judgment free," and my Seattle Group doesn't have a name for it but the rule is that you never talk about anyone else in the Mastermind Group without them being present and in that group, you're not allowed to give advice - only experience from your history. Both work equally well and I'm sure yours will too. Just make sure that you don't miss this crucial step. If you do, you run the risk of your group devolving into just a gossipy group of people. Setting the appropriate atmosphere for how you interact with your group members will be the difference between the group's ultimate success or failure.
Finally, figure out who's going to lead? It can rotate, you can dole out tasks or one person can take it all. Just make sure there's a driver.
Phew! I know that sounds like it might be more trouble than its worth. It's not. After all, you didn't make all those goals that Lynn helped you make a few years ago. Where would you be right now if you had achieved even half of those goals? How would your life have changed? You owe it to yourself and your family and your co-workers to dig that list out, figure out a focus, find yourself a peer group and start masterminding your way to success. Hillary Clinton once said, "No one ever became a success without the help of other people." I believe it. You need others to drag you and push you along the path of success.
EvanCarmichael.com is the world's #1 website for small business motivation and strategies. Evan also runs a series of successful Mastermind Groups in Toronto for entrepreneurs.
Guest Contributor: Anne-Marie-Faiola
