8 Tips To Maximize Your Mastermind Group

Andrew Cocks recently wrote an article on 8 tips to get the most from your Mastermind Group. His main tips include:

• Choose a good group
• It should go without saying that the most helpful people will be determined to achieve the same essential goals that you hold dear. You also want people who will commit themselves to the group. It won't work if people are sporadic in their attendance.
  
  
• Set and hold your first meeting
• While some in the group may be familiar with the mastermind concept, others will not be. Explain what you see as the group's goal, how you envision the group functioning, the commitment the group will require.
  
  
• It's not for everyone
• It's not for everyone; and it's not for people who are out there only for themselves. You will spend lots of valuable time and energy helping the other members of the group, and you'll also be the beneficiary of the other members' creative thinking.
  
  
• Set some sort of attendance policy.
• Obviously, things come up, vacations, sick kids, business trips, but without an attendance policy in place, the smallest things will prevent members from attending. Agree on how many meetings members may miss.
  
  
• Organize some form of structure for the meetings.
• Without structure, the meetings have a tendency to be hijacked by more talkative members. Everyone will soon lose interest if only a few members have a chance to speak. Devise a meeting format and follow it each week.
  
  
• Be action-minded.
• Yes, the mastermind group is supportive of each member. But you're not there just to talk. You're there to strategize, to develop tactics and plans. You're there to take the plans you've brainstormed and put them into action.
  
  
• Network for your group.
• You'll find yourself in a position to help each other with business contacts. You'll know these people really well in a short time, and will be a great advertisement for them. Be generous with your match-making, open your contact list to the group whenever you can.
  
  
• Keep your lips zipped.
• This should be obvious, but as part of a mastermind group, you've been given a position of trust and should honor it completely. Loose lips are a horrible way to destroy your credibility and reputation.

Many of the great achievers in history used mastermind groups. Innovators in business, sports, literature, spirituality, all have a history of proving that the sum is greater than its parts. Mastermind groups are worth every minute you invest.