I returned to my Master Mind group last week, the first time since mid-June when my flurry of family visits and trips began.With a little embarrassment for my lack of attendance, I quietly took my seat in hopes of settling in and perhaps later taking my turn in introductions and sharing.No such luck.The facilitator, without skipping a beat, changed direction and called on me before I'd even pulled up to the table.I gave my 30 second commercial and in an apologetic manner, explained what I'd been doing the last 6 weeks.The reaction?"Welcome back.""Glad you're here.""We missed you." No questions asked about my commitment to the group or intentions with the progress of my business - clearly the things I was feeling guilty about.With no judgment whatsoever, and a welcome befitting a member with excellent attendance, I was taken back into the fold of my Master Mind group where anything is possible.
That's the underlying theme of Master Minding - anything is truly possible - and your fellow members will tell you this, believe it for you, and encourage you to take steps to make whatever you want happen.One who truly understands the purpose of gathering together to access the power of two or more like minds does so without judgment of others and the steadfast belief that anything is possible.I was able to pick up where I left off with my group, recap where I'd been and what had been accomplished, dust myself off a little and get back into the game.And there they were - waiting to hear what it is that I want next so they can support me in getting it. What a gift!
So, in turn, I was able to jump back into my role of supporting the other members, focusing on their successes and challenges, and offer ideas during the brainstorming session that might be helpful. Without criticism or internal distraction, I fully accepted what each person had to say as their truth, their real intention for themselves and their businesses.Why wouldn't I?With this incredible, unconditional support of a Master Mind group, anything is possible!
Since I've never heard anyone else talk about this or read about it, though I am sure they must have, I gave this exercise my own name, "Mastermind Intensive."
Here's how it goes:
1. The mastermind group chooses a member to focus on.
2. The individual comes to the mastermind group with a single problem that needs a solution to present to the group. It should be a problem that is seemingly impossible.
3. The group spends all or a large portion of the meeting on brainstorming a solution or a list of options to solving the problem.
4. Depending on the nature of the problem, more than one person can be the focus of a Mastermind Intensive during the same meeting.
There is tremendous power in focused energy. When there is a collective of like minds that come together to create a force of focused energy towards the discovery of a solution, there is a blend of background and experience applied, resulting in the most amazing and creative answers.
The one rule is that everyone must participate and none of the discussion of ideas should be on how or why an idea won't work.
If your group meets weekly then conduction an intensive might be a technique that can be used monthly
When we think of a mastermind group, we usually associate it with business or professional success. However, we can also apply mastermind principles for personal success, such as weight loss, parenting/motherhood, going through major life transitions or illnesses, etc.
A mastermind group, by definition, is a group of like-minded people who work toward a common goal, by supporting each other (brainstorming, networking, offering resources), and keeping each other focused and accountable, until you reach your goals. In the case of masterminding for personal success, even though you may or may not call your group a mastermind group, you can utilize the same principles and process to facilitate success for group members.
For example, when my daughter was 10 months old, we had to relocate to another state due to my husband's new job, and I decided to quit my college counselor position to be a stay-at-home mom. I joined a local MOMS Club, and found a playgroup within that chapter. All 5 moms in our playgroup were previously full-time professional women with advanced education, and all our first-borns were only a few months apart in age. At the time we all had the desire to have a successful, fulfilling stay-at-home motherhood, good marriage, and the shared goal to raise our children the best we could. We met once a week at one of the moms' neighborhood clubhouse. While the children played and snacked, we talked about our challenges & triumphs in parenting, marital & other relationships, health, personal interests. We celebrated and cheered for each other's success, and offered support and solutions for challenges. We also shared our dreams & goals, and motivated each other to go after our goals. Best of all, we became really good friends, and so did our children.
At the time when I was struggling with the transition from being a full-time working mom to a full-time stay-at-home mom, the weekly playgroup meeting was a life-savor for me. The weekly outing offered my daughter and me a good time with our friends, and the much-needed intellectual stimulation and adult conversation for me. Since we all happened to have similar level of education, core values and goals, it was easy to consult with one another when we needed a sounding board, brainstorming partner, or accountability buddy.
When I looked back at this experience, I think even though we called our group a playgroup, we actually got a lot of benefits of a mastermind group or an advisory board from our group. And even though we started the group for the sake of our children, I believe we moms had benefited from the group as much (if not more) as our children did.
Another example is a mother-daughter book club that I recently joined. All of the moms (some working, some stay-at-home) have a daughter that's entering either 6th or 7th grade this fall. We all have a strong desire to sustain our close relationships with our preteen daughters, and help them navigate through the often challenging teenage years that's right around the corner. I think the teenage years is one of the most important transformations our daughters will go through in their lives. Our goal is to help our daughters grow into healthy, happy, loving, and self-confident young women. We will read books relevant to mother-daughter relationships (you know how tricky it sometimes is to do the "mother-daughter dance"), as well as any books that would serve as a conversation starter for any issues (and there are lots of them) facing today's teenage girls.
Again, it's an out-of-the-box solution for a set of specific common goals. Even though we initially call it a mother-daughter book club (the girls are working on creating a cool name for our group), it is so much more than that. We hope to make this group a safe haven for the girls (and moms) to talk about anything they are concerned about, support one another in trying times, and learn from one another. Yes, there will be lots of learning and growing for all of us, and I expect to have lots of fun as well. In a sense, this group is our advisory board and mastermind group, too.
One of the things that I like to do with my Mastermind Groups is create a group identity. Each of the groups that I form end up having a name that characterizes the members in the group and what they want to accomplish. For example, the first group I have is called Prophets 2 Profits. It is a group of smart business owners who are helping each other generate more profits for their companies. Most of the members in this group are also young an tech savvy so the name is a play on the popular P2P (Peer to Peer) networks.
My second group is called The Focus Group as the members see the meetings as an opportunity to bounce ideas off of each other and brainstorm ideas to make their companies better. My third group is newly formed and we have not created an identity yet, but we will.
I find that creating a group identity is important to make the members feel like they belong to a special group. It also generates more buy-in and gets the group members more involved in the process.
In reading Michael Roby's blog, I found out that he also named his Mastermind Group. He calls it a "BDB Meeting" - short for Boys Doing Business.
Associate with Successful People - Birds of a feather flock together. The rich associate with successful people; the poor often associate with unsuccessful people.
Pre-construction Investment | Preconstruction Investing - In addition, we have found that by pooling together the buying power of a group we can get much better access to really good investments. It is for these reasons that we at GetPreConstructionDeals.com have created our "Mastermind Group."
Network The Mastermind - Masterminding involves brainstorming AND networking. For a group to succeed in mining the mastermind principles it must exist in a spirit of harmony.
I recently joined another Master Mind group, this one more structured and professionally facilitated by a wonderful small business expert here in my area of Southern California. It is so different from my other 2 groups, yet similar in all the important ways, that I could not pass up the chance to participate. It is specifically geared toward small business owners who need a support system of like minds to help brainstorm any kind of business issues.
Here how it works: We meet once a week at an appointed time and location and go around the table sharing what accomplishments or big events have taken place over the last week. Then we break into small groups of 3 or 4 and have 10 minutes each to bring up a specific challenge we need help with and have others brainstorm solutions and ideas. At the end of the 10 minutes, we have to commit to an Action Step that we will take by next meeting. Better yet, we have to write that down on paper and turn it in to the facilitator! Powerful stuff. So not only are we like minds exchanging ideas and learning from each other, we're holding one another accountable for making progress in our businesses.
Back in 1937, Napoleon Hill was well aware of this power of Master Mind groups. In his book, Think and Grow Rich, he talked about the richest industrialists of the day who knew about the power of this type of group. Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone were all Master Minders. What power they harnessed with each other and what success they achieved!
Today, we have this very same tool available. One of my groups is comprised of entrepreneurs like me in the Career Coaching business, all of us in different parts of the US and Puerto Rico - we talk specifically about our practices and client matters. The other is a group of 3 women locally, who have different career paths, yet similar spiritual philosophies and ways to support each other in whatever life issues we need help with. Now my third group provides even more emphasis on goal setting for my overall business success.
It's simply a matter of finding people who have similar goals as you, are willing to meet regularly to support each other, and build trust through confidentiality. Then creating goals and action steps (preferably writing them down) holding each other to the task of completing them, and then proceeding along the path toward progress. The sky's the limit on what you can achieve personally and in business when you put your head together with others!
Jack Canfield, of Chicken Soup fame, wrote about Mastermind Groups in his recent newsletter. The information is valuable and I thought I would share it with you:
How to Accelerate Your Success with a Mastermind Group by Jack Canfield
We all know that two heads are better than one when it comes to solving a problem or creating a result. So imagine having a permanent group of five or six people who meet every week for the purpose of problem solving, brainstorming, networking, and encouraging and motivating each other!
This process is called masterminding and is one of the most effective success tools you can adopt! It is a powerful way to support your dreams and bring unlimited resources to your business and personal life.
Participating in a mastermind group has been critical to me. I can't imagine achieving all I have without one, and it certaily made my goals happen much faster.
A Process for Accelerating Your Growth
The basic philosophy of a mastermind group is that more can be achieved in less time when people work together. Sometimes called a "dream team", your mastermind group is made up of two or more individuals who voluntarily come together on a regular basis - weekly, biweekly, or monthly - to share ideas, thoughts, information, feedback and resources.
Your group can be composed of people from your own industry or profession or people from all walks of life. You can focus on business, increasing each other's income, building a business, raising better kids, or solving a social problem.
Within your mastermind group, you benefit from the other members who empower you and draw out your full talents, resources and abilities. They trigger, stimulate, and motivate you to become all you are capable of being.
Creating Your Dream Team
The key is to choose people who are already where you'd like to be in your life - or who are at least a level above you. In forming your mastermind group, start by carefully enrolling another friendly, on-purpose, like-minded individual. Start by meeting together and then adding other selected, unanimously agreed-upon individuals who will work in total harmony for the good of each other and for the good of the group.
1. Your Dream Team should consist of 4-8 people. Most people find that 6 is the ideal number.
2. Meet weekly, if possible, for an hour to an hour and a half. This meeting must be held sacred as a life-enhancing priority. The meetings should be upbeat, enriching, encouraging and beneficial to each individual and the group's purposes. I always start our meetings with a prayer or an invocation. You could also start with an inspiring story.
3. Each member must agree to play all out -- to openly share ideas, support, contacts, information, feedback, and anything else that will help advance the individual and group goals.
4. Start by having each member share something positive and good that happened since the last meeting.
5. Next, have each member share an opportunity or problem they have experienced since the last meeting and ask for whatever support they would like on it. Appoint a time-keeper to make sure that everyone gets the same amount of time. This is important if you want your group to last. Everyone must get value at each meeting.
6. End by sharing appreciations and acknowledgements.
You'll find one of the real values of a mastermind group is the accountability factor - other members checking up on you to make sure you meet your stated commitments. It's one way to ensure you'll accomplish a lot more!
After a successful Mastermind Group meeting members usually leave full of energy and ideas and are ready to take on the world. The momentum may last a week or two and then life gets in the way again and you fall back into your normal routine.
How can you keep the momentum going and stay in touch with your group members if you only meet once a month or less frequently?
For my groups, every member is partnered up with another member and they are responsible for calling each other every week to make sure they are both following through on their goals. We have also created a private forum for our members to be able to log in and share ideas / brainstorm challenges between meetings.
A new technique that I recently came across is to have a Mastermind blog where each member is responsible for posting every day what they have done to move forward on their goals. While a daily posting might be excessive for some, it can help you keep on track and make sure your attention does not get diverted when life "gets in the way."
What I've found real helpful and has given me a lot of motivation in my new group is our mastermind blog. We post what we have accomplished day by day. Just that is really keeping me on track. I want to share with my group what I've gotten done day by day. The blog is a great tool for between mastermind meeting.
Make the blog private so no one besides your group can see it. I have my blog professional hosted at my own domain name (TheProsperityGuy.com) but for your Mastermind blog one of the above free blog sites is good because only your group members are going to visit it.
What techniques do you use to stay in touch with your fellow Mastermind Group members?
You've heard the expression "two heads are better than one."Imagine how powerful it can be to have an entire group of people focusing on a question or problem you have.When you have a cohesive mastermind group with people who are truly invested in helping and supporting each other, the results are amazing.The whole truly is greater than the sum of the parts!
In recent mastermind meetings, I have experienced this power.It is great to be a part of something that feels so wonderful and meaningful.When someone presents an issue or problem, you can feel the energy build as the group begins to brainstorm and share ideas and suggestions.One idea builds on another, creating a fabulous array of possibilities and opportunities.I find the creative process helpful to me even when we are discussing someone else's issue.
It is during this brainstorming that the magic of masterminding develops.It is important to create a safe atmosphere in your mastermind group so that everyone feels good about participating in this process.When it is your turn to present a problem or question to the group, it is important to be open to all the ideas generated by your mastermind group.Keep an open mind and don't judge any ideas (at least not yet, you can filter through them later).Let everyone participate and recognize that all ideas are important and have value in the process.
When you are brainstorming to help another member, listen to your intuition and honor your inner wisdom by speaking your ideas - even if they seem silly.Try not to censor your ideas.You never know how your idea might spark another person or how your idea could be built upon to create a great solution.So be active and make suggestions - every voice in a mastermind group is important.Remember... the whole is greater than the sum of the parts!
If you read Reg Gupton's recent post on "Secrets to a successful Mastermind Group meeting format" you will notice that one of the key ingredients to his groups is coming up with 21 ideas to solve one of the group member's problems.
I brought this idea up to one of my groups on Thursday and they loved the idea. We're going to be doing a slightly different format where we allot 30 minutes to brainstorming. Since many of the members want an opportunity to brainstorm their problems, we're going to give 2 members 15 minutes each to present a problem and then have the group come up with as many ideas as possible to help solve the problem.
I'm looking forward to an exciting meeting next month and potentially making Reg's suggestions a regular part of our meetings!
Once you have decided to create a Mastermind Group, you need a plan for how to conduct your meetings to gain the full power of the synergy of like minds.
The format of my Group meeting has evolved over time. We started with no plan and struggled for some time as you might expect. We didn't know how to use the intellectual power we each believed was in the room. There was no structure. Lots of talking and banter. No solutions.
We put the power of the Group to work to solve the question "what is the best structure our sessions?" We brainstormed, tested and found the plan outlined below works very, very well and has for many years.
The meeting begins with 2-3 minutes per person during which each reports on successes they have had since the last meeting. It gives us a chance to be acknowledged and encouraged as we make progress toward our stated goals.
Then we negotiate for time in the rest of the meeting. Each person brings a challenge if they have one. We simply divide of the remaining meeting time among the members with a question. Not all participants will have things to talk about at each meeting. Some questions have more urgency than others. We learned that we can work with different priorities.
The member with the question moves to the front of the room and writes down their question on a flipchart. We often spend a few minutes making sure that we are focused on the "correct" question. It is surprising how many times we assist by refining/reframing the question. Often the member lacks insight into the nature of their true problem.
It is critical that the question is succinct and properly worded. If we frame the question incorrectly, we will not provide the help that is requested.
Once the question is framed, it is written on the top of a flipchart page. Then the member numbers down the left side from 1 to 21.
We then begin brainstorming, offering solutions to the problem as stated or actions to be taken. The member with the questions only job at this point is to act as a scribe and write the solutions offered. We continue brainstorming until we have completed the full list of 21 solutions.
As you might expect the first dozen or so are too easy. When it gets difficult the creativity really begins. The best solutions generally happen after solution #16 or so. When the contributing members have to really think and dig, the breakthroughs occur.
The person at the board then chooses 2-4 items to complete or work on over the next several days or weeks.
Use this structure for your meetings and watch the productivity soar. I guarantee it.
I came across an interesting blog this morning called Kevin Thompson Uncensored. His most recent post discussed how he went over to a friend's house to help him brainstorm ideas for his window cleaning business. By putting their heads together they were able to create a new program for his friend, Louis, to get more clients for his business:
And this is where the "Mastermind Principle" came into play.
We asked ourselves this one simple question:
How can we add so much value to this program that when presented to the client, they'd immediately think to themselves, "I'd be crazy not to take advantage of this".
And let me tell you, that’s when we came up with some incredible ideas.
You see, when you ask yourself the right questions, you'll come up with the right answers... every time.
And when you do this with someone else (which is called masterminding), you come up with a whole lot more right answers.
Where things used to be a struggle - now they are accomplished with ease.
Where cashola used to be tight - now it flows like a fire hydrant
You can accomplish great things with the help of like-minded people, and when you begin using the power of the mastermind, you'll do more, go further and have more abundance that you ever thought possible.
Mastermind groups come up with new, fresh, thought provoking ideas that sometimes make my head swivel.
Some ideas are small, some are big, and some of them are off the wall!
Out of all of these great ideas, very few Mastermind groups follow through with their ideas. What? Isn't a Mastermind group supposed to come up with new ideas?
Yes. However, once you have all these great ideas, you have to act on some of them and develop them into your business or business model. I have seen too many groups not do anything with them. They just sit there on a sheet of paper, never to be looked at again. But all the members will go home and say "Man, we came up with some great ideas today..."
Here's a simple guide to what my Mastermind groups go through:
1. Brainstorming: Come up with 20-30 ideas and write them down on a sheet of paper. It doesn't matter where the idea came from, what it's about, or how silly it seems. All ideas have a place in business, it's just finding where they fit.
2. Think it through: Take some of the best ideas and develop them more. After you have your list of 20-30 ideas, agree as a group to evaluate 3 or 4 of the ideas. Find out how it can be implemented into someone's business by either a new product, a new service, or a new process to make business easier. Write this down and incorporate it into one of the group memebers business plan.
3. Take action: Finally, you have this new idea and you've put it into your business plan, what to do now? Take action! Utilize this new product, service, or strategy. That's what this is all about! See how it works for a month. Then evaluate if it's working as planned. If not, go back to the group and let them have feedback and modify it a little. If it's working, let the group know and everyone will be excited that their idea brought results.
Too many times I have seen Mastermind groups not do anything with the ideas that they've thought of and discussed. The best groups follow through with their ideas and turn them into action and results.
I was reading Confessions Of An Entrepreneur this morning and came across a new post on Mastermind Groups. It discusses the importance of brainstorming and accountability as well as lays out a sample agenda for your Mastermind Groups.
On Brainstorming:
Spend a set amount of time brainstorming new ideas. If you meet weekly, have a place to jot down these ideas as they come to you throughout the week and share them with your mastermind group weekly. If you have a phone or pda or mp3 player that has a recorder built in, this may be an excellent tool to use especially if you are in your car a lot. You'll see something or think of something as you drive and won't safely be able to write this down, but if you have a digital recorder of some sort, use it to make yourself a note... or even call your voicemail and leave yourself a message. Not every single idea will be something you act on or will ever come to fruition, but your million dollar idea shouldn't be one you don't remember because you didn't make a note. So, weekly brainstorming, like 15 minutes... whatever, but make this a part of every mastermind.
On Accountability:
I am a starter... not a finisher. I have about 4-5 pretty solid ideas about how I could make a lot of money. However, the ideas alone without the actual "do" part are worth very little. That said, the mastermind is great if you set specific goals of who will do what and set a date for the completion of those goals. As much as I'm a starter, I'm a doer when others are depending on me. With the mastermind, I will have some accountability where as an individual, I'm too lenient on myself and don't demand of myself all that I could and probably should. So, for most entrepreneurs, the mastermind opens up the accountability avenue and also will many times introduce someone into the mastermind who is the finisher and could make up where (in my case) I lack.
Sample Agenda:
- Welcome - Vision (re-affirm the vision / longer-term goals) - Updates / report on previous week's goals / accomplishments - Brainstorming / idea sharing - Application to existing project (new ideas / tweaking) - Determine goals to be achieved during next week / month, etc. - Accountability: who is responsible for what? - Refreshments
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: Debbie Lousberg
" by SuEllen Hamkins and Renee Schultz.
