Evaluating New Members - What Are Their Goals?

Before any new member is accepted in one of my Mastermind Groups they must submit a one page overview of their business which will be reviewed by the group. The one pager typically covers the candidate's business experience and shares some personal information their own skills and background.

This overview is submitted to one of the Mastermind Groups who will review it and decide if the candidate should be invited as a guest to the next meeting.

As my groups develop and get more mature, each one takes on its own personality depending on members in the group. They start to decide what characteristics they are ideally looking for when recruiting new members.

On Thursday evening, my third Mastermind Group named itself The Visionaries (instead of PMG-3 which stood for Peer Mentorship Group #3) and we discussed the profile of a new potential member for the group. The group named itself The Visionaries because each member had big visions and dreams for where they wanted to take their companies. They, therefore, also want to bring on new members who share the same philosophy.

A suggestion from one of the group members was to ask new candidates to share with them on their one pager what their 3-5 year vision of their company is. Where does the candidate see herself going? This way the members can decide if the candidate had a big vision and would be a good potential member in the group or not.

I thought it was a fantastic suggestion and will be implementing this rule for all my groups. Any new candidate now who submits a profile to be reviewed by one of our three groups has to include in that profile a 3-5 year vision of where their company is going.

The strength of a Mastermind Group comes down to the people in the group. Anything you can do to improve the chances of getting the right people will make the experience more pleasurable and valuable. I am looking forward to implementing this new tactic and helping my groups attract more ideal members!

How To Select New Members Into A Mastermind Group

The Mastermind Groups that I run typically have between 4 and 8 members. We start with 4 as a founding group and build up to a maximum of 8. You want enough members so that there are a number of opinions to solve the members' challenges but not so many that the individual members do not get enough time to talk about their problems.

Adding new members can be a tricky process. You always want to make sure that everyone is compatible because if two members are constantly add odds with each other it will bring the whole group down. Here is what we do when a new member is interested in joining an existing group.

1) Face to face meeting
I personally meet with every candidate face to face at a local coffee shop. I want to make sure they understand the concept of the Mastermind Group and that they are not there to just sell their services. While many sales do happen between members, the point of the group is to have an advisory board for your business rather than a group of people to sell to. I answer any questions they might have, learn about their businesses, and see if there might be a fit with one of the groups based on my knowledge of the members and the various challenges they are facing.

2) Written, one page overview
Assuming they are interested in joining a group and I think they would be a good fit, the candidates would prepare a one page overview of themselves and their businesses. It usually comprises of a background on the entrepreneurs, their relative skills, company histories, and a list of the challenges they are currently facing. This one pager would then be shown to the members of the Mastermind Group with the best fit. The existing members read the overview and discuss if they would like to learn more about the potential member. Some of the usual issues that come up are if the new member is a potential competitor / client / supplier of an existing member, if the new member can add value to the discussion, and if the industry that the new member represents would be a missing knowledge base for the existing members.

3) Trial meeting
If the existing members agree to learn more about the new potential members, they are invited to a meeting as a trial. The new members have to sign the non disclosure agreement and they participate in the meeting as a full member. They get to meet the existing members and see how the meetings are run. They then get the opportunity to discuss their companies and the challenges they are facing to get the feedback from the other members. After the meeting is over I will follow up during the week with both the new potential members and the existing members. If everyone agrees that the new members brought in value then they are added. Similarly the new members have to have found value from the meeting and from the existing members to want to stay.

The key I have found really is the screening meeting at the coffee shop. I do most of the eliminating because I know what the groups are looking for and who makes a good member. By the time the new members get to submitting the overview and coming to a trial meeting they are usually accepted in the group.

Oops!! There is no fit here

Guest Contributor: Reg Gupton
Reg's Posts - Reg's Blog


A while back my Master Mind Group decided to expand our number. We had been stable for quite some time. A person we met at a networking event found out that we had a group. He indicated that he was interested exploring the benefits. We were open to exploring his joining the group. We hadn't been for a while.

We had previously established a protocol on how to integrate new members. We had brainstormed and discussed the options that we arrived at as a group. We decided the following: The potential member is invited to attend from 2 to 4 meeting while we get acquainted. We each determine if there is a good fit.

Both of us is on probation for these first few meetings. At the first meeting we explain and discuss the expectations and agreements. The potential new member can say that s/he has no interest and we can do the same. Hopefully there are no hard feelings.

The existing members are looking for intellect and clarity of thinking from the new members . We have challenges to solve, opportunities to explore, projects to move forward and we, like all people, need an additional perspective or point of view that we don't already have. We can offer the same things to a new member.

The first potential member began attending meetings. After a minimum of meetings we extended an offer to join the group permanently. It was accepted. We have a great fit. He was bright, thoughtful and brought a new, interesting point of view that we had not experienced before.

Subsequently, a past member referred a friend to us. I did an initial phone interview and invited her to the initial series of meetings as outlined above. The new member attended her first several meetings. She asked great questions. We taught a lot.

No contribution from her. No value added. No clarity of thinking. No perspective that we did not have from an existing member. Not a good fit. Our view is that these meetings contain both problem solving for each person and contributions, too.

This person needed a less sophisticated group or a mentor/coach. We are not set up to do this. Lots of learning needed to take place. We were not in a place to deliver the required teaching.

The person was called and a very gently uninvited. We were very specific about what we thought would be a better course of action for her.

I hope she finds what she needs. I believe she will.