Do You Have A Board Of Advisers?

I met with a new potential member for one of my Mastermind Groups earlier this morning and we were discussing how the groups are really an informal board of advisers for the members. Who do you turn to for advice when you need help? Most entrepreneurs cannot ask their employees and their families are supportive but do not have the business background to provide suggestions.

This is where a Mastermind Group comes into play. Having a group of other business owners who are going through or have already gone through the challenges you are facing is the best way to solve your problem. Learn from the experiences of your peers to help you reach your goals much more quickly.

This concept was recently explored in the Millionaire Secrets Inner Circle Blog:

How often do you feel alone? How often do you have exciting news to share, and yet feel you have no one to share it with-either because the people around you wouldn't understand, or you're afraid they may burst your bubble?

I can't stress enough that it is key to find a MasterMind group. Find one or create your own.

You not only need others who are on the same path, on the 'same page' if you will, to share your successes (and struggles) with, but you also need to surround yourself with people who have been there and whom you can follow in their footsteps.

Just as you are what you eat, you also are what you surround yourself with. Surround yourself with disgruntled employees, and soon you'll be disgruntled. Surround yourself with depressed people, and soon you'll feel depressed. Surround yourself with overeaters, and soon you'll find yourself eating too much and gaining weight.

But surround yourself with successful, rich, happy, creative, and abundant people, and, well... you get the idea!

Inner Circle Mastermind

Kristen Marie Schuerlein writes a blog on designing a life that you love. Her recent post was on creating an inner circle or Mastermind Group to help you achieve the success you're after. Kristen notes:

None of us get to the top of the mountain alone. Why would we when it is so much sweeter up there being surrounded by friends?

She goes on to make 5 suggestions for people considering creating or joining a Mastermind Group:

1. Determine the size of group, and carefully select members

2. Decide frequency of meeting and agenda for each meeting. One group I was in had a very formal agenda for each meeting, with a specific topic for discussion. Another was less structured, yet focused.

3. Be clear about expectations for attendance and behavior. Success comes from 100% participation. Without a rigorous commitment, the group will lose its power and sense of importance.

4. Always strive to be of service to others. Focusing on others first is the surest way to get the most out of your group.

5. Forget everything I just said, and build your inner circle organically. While I believe in the power of having a group that meets monthly or so, and that is committed to one another, I also believe in the power of one on one relationships and selecting your team over time. Honestly, either approach works. Perhaps you decide to have both. The bottom line is understanding the power of surrounding yourself with people up to big things, and seeking to give to others. This is a secret to success.

Joining / Starting A Mastermind Group

Guest Contributor: Doug Emerson
Doug's Posts - Doug's Blog


Looking through "Think and Grow Rich" last year about this time, I reread the section about Mastermind groups. Like a lot of people, my copy of "Think and Grow Rich" is quite worn and is filled with inked in arrows, circles and notes highlighting the passages of importance. Napoleon Hill's section on mastermind groups always intrigued me when I read it, but Fear had always stopped me from forming my own mastermind group.

• I was afraid of my invitation to join being rejected by potential group members; worse yet, a declination to join might also be taken as personal rejection.
• I was afraid that some members would not provide the right kind of support and input to the group and the messy process of rejecting them from the group would be controversial and painful.
• I was fearful that the project would die a slow death of apathetic neglect as enthusiasm dwindled by group members.

I wish my imagination for success was more powerful than my imagination for disaster all of the time, but at that moment about a year ago, my thoughts for the success of forming a mastermind group overpowered all fears of failure.

With the help of another member, we talked about and invited two others to be members of a mastermind group that met on a conference call weekly. We knew each other; not all of us had known each other for the same amount of time.

One year of masterminding weekly has provided these results:

• Accountability to members who understand me and my business objectives.
• A forum to whine a little and then be positively directed to move on.
• Education about others' business problems which are common to all businesses.
• Quick observations and suggestions from members in a spirit of helpfulness and camaraderie with no strings attached.

If you are thinking of joining or starting a mastermind group to help you in your business, the only thing you need to be fearful of is waiting another day.

Doug Emerson writes a blog about making money in the horse business.