Positive and Negative

Guest Contributor: Michael Lipp
Michael's Posts - Michael's Blog


I've just begun to use Mastermind groups - I'm in two of them. Now it seems that friendship is inevitable (and I like that) and that trust is essential. But what builds that?

Well, let's look at what I want from the group. I want useful suggestions on what I'm looking for (which may well change from meeting to meeting.)

Last time I brought up an idea I've had for a new product (to me a mega-idea) And my group put it down and gave their reasons for putting it down (as well as suggesting some work I could do that would validate their input). I was crushed. But do I trust their input - I mean do I trust the validity of their input, the viability of my idea? Would I trust them more if they were orgasmic about the idea?

Will I use disappointment to invalidate trust? On the contrary, I will use that to increase trust. It takes something to give that feedback.

In fact, that's what I want; that's why I joined this group - to get honest feedback from other points of view. If they shared my point of view, I would only be getting echoes of my point of view. It means I can trust their positive input also - and it reinforces my ability to give honest feedback to them.

So - a difficult - but very valuable lesson.

Benefits of Mastermind Peer Pressure

Ralph Zuranski did an interview with Dave Kekich, co-founder of Exceptional Producers, Inc., the country's largest life insurance master general agency, which raised $3.1 billion of premium income for First Executive Corp., co-founded a national financial services company and arranged venture capital funding for private companies for 11 years.

In it they discussed the benefits of Mastermind groups:

Ralph Zuranski: How important is it to have trusted friends and a mastermind group to bounce your ideas off?

Dave Kekich: I don't think it is essential, Ralph, but it is a huge advantage. You need to select very carefully who that mastermind group is going to be, though I think you want people who have been selected carefully, who are in tune with their goals, not necessarily their skills, or their experiences, because you want to have a wide variety with different disciplines in there. I think those people do have a huge advantage.

Ralph Zuranski: How do they make a positive difference in your life?

Dave Kekich: For the amount that I have done, they validate or correct my ideas, people to bounce ideas off of, and then I get ideas and inspirations off of them. And I think mostly they give me someone to answer to, and that is a very big, overlooked advantage to mastermind groups.

You basically come out in public and you expose your ideas and dreams and aspirations and your goals to other people. And there is a certain amount of peer pressure to implement your ideas at that point.

It is real easy to have goals and ideas and to keep them to yourself and die with them. But when you start sharing them with other people, it puts a lot of pressure on you.