Once upon a time, in the early 1900s, a farmer was driving through the rain in an old Model T. He noticed five men standing by a Lincoln touring car stuck in the mud and decided to help.
At one point, one of the men stepped forward to shake his hand, telling the farmer, “I made the car you’re driving.”
“And I’m the man who made those tyres,” added another in the group.
He then pointed to two of the others and said, “Meet the man who invented the electric light and the President of the United States.”
When the fifth man asked the farmer, “I guess you don’t know me either?” the farmer replied, “No, but if you’re the same kind of liar as these other darn fools, I wouldn’t be surprised if you said you were Santa Claus.”
The farmer’s response was understandable, but what he didn’t realise was that he had inadvertently stumbled upon a Mastermind group: Henry Ford, the automobile mogul; Harvey Firestone, founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company; Warren G. Harding, US President; Thomas Edison, famed scientist and inventor, and Luther Burbank, respected agriculturist, as they were on their way together to a campsite.
This mastermind group had developed a culture of taking to the road each summer in motor camping caravans.
They spent their camping trips competing in tree-chopping and climbing contests. This allowed what Edison called “Nature’s Laboratory” to inspire them with new ideas. They would also sit around the campfire discussing their various scientific and business ventures and debating pressing issues.
They called themselves “The Vagabonds.”
How do Mastermind Groups Work?
Iron sharpens iron. That’s the basis of mastermind groups. It’s also the reason why behind many successful people is a mastermind group.
Each group member is selected to complement the others and is qualified before joining. Usually, the members are at a similar stage in their business careers and are not in a group with someone who could be a competitor.
Mastermind groups could meet monthly or even yearly. The meetings could be online or virtual.
At Mastermind9, nine non-competing business owners from various industries have signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement.
So what happens next? Every month, you’ll meet for half a day with your mastermind group to discuss the challenges and opportunities you’re facing in the business.
In many mastermind groups, the “hot seat” or “spotlight” format is followed. Each member of the group takes a turn in the “hot seat ” and shares challenges and ideas with the group for feedback. At the end of their turn, they make a commitment to the group about one thing they will accomplish before the next meeting.
The format for the spotlight is:
- Present your challenge or opportunity
- Questions
- Discussion
- Action
Mastermind Groups – the Format
1. Present your challenge or opportunity
I think we can all agree that business is challenging!
And just as there will always be new challenges, there will always be new opportunities.
This segment works around the concept of the spotlight. We put you in the spotlight and give you the opportunity to talk about the challenge or opportunity as you see it. You’ll provide people with an overview, some background, some context and, possibly, some things you’ve thought of or tried.
You’ll need to discuss in detail – what it looks like, why it’s affecting you, what you’ve tried to do about it, and the constraints you’re facing. The other members must pay keen attention without interrupting, commenting, or asking questions.
For example, if your challenge is staying consistent with your advertising, you can explain why it’s hard to keep consistent, what you have tried so far, whether it’s worked, etc.
By describing the nature of your challenge as vividly as possible, you give the other members a chance to understand and help you.
2. Questions
In this section, the other members have a chance to ask questions of the person on the hot seat.
These questions are usually open-ended and preferably not solution-oriented.
It gives the members a chance to understand the nature of the problem or opportunity as well as they can so that they can form suggestions.
One of the rules at Mastermind9 is that no one speaks twice until everyone has spoken once. We want introverts and extroverts to have equal say. Plus, we don’t want questions to be narrowed down too quickly. We want to keep it broad at this stage.
It gives everyone a chance to speak. If you know you’ll have to ask a question; you have to pay keen attention to what the person in the hot seat says.
We don’t allow solutions cleverly disguised as questions.
3. Discussion
The discussion segment is where the mastermind group members offer solutions to the person in the spotlight. Having fully understood the challenge or opportunity, they are now better suited to speak their mind.
During the discussion at Mastermind9, we usually ask the person in the hot seat to turn off their camera and mic.
We do this to remove any bias when people offer their solutions. This helps to avoid having what we say next be influenced by your body language or your turning around and saying, “I’ve done this.”
We just want you to sit there and listen and make notes. This allows us to focus on what other people are saying and what we’ll advise you to do.
At this point, members are given the chance to tell the person in the hot seat what they really think about the next steps forward.
Everyone will take turns imparting their wisdom. Again, we follow the same rule—no one speaks twice unless everyone has spoken once.
What the people in the mastermind say will be gold because everyone is approaching it from a different perspective.
The really important thing is not to worry about everything you’ve heard but to pick the one thing that will move your business forward.
4. Action
There would be no point in this if there weren’t an action point, right?
At this point, we invite you to come back to the room. We encourage you to talk about one thing you’ve heard you will take away and implement before the next session.
It’s a takeaway action that may require weeks or even months to implement.
One of the values of a mastermind group is accountability. At the next session, they’ll need to tell the rest of the group what they’ve done so far.
For example, your action point could be to take up a marketing course or to recruit someone to handle your admin work.
At the next mastermind group session, you will explain to the group that you took the action. Then, you explain whether it produced results.
Conclusion to How Mastermind Groups Work
Mastermind groups are super powerful tools for achieving life’s goals. As a business owner, I encourage you to leverage this number-one tool for ultra-successful people.
It will equip you with ideas, support, resources, connections, a quick learning curve, and accountability. A mastermind group may be the missing ingredient in your path to success.
In summary, mastermind groups take the format of:
- Present the challenge or opportunity
- Questions
- Discussion
- Action
We would love to have you join us for a practical session at one of our FREE Mastermind group tasters! Get in touch with us if you have any questions or would like a chat!
