So, if you have heard about Mastermind Groups recently, your next question is bound to be “How do mastermind groups work?”. As someone who has run their own mastermind groups, and been a member of many different groups, let me share with you what I know about them.
What Is A Mastermind Group
The starting point is to explain what actually is a mastermind group?
Put simply, it is a group of business people, usually business owners, brought together by the ‘Mastermind’, who is usually an expert in a certain area of business, to help each of the people in the group to improve, often both personally but primarily in their business role.
The ‘Mastermind’ usually has a certain area of expertise which those attending the group are interested in, this can be:
- The financial aspects of running a business
- Management
- Business growth
- Mental strength
- Niche industry expertise, eg a mastermind group for accountants, business consultants, coaches, lawyers etc.
The sole purpose for those attending the group is to learn more quickly than if they try to do everything in their business on their own.
They want to access all of the expertise of the ‘Mastermind’ to fast track their path to success.
Any business owner knows that it can be hard trying to go it all alone, making all of the decisions about how to manage and grow their business, so if they can sit with someone who knows what they need to do and how they need to do it, it is a good thing to do.
The other benefit of a mastermind group is that you get to hear and learn from the other business people in the group, which again then gives each attendee ideas for their own business.
Who Is A Mastermind Group For?
The majority of mastermind groups are for business owners, because you have to justify the time away from a business and it is usually only the business onwer who can do this.
There may be other groups for senior executives, but these will usually be labelled mentorship or pier learning experiences.
More often than not, mastermind groups are designed solely for business owners.
Why Do Mastermind Groups Work?
Now that you know what a mastermind group is and who it is for, how does it actually work?
How does the mastermind attendee benefit from joining a mastermind group?
First, again, let me state that mastermind groups have been instrumental in growing my business more quickly, and more importantly in running mastermind groups has helped the attendees of my own mastermind groups to grow their businesses more quickly too.
As a small business marketing consultant, I know that I can help my clients to grow their businesses quickly if I work on a one to one basis with them. It is what I do day in, day out, and what I have done since 2003.
However, there is an extra spark or an extra impetus that happens then I do this through the format of a mastermind group.
I think it comes down to simple human nature for these reasons:
- Sometimes people need to hear the same message several times for it to sink in. When they hear the ‘Mastermind’ and the other attendees saying they have tried something and it worked, it gives them the confidence to try it too.
- Owning and running a business is a lonely thing to do. Sharing your frustrations and challenges with other business owners just like you, and hearing how they solved these challenges, allows you to deal with them more quickly than if you try to go it alone.
- People like people and community. Mastermind groups often become friendship groups. I have friends now who I met through mastermind groups, and this is not uncommon.
- People are competitive. When you see someone else in your group taking action and obtaining results it drives you on to do the same.
- Mastermind groups provide the ultimate level off accountability, which we all need to develop more quickly. Telling one person that you will do something before you see them again in a month or two is one thing, telling six to twelve people that you are going to do it makes it 10 times more likely that you will take the action required.
How Do Mastermind Groups Work?
Finally, what is the format for these groups and how do they work?
Quite simply, this is how mastermind groups work:
- The ‘Mastermind’ invites you to join his group. There is always a fee to pay, usually a monthly fee for a minimum period (often 12 months but sometimes 90 days). You agree to pay the fee because you want the results (mentioned above) that will come from your membership.
- You attend the first mastermind meeting. The format is usually the introduction, followed by a session for each of the members attending. This can range from as little as 30 minutes each to as much as two hours or more on each business.
- The ‘Mastermind’ chairs the meeting, ensuring that it runs to time, but more importantly ensuring that he gets feedback from all of the people attending the meeting to make it as impactful for every person sitting in the mastermind ‘hot seat’.
- At the end of each person’s session, they will usually be asked to list out the actions that they will take before returning for the next meeting (in a week, a month or the next quarter).
- At the end of each event, many mastermind groups then have dinner together where the ideas of the day are discussed further and friendships formed and developed.
- The best mastermind groups have some form of contact included in between each session with the ‘Mastermind’ to ensure that they are on track to do what they have agreed to do.
- The group attend for the next session and so it continues.
Summary
Hopefully you now understand what a mastermind group is and how they work.
I hope I have showed you how powerful they can be.
Yes, Mastermind Groups cost the business owner a reasonable investment, but this is generally an incredibly wise investment as they will make back many more times what they pay from being a member of the group.
For any business owner serious about growing as a person and a business owner, being a member of a mastermind group is a very sensible thing to do.
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