Last Sunday, I was asked to organize and lead a presentation on Mastermind groups at a chapter meeting of the National Speakers Association of Ohio in Columbus. There were about 80 people at the session including experienced speakers who have participated in Mastermind groups and new speakers hoping to join one.
A Mastermind group is a select number of people who gather on a regular basis to brainstorm, coach, or give feedback to one another on business practices and products. Most Mastermind groups meet several times a year in person. Others communicate by conference calls. I find the face-to-face meeting the most productive.
The value of this group is the collective wisdom of people whose businesses have similar struggles. By-products of such groups are the friendships, which blossom and deepen. However, it is important to maintain objectivity and commit to giving honest, respectful feedback to gain the most out of these groups. The typical size of a Mastermind group is no more than five to six people so that each person can get an adequate amount of attention.
A key aspect of the best Mastermind groups is accountability. Members must commit to appropriate business goals and attempt progress on those goals between meetings. At the meetings, successes and failures should be discussed and refits designed if necessary. As with every aspect of a Mastermind group, if the accountability structure fails, the group should modify it to be more productive. Experimentation on structure should be a part of every Mastermind group.
I shared with the session participants my business goals and accountability measures that I track on a daily basis such as articles distributed, sales calls made, hours spent writing, presentations made, books sold among others. I have twelve in all. I share them with my Mastermind group every other month and receive feedback on my progress.
Group members must be willing to ask for help and comprehensively share their knowledge and ideas to other group members. Detailed agendas must be developed and owned by all group members and distributed well in advance of Mastermind sessions. It can be helpful to design your next agenda at the end of each meeting.
I recommend that at the first Mastermind group meeting, the participants jointly create a set of expectations and behavioral Ground Rules to guide the actions of individual members. Expectations describe desired outcomes and Ground Rules describe the process of how you interact. Make sure every member agrees on all elements of both documents. If any group member does not accept an element of the documents, modify the agreements to gain consensus. Have them prominently displayed at all meetings and refer to them as needed.
Every leader should be focused on personal, professional, and business improvement. It can be extremely helpful to seek feedback and ideas from other professionals in your field. I recommend that if you are not already in a Mastermind or a similar group, you should seek four or five other people whom you respect and initiate one. You may experience quantum leaps in your outcomes and achievement of lifetime dreams.
R. Glenn Ray, Ph.D., is the president of RayCom Learning. To learn more about Ray's new book Tons of Stone above my head: Coal Mining Stories with Leadership Lessons, visit his Web site www.raycomlearning.com. Everyday Leadership appears each Wednesday on the Business page
http://www.mariettatimes.com/page/content.detail/id/520372.html?nav=5003
Showing posts with label brainstorm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brainstorm. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Saturday, December 19, 2009
The Power of a Board of Advisors or Mastermind Group
This week I've had a lot of discussions with people about Mastermind Groups. All large corporations have a Board of Directors to be sure the company stays true to their mission, hit their numbers and fulfill their responsibility to stockholders. Small businesses (even sole-proprietorships) need them too. But usually, only those small businesses who accept private funding (from banks, angel investors, venture capitalists) have outsiders on their Board of Directors. A professional Board of Directors may not always create a happy, supportive, safe environment for business owners to turn to for problem solving, brainstorming, or even feedback.
On the other hand, we all need a sounding board, experts on our side, and a safe haven in which to ask for and receive help and advice. Every small business owner, CEO, or entrepreneur (in my opinion) must have a Board of Advisors. The easiest and fastest way to put one together is to join/create a Mastermind Group where each member gets and gives equal doses of advice from the group. I wanted to share with you my top ten reasons why you need one.
1. In a Mastermind Group the agenda belongs to the group and each person's participation is key. Peers give each other feedback, help each other brainstorm new possibilities, and set up accountability structures that keep each other focused and on track. They create a community of supportive colleagues who will brainstorm together to move each member of the group to new heights.
2. Each member gains tremendous insight, which can improve their business and personal life. A Mastermind Group is a powerful influence and resource.
3. Here is a golden opportunity to interact and collaborate with like minded people in a non-competitive environment.
4. Be part of a distinct community - a tribe. It is an instant and valuable professional support network. You get to team up with people who are better than you at some area of business or experience - people you can learn from.
5. You will find and attract people who can help and support you - good match for the long term growth and success of your business.
6. It helps you establish a strong personal foundation and see beyond what you can see yourself.
7. Share business models with each other and brainstorm with people who are already on the same wavelength. You get a sense of shared endeavor - that there are others out there!
8. You can walk away with a gem/perspective changed from each meeting - there's no wasted time or energy.
9. Experience, skill and confidence develop from the Mastermind Groups' support freeing you to take more risks and reach for bigger goals and dreams.
10. The Mastermind Group will help you design your business (and your life) to be the way you want them to be, not as you've been told things should be.
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-improvement-articles/the-power-of-a-board-of-advisors-or-mastermind-group-1600267.html
On the other hand, we all need a sounding board, experts on our side, and a safe haven in which to ask for and receive help and advice. Every small business owner, CEO, or entrepreneur (in my opinion) must have a Board of Advisors. The easiest and fastest way to put one together is to join/create a Mastermind Group where each member gets and gives equal doses of advice from the group. I wanted to share with you my top ten reasons why you need one.
1. In a Mastermind Group the agenda belongs to the group and each person's participation is key. Peers give each other feedback, help each other brainstorm new possibilities, and set up accountability structures that keep each other focused and on track. They create a community of supportive colleagues who will brainstorm together to move each member of the group to new heights.
2. Each member gains tremendous insight, which can improve their business and personal life. A Mastermind Group is a powerful influence and resource.
3. Here is a golden opportunity to interact and collaborate with like minded people in a non-competitive environment.
4. Be part of a distinct community - a tribe. It is an instant and valuable professional support network. You get to team up with people who are better than you at some area of business or experience - people you can learn from.
5. You will find and attract people who can help and support you - good match for the long term growth and success of your business.
6. It helps you establish a strong personal foundation and see beyond what you can see yourself.
7. Share business models with each other and brainstorm with people who are already on the same wavelength. You get a sense of shared endeavor - that there are others out there!
8. You can walk away with a gem/perspective changed from each meeting - there's no wasted time or energy.
9. Experience, skill and confidence develop from the Mastermind Groups' support freeing you to take more risks and reach for bigger goals and dreams.
10. The Mastermind Group will help you design your business (and your life) to be the way you want them to be, not as you've been told things should be.
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-improvement-articles/the-power-of-a-board-of-advisors-or-mastermind-group-1600267.html
Friday, September 4, 2009
7 Ways to Use Your Mastermind
Are you feeling lethargic managing your business? Or perhaps you know that you need to do something in order to drive your business up and on, but do not know where and how to start? Is all that you can see ahead of you a dark, gloomy and never-seem-to-be-ending road?
Well your worries are over! We shall discuss the top 7 ways which you can actually utilize to move ahead with your Mastermind group through collaboration with like-minded people and be that one step closer towards realizing your objectives!
Here is a summary of the top 7 ways.1. Clarity of your Mastermind group's objective. 2. Be positive and encouraging.3. Setting up an accountability structure.4. Building trust and privacy.
5. Asking and receiving help.6. Brainstorm to get an influx of great ideas.7. Contribute to receive more.
Clarity of your Mastermind group's objective. Make it a point to go through in your mind the very objective for the existence of this Mastermind group, and note it down. Your objective serves to concentrate the mind and the focus of your group right. With that the results will follow, otherwise your group could be languishing in mediocrity and not progressing.
Be positive and encouraging. This is done by...the words you use which effectively set the tone for the whole Mastermind meeting. Be positive and encouraging and at the same time show your Mastermind members that you care. While we are ruling out outright flattery here, complimentary words as well as gestures to show the appreciation that you have for your group members will not go unnoticed and will go a long way towards ensuring a harmonious and united mastermind group.
Setting up an accountability structure. Having a system in place is vital to ensuring your group does not stagnate. Many a times the full potential of a Mastermind group is not able to be harnessed due to the small matter of accountability. During the mastermind meeting itself, ideas abound and many suggestions are made but who is to ensure who does what? The person offering the idea might not be willing to get down to sorting out the nitty-gritty of the issue at hand, and responsibilities start to be pushed among members. This causes friction and over the long hauls results in tension brewing among members which will certainly not aid your cause. Hence, have a structure in place to ensure no one shirks responsibility and everyone does his/her part.
Building trust and privacy. The basic ingredient needed for any successful Mastermind group is for members to trust one another. And how do we foster trust within the group, whose members may hail from a diversity of backgrounds? Well, we aim to build lasting relationships over the long run. To do this, there must be complete honesty and absolute clarity in communication among members. This sets the foundation for the group to be taken to a whole new level in terms of the intangible factor that is trust. Oh, and always be prepared to listen to what others have to say, no matter how trivial or seemingly irrelevant that opinion may be. Everyone wants to be heard.
Asking and receiving help. As you work on that, do not forget that you are here in a Mastermind group not only to give but to receive as well. Share any problems that you might have come across since the end of the last meeting as well as any help you would like to receive. Do not be afraid to ask. There is no harm in asking. Failure only occurs when people keep their problems inside of them and do not request for help. Once you have established some form of rapport or other with your group members, you will find that they are more than willing to lend a helping hand.
Brainstorm to get an influx of great ideas. Once you have mustered up the courage to ask for help, expect to have lots of ideas and suggestions from your group members to work with. There will be ideas being bandied about and this is where the real brainstorming starts. Do not judge any suggestion offered by your group members by brandishing them as "impractical" or "not workable". Simply jot all the ideas down and you will soon find that you have a stack of ideas to work with. You can then slowly discard those you feel are not feasible. In this way, there is a higher chance of you solving your problem, when you learn to become less judgmental.
Give before you receive. Everyone has his/her own purpose in joining a Mastermind group. Think about it this way, should everyone give right from the start, then everyone would be receiving in one way or other right? It does not matter who gives first. As long as you are willing to give, you will definitely receive. Translated into reality, this theory can be construed as follows: Should you be willing to help your group members by going the extra mile to ensure that their needs are met, you can be assured that when the time comes to doing the honors for you, your group members will put in the same amount, if not even more effort for you.
Above are the top 7 ways for you to use your Mastermind group to move ahead. If you find that the progress of your group is mired in mediocrity and would like to improve its fortunes, would you like to take on this challenge and use the tips above to inspire your group to scale greater heights and achieve even more success than never before? The choice is yours.
About the Author
Joel Chue and Alex Cheong Expert Authors in the topic Mastermind groups
How Can Ordinary People Leverage a Mastermind Group System to Produce Extraordinary Results Over and Over Again?
A Free 24 page Report Shows You How
Copyrights © 2006 Alex Cheong @ http://www.mastermind-your-way-to-success.com
Well your worries are over! We shall discuss the top 7 ways which you can actually utilize to move ahead with your Mastermind group through collaboration with like-minded people and be that one step closer towards realizing your objectives!
Here is a summary of the top 7 ways.1. Clarity of your Mastermind group's objective. 2. Be positive and encouraging.3. Setting up an accountability structure.4. Building trust and privacy.
5. Asking and receiving help.6. Brainstorm to get an influx of great ideas.7. Contribute to receive more.
Clarity of your Mastermind group's objective. Make it a point to go through in your mind the very objective for the existence of this Mastermind group, and note it down. Your objective serves to concentrate the mind and the focus of your group right. With that the results will follow, otherwise your group could be languishing in mediocrity and not progressing.
Be positive and encouraging. This is done by...the words you use which effectively set the tone for the whole Mastermind meeting. Be positive and encouraging and at the same time show your Mastermind members that you care. While we are ruling out outright flattery here, complimentary words as well as gestures to show the appreciation that you have for your group members will not go unnoticed and will go a long way towards ensuring a harmonious and united mastermind group.
Setting up an accountability structure. Having a system in place is vital to ensuring your group does not stagnate. Many a times the full potential of a Mastermind group is not able to be harnessed due to the small matter of accountability. During the mastermind meeting itself, ideas abound and many suggestions are made but who is to ensure who does what? The person offering the idea might not be willing to get down to sorting out the nitty-gritty of the issue at hand, and responsibilities start to be pushed among members. This causes friction and over the long hauls results in tension brewing among members which will certainly not aid your cause. Hence, have a structure in place to ensure no one shirks responsibility and everyone does his/her part.
Building trust and privacy. The basic ingredient needed for any successful Mastermind group is for members to trust one another. And how do we foster trust within the group, whose members may hail from a diversity of backgrounds? Well, we aim to build lasting relationships over the long run. To do this, there must be complete honesty and absolute clarity in communication among members. This sets the foundation for the group to be taken to a whole new level in terms of the intangible factor that is trust. Oh, and always be prepared to listen to what others have to say, no matter how trivial or seemingly irrelevant that opinion may be. Everyone wants to be heard.
Asking and receiving help. As you work on that, do not forget that you are here in a Mastermind group not only to give but to receive as well. Share any problems that you might have come across since the end of the last meeting as well as any help you would like to receive. Do not be afraid to ask. There is no harm in asking. Failure only occurs when people keep their problems inside of them and do not request for help. Once you have established some form of rapport or other with your group members, you will find that they are more than willing to lend a helping hand.
Brainstorm to get an influx of great ideas. Once you have mustered up the courage to ask for help, expect to have lots of ideas and suggestions from your group members to work with. There will be ideas being bandied about and this is where the real brainstorming starts. Do not judge any suggestion offered by your group members by brandishing them as "impractical" or "not workable". Simply jot all the ideas down and you will soon find that you have a stack of ideas to work with. You can then slowly discard those you feel are not feasible. In this way, there is a higher chance of you solving your problem, when you learn to become less judgmental.
Give before you receive. Everyone has his/her own purpose in joining a Mastermind group. Think about it this way, should everyone give right from the start, then everyone would be receiving in one way or other right? It does not matter who gives first. As long as you are willing to give, you will definitely receive. Translated into reality, this theory can be construed as follows: Should you be willing to help your group members by going the extra mile to ensure that their needs are met, you can be assured that when the time comes to doing the honors for you, your group members will put in the same amount, if not even more effort for you.
Above are the top 7 ways for you to use your Mastermind group to move ahead. If you find that the progress of your group is mired in mediocrity and would like to improve its fortunes, would you like to take on this challenge and use the tips above to inspire your group to scale greater heights and achieve even more success than never before? The choice is yours.
About the Author
Joel Chue and Alex Cheong Expert Authors in the topic Mastermind groups
How Can Ordinary People Leverage a Mastermind Group System to Produce Extraordinary Results Over and Over Again?
A Free 24 page Report Shows You How
Copyrights © 2006 Alex Cheong @ http://www.mastermind-your-way-to-success.com
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