Masterminding Lessons #3

Dec.19, 2007 in Masterminding

Since the last time I wrote about masterminding, a number of people had actually suggested to me to create a more detailed set of steps to creating a mastermind group, so I’m dedicating this post for that.

Step #1 - Invest your intentions

For those of you who are familiar with the idea that thoughts travel, you know for a fact that when you set your intentions to attract the people you want in our group, you will get these people. Like vibrations will create like members, so it’s important for you to focus on what you want instead of what you don’t want. The more you seek evidence to find things that make your life work, the happier you’ll be! So, the same goes for finding the people you want on your team.

Step #2 - Be on a lookout for people

It’s funny that a lot of people simply turn a blind eye to the most obvious things around them. Recently, I was having a lunch with a group of past graduates of mine. I had always thought that it would be a cool idea to launch a product with my past students, and the odd thing is that I had been having meals with them for several months already, but it never really struck me that it would be possible to rope them into a mastermind group to build a product portfolio. Keep your eyes and ears open, and spread the word. Who knows - you might not be in direct contact with your potential dream team, but friends might know friends.

Step #3 - Invite and induct members on rules of the group

This process is important. I’m assuming you will take on some form of leadership of the group in the first place, so do remember that the responsibility will rest on you to communicate your intentions and your goals to the group. Tell them specifically WHY you chose to speak to them. You must have a very clear idea in order to confidently state your point to enroll this person into your group.

You must then expect your group to adhere to rules that are set. It’s not to police anyone - it’s to create constraints that prevent sliding back to mediocrity.

I’ve got an article series on my NLP blog which you can access at www.WorldOfNLP.com.

Here are some rules that can bring sense to a potentially chaotic group:

No more than 7 members
Meet at least 1 time a month
Set and declare goals
Members Audit goals and check if they are well-formed goals
Review what other members have done in the course of the month to progress
Celebrate success
Suggest alternatives as solutions to problems that might arise
Consider synergistic goals
Each person takes turns to run the meeting
Minute your meetings
Punctuality is the utmost priority
Choose and select consequences for flouting rules (e.g. fines)
Choose and select criteria for “warning” then “firing” someone for not being a team player

Step #4 - Schedule and commit to meetings

Plan a schedule for the whole year and then work the rest of your life around this. It’s important because if you don’t give time for these meetings, you’ll be basically saying that they are unimportant. Commitment to your fellow group members will mark a very significant step toward building the confidence that other people are going to be there for you and support your direction.

Here’s the typical agenda of a meeting.

10 min - Opening words from the chairman (plan something moving or motivating)
10 min - each person checks in by commenting on the message behind the opening speech.
70 min - each member takes turns to state their goals. (10 min each)
70 min - other members audit and contribute their ideas to supporting the goals (10 min each person)
10 min - Chairman closes the meeting
10 min - each person checks out by making a statement about what they learnt or discovered has improved in their lives through the meeting

If you’d like more foundational principles of creating a group that succeeds in masterminding, you might want to check out the book I recommended previously - Peter Senge’s “The Fifth Discipline”.