The idea of mastermind groups first came into existence in the publication Napoleon Hill wrote in 1937 entitled “Think and Grow Rich. In the book, Hill explains mastermind groups as groups of people who regularly come to discuss their issues that are related to business or personal issues. This was also when the idea of brainstorming was born, in which a group of people pooled their minds to come at ideas or solutions to the issue and where the collective knowledge of the entire group could give information with greater value than that is available to a single individual. While Napoleon Hill gave significantly clear guidelines regarding what to do to make use of the concept of the mastermind, Certain critical elements were left unaddressed, and these are also believed to be the primary reason that mastermind groups do not succeed. The three critical elements are in total: leadership, agenda, and actually attending meetings. Each of these impacts the other.
Leadership
To allow any group system to work efficiently, it is impossible to function without focus, direction, or someone to carry out the directive with conviction. Leadership is crucial in order for mastermind groups to work regardless of whether it’s an informal gathering of friends. One can go further by highlighting the need for a vice-president to take over when the leader is absent is also vital. The presence of a person who is responsible for ensuring that everyone is present for the meetings and adheres to the agenda can help in the longevity and efficiency of masterminds. Leaders do not have to be always in charge of the sessions. They can change their roles as the agenda of the sessions changes.
Agenda
Attending the meeting but not having anything to discuss defeats the purpose of forming an organization called a mastermind. To ensure that a mastermind group can be effective, there must be an agenda determined for every meeting. A “Hotseat” should be provided to the person whose challenge will be at the focal point of the discussion until it is met with feasible solutions, resources, or even new ways to tackle the issue. It’s also beneficial to provide the group with a use a common document, which could be the form of a book, article, or another type of data, to ensure that all participants are on the same page and can move forward as they progress, making the discussions more focused and, consequently, more efficient. If mastermind meetings are scheduled every week, it’s best to keep one’s problems or one area of discussion consistent throughout the duration of the week. Each challenge should be dealt with in a single session rather than all at one time, even though our hectic schedules might tempt us to get as much done as we can. However, this doesn’t work well. If there’s something that is more important that needs to be addressed immediately, make sure to ask the mastermind group members to schedule an appointment for these issues to be debated.
Presenting yourself
This is, without doubt, the main reason that contributes to the demise that mastermind organizations suffer. In the world of time being money, everyone has an event that comes up in their schedules at the very last minute. But if the intention is to make the most value from what a mastermind team can provide, then a set of circumstances should be developed that meet everyone’s schedules so that the risk is minimal. This is feasible because there are numerous mastermind groups that are very busy people who are able to squeeze the meetings into their agendas simply because they realize the value of these meetings. Participating in the sessions need not be face-to-face with the technology that we are using today.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a mastermind group will be successful if well planned and executed with sincerity. This is done by setting up an agenda for the group, with a clear leader and having one person on the hot seat whose concerns will be the subject of the discussion with an agreed-upon document that is referred to by all members of the group and also attending the entire session live or via video.
Beejal Parmar.
The Personality Success Blueprint.