Here’s a useful concept that might come in handy at some point: A MasterMind group can help you to achieve your goals through support, ideas, and motivation. So what is it?
The idea was first captured in 1937 in the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. It’s a small group of people meeting regularly to:
- Support each other
- Challenge each other
- Bring new ideas forward to help each other
Being interested in the concept, I decided to form a group last year which would help me move through the transition from being employed, to looking for a job, to creating my company. Four of us meet every 3-4 weeks via telephone for 90 minutes, and each of us talks about the progress we’ve made, the actions we’d like to take, and what support would be helpful from the others. So far, the results are that each of us has valued the support of the group, and achieved important goals. The only cost is our time, as we’re using a teleconference line graciously supplied by one of our members.
Here are the critical factors for a successful group:
- Small enough so that you can get to know each other personally, but large enough to have some diversity of thinking – I decided 4-6 people was the right size for us.
- Some elements of commonality of background to help quickly form relationships – Our group is formed from people who used to promote coaching at my former employer.
- Some elements of diversity so you get richer depth and breadth of ideas – Our group is two men and two women, physically located around the western US, each looking to take different steps in our lives.
- Being focused on helping each other get useful results.
Some groups will pay someone who facilitates the conversations and logistics, but given the backgrounds of the four of us we were able to do without. And on the whole, we’ve found this to be quite useful!
If you’re interested in the concept, simply Google “MasterMind Group”; there’s plenty of resources out there. Maybe this will be a valuable asset at an important point in your career where you’re looking for fresh ideas and personal support!