The Superstar Scoop: How To Set Up A Mastermind Group

Creating a business mastermind group – whether in person or virtual – is a way to support your business growth. Gathering smart, successful people and sharing best practices can help you discover great new ideas for your business, and also learn from the mistakes others have made and successfully navigated.

 

I love mastermind groups. I love creating them, participating in them, facilitating them, and monetizing them. Masterminds are magical. They can help you navigate a crisis, strategize a pivot, launch a new product or program, grow faster, hold you accountable, and more.

But starting your own can be tricky; they can be challenging to fill, manage, and successfully maintain. The problem is most mastermind groups don't stand the test of time; they fold or fail within the first year or two.

Some common pitfalls people often run into include: having the wrong people, or people who don’t participate fully. Sometimes people are flaky – they join and don't show up. People may give really awful advice, or even annoy and frustrate each other with their perspectives. Sometimes groups just don’t “gel.” 

Here are some best practices to mitigate these problems and help you create something lasting and sustainable. 

#1: The most important and fundamental thing to remember is that you're not just creating an event or a mastermind session, what you’re really creating is a culture. You're bringing together a group of people with shared values who communicate using shared language and agreements. 

Part of creating a culture means having shared certain values and agreements. I’ve had my paid mastermind group now for over 6 years. When I started the group, we had challenges. People came in and quit, there were arguments (not the constructive kind), and once we even had a member show up wasted drunk! I've seen it all. 

That was then. 

We don’t have those issues anymore, and the reason is that even though we have a very diverse group of people, everyone shares certain values, and agrees to operate based on some basic guidelines of communication. 

In my group, we are all here – ”here” on this planet and here in our businesses – to contribute. We are all purpose-driven, contribution-oriented, heart-centered, soul-powered entrepreneurs.

So as part of our shared communications guidelines, we agree to stick with positive language and not to criticize each other – even when giving critical feedback. (For greater detail on this, watch the video).

So, for example, we don't use words like should, shouldn't, or can't. We don’t give “prescriptive” feedback – so you won’t hear someone say: “You need to do this this way” or “You should try this.” Instead people say things like, “Here’s my experience with that, “ or “I invite you to consider this idea” or “Have you ever thought about trying this?” 

On the flip side, the way people receive feedback in our group is special too. Instead of saying “that'll never work for me” or “That's a terrible idea,” you’ll hear: “I’ll consider that, thank you.” Because when we reject people's ideas out of hand, people are less likely to share awesome ideas. 

Of course, culture and guidelines are not all that goes into creating a successful mastermind group. Another important consideration is who's going to be in your group? In my experience, it’s beneficial to have a diverse group of people, with unique experiences and perspectives, and who share common values. But you may wish to focus in on a specific industry, demographic, or mission. I explore this in more depth in the video up above. 

Another question to ask is will this be a paid mastermind or a free one? Obviously, it's easier to put together something that’s free – just call up a few people you know and enroll them in the vision. However, “when people pay, they pay attention” as the saying goes. People are generally more serious, more engaged and more committed when they invest in something. 

To get one final BIG strategy about testing out your mastermind concept using a “beta” program, watch the video above! I've also created several videos and playlists on YouTube about how to build and enroll people in paid mastermind groups and other group coaching programs. Click here to see my other videos (and please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel!) 

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If creating a mastermind group appeals to you, and especially if you want to launch a paid one, then maybe I can help. Book a discovery call with me or someone on my team at www.superstardiscoverycall.com to explore if and how I can help you monetize your magic with a mastermind.

 

 

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