What happens in a Mastermind Meeting?

Years ago, I was sitting in a training session, and during a break the trainer approached me and asked if I was in a Mastermind group. I wasn’t in one, and had never even heard of this before. I’ll be honest, the first thought that scampered through my mind was the cartoon show featuring 2 lab mice called “Pinky and the Brain” and the line where Pinky asks, “What are we going to do tonight, Brain?” to which Brain replies “Same thing we do every night Pinky …. try to take over the world!!”

Turns out, that’s not actually what a Mastermind group is at all. Go figure!

This simple question the trainer posed to me had me

digging a bit deeper to see what this is all about.

Through this, I found a resource where I could be trained to lead and facilitate a Mastermind group.

Now this is getting interesting.

So, what happens in a Mastermind meeting?

In a Mastermind group, you have a handful of people of like job functions or interests. And they commit to getting together on a regular basis. There is trust and confidentiality within this group.

For this example, let’s say it’s 8 people.

During the meeting time, one of the 8 members will bring forward a challenge they have. This person is in what we affectionately call “the hotseat”. For this example, let’s call this hotseat person “you”.

You will give some background and narrow the focus down to one clear question/challenge/problem you are seeking input on. You will have 5 minutes to do this.

For the next 5 minutes, the 7 other group members will ask clarifying questions of you to fully understand the situation that you are striving to solve. During this time there is conversation going on between you and the members of the group.

The next part is where the true power of the Mastermind comes in.

For the next 15 minutes you must sit quietly while the 7 group members each share how they would solve that problem. They draw from what they have done, what they have seen, and what they haven’t seen or done, but what could be done. Think of the countless hours, days, weeks and years of training, webinars, trade shows, conferences, meetings and experience each group member brings to the table – and you, being in the hotseat, get to draw all that in, to help solve your challenge. In 15 minutes.

The 7 members who are contributing are also benefiting. Although the challenge may not be one which they are facing in this moment, the fact that they are of similar job functions or have the same types of interests, lends to the likelihood that they have encountered, will encounter, or may encounter the same situation.

The final 5 minutes goes back to you in the hotseat. You get to speak again and share the ideas that resonated for you and the ones that you will want to uncover more on or act on.

In 30 minutes, you’ll have a depth of ideas and information to help solve your problem. Think of the countless hours of research, phone calls, and video calls you’d need to do to even scratch the surface of this.

And then, at the next meeting, you, the hotseat participant, will share the progress you are making to solve the challenge you presented. This keeps you accountable to do something with it; not just say this was a great meeting and tuck it away, never to be seen again.

*Depending on the length of meeting time, there can be more than one hotseat participant. Also, depending on your facilitator, the timing may be different than the 30 minutes I outlined here. Personally, I like the 30 minutes, and in my meetings, I like to keep it to 2 hotseats per meeting.

The Mastermind group is a powerful thing – accelerating your learning and problem solving exponentially.

To find a Mastermind group for you, you can visit:

• blue dragonfly Mastermind for Credit Union Marketing Leaders

• or for personal success mastermind groups, business or professional topics

Keep on being amazing,

Lyanne

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Whether you are interested in learning more about how blue dragonfly can help your business, are interested in joining or learning more about Mastermind groups, would like to chat about a speaking engagement, or just want to meet with me, this is a great way to get started. https://www.bluedragonflystrategies.ca/contact

Cheers to the beginning of a great relationship.