In order to achieve success in any business, one of the key factors are the people in our lives. These people are not only the ones who are directly involved with our business such as our clients and customers or our employees that keep our business moving. They also include the people outside of our business including family, friends, and even our competitors. There is another group of people who can help us succeed and teach us new strategies. This group of people is underutilized, yet we all have this group and already know who the members are. It is called the mastermind group. The mastermind group is a concept coined by author Napoleon Hill in his best selling book published in 1939 titled Think And Grow Rich. It is a group of people who may or may not have anything to do with our business, field, or industry, but they are successful in some way that we, ourselves, have not yet achieved. The people in our mastermind group have one or more traits that we aspire to possess and yet, for some reason, have not yet acquired those traits. These traits can include:
- intelligence
- business savvy
- accomplishments
- riches
- business connections
- people skills
- mannerisms
How do you know who the members of your mastermind group are? Strangely, our own mastermind group can also include people that we envy in some way, because they have achieved something that we would love to be taught. They are also the people who make us feel really good about being an entrepreneur in the first place. We are sometimes awestruck in their presence.
How Do You Leverage the Benefits of Your Mastermind Group?
Make a list of ALL the entrepreneurs who you interact with on a daily basis and who you have a good report with. Think about each person and look for a trait that they possess which you do not have or one which you may already have, but would like to improve. Add that person onto your list and his/her trait which you would like to acquire or improve. Keep the list between 5 and 10 people. Contact that person and ask them to teach you the trait which you wish to possess. In my case, I know a lot of people who have successfully written and published at least one book. I am writing a book about how to succeed in my industry, but I currently have only ten chapters so far and procrastinated while writing it. Seeing so many of my business colleagues with completed books has inspired me. I have added some of these authors to my mastermind group. I have other colleagues who get paid for speaking engagements. I have not yet reached this accomplishment, but I hope one day to make this a normal part of my business. I know three people who get paid well for speaking engagements and keynote appearances, so I added them to my mastermind group. The next step is to contact them to learn how to acquire those valuable traits. Ironically, we do not even need to ask someone to teach us. We can simply study them by reading their blogs, websites, and social media to adapt their principles, style, and methods into our own method of conducting business.
In conclusion, you already know who belongs in your mastermind group. Start the list as soon as possible and take action to put it into motion. It is also a good idea to let someone know that you have added them to your mastermind group. It is very flattering to people on your list when they discover that you have added them. It is a good sign of respect. Chances are also very high that you are also a member of at least 3 other people’s mastermind groups. It is not uncommon for two people to be in each other’s mastermind groups, not because of a reciprocation, but because of mutual respect and admiration. Also, you can easily tell by the way someone interacts with you through their speech, body language, and the way they listen to you when you speak.
