"Business is a team sport. The person with the best team wins". - Robert Kiyosaki
About a century ago Napoleon Hill embarked on a journey to model successful business executives.
His motive was to extract the habits that contributed largely to their massive success. Hill studied top notch leaders, founders and C.E.Os of mega corporations extensively. Some names that featured in his project were;
1. Henry Ford-founder, ford Motors.
2.Thomas Edison-Founder, General Electric.
3. Alexander Graham Bell-Founder, First American Telephone and Telegraph Company.
4.Theodore Roosevelt - Historian, writer and 26th president of the USA.
5. Charles M. Schwab - Founder, Bethlehem Steel. Second largest steel manufacturer in the US at his time in office.
6. John D. Rockefeller - Founder, standard oil. Richest person in modern history.
Napoleon Hill made the exciting discovery that everyone of them were in active cooperation with other business executives through mastermind groups.
He also pointed out that, when different people meet for a common purpose certain wisdom which would otherwise remain obscured is generated to solve their crucial problems.
Thereafter, he became a staunch advocate and practitioner himself of the idea of mastermind groups. He captured the concept as one of the laws of success on which he wrote quite extensively in his book titled Think and Grow Rich.
In actual sense Hill's observation points to the fact that peer-to-peer cooperation through mastermind groups can result in a 1 + 1 = 3 situation. This somewhat affirms the biblical wisdom that "one shall chase a thousand, two shall chase ten thousand".
If you are an entrepreneur or a thought leader, joining a mastermind group can be one of the avenues to expand the capacity, profitability and impact of your business.
What is a mastermind group?
A mastermind group is a peer-to-peer mentoring collaboration designed to help members solve their unique problems by tapping into the pool of experience of members.
It is gratifying to note that, staying in keeping with vastly experienced and goal driven peers from different industries is invaluable.
Mastermind groups are not group lectures and workshops. Members of the are indebted equally to the progress of other members. Admittedly this helps to foster the strong cord of harmony and team spirit in the alliance.
Fees and membership commitments
Some mastermind groups are paid-to-join groups. Membership fees can range from $15,000 - $30,000 a year. "The membership fees" says Karyn Greenstreet, a phamous mastermind group facilitator "may include one or two weekend events that are free plus weekly phone meetings, special guest speakers, discounts on mastermind group facilitator's products/classes etc".
You can visit Karyns blog to discover how fees are set for mastermind groups.
Other mastermind groups are free to join and can also deliver outstanding value to members if properly coordinated.
The rule of thumb is that before joining a mastermind group, it's important to access the background of the membership and the impact it might have on your brand. If you are still skeptical make an offer to join for trial before going neck deep into it especially if it's a paid group.
To harness the power of a mastermind group you must be passionate and goal driven, be willing to participate actively and maintain regular attendance to meetings.
It's important to repeat for effect that except that there is a guest speaker, a mastermind meeting is not a public lecture where knowledge flows from top to bottom. Every member is a resource person with an equal responsibility to contribute their knowledge and experience towards a healthy alliance.
Members who are egoistic should learn to supress their ego before going into mastermind meeting. Egotism is unhealthy for business and professional success.
Find out how to suppress egotism,the worse disease of thought leadership.
One thing is paramount in a mastermind group; the Success and prosperity of every member.
Life changing benefits of joining a mastermind group.
1. New business and personal skills.
The more you mingle with other business partners, the more you discover how little you knew. Mastermind groups create the avenue for bridging the skill gaps in its members. Some individuals learn or polish their skills in public speaking, sales, negotiation etc through regular practice at the mastermind group meetings. Peer learning is effective because learners are less anxious about making mistakes.
Peer-to-peer meetings also helps to boost the business operational knowledge of members.
2. Huge amount of new energy.
Running your business alone can put so much demand on your energy and resources. The feeling of loneliness can be a hard nut to crack. It's not a surprise that some business owners lose the passion and energy to follow through on their initiated projects.
Regular interaction with peers in mastermind groups provides an energy boost by eliminating the feeling of loneliness and discouragement. It fuels your passion and supplies the energy to push yourself through in the face of trials.
3. Extended networks
Superior networks give your business an increased mind share. As a result you enjoy the privilege of riding on other people's skills, talents and positions to grow your business. Adequate networks breeds a quantum effect in funding, technical support, new markets, discounts and other forms of business opportunities which otherwise would not come your way.Mastermind group is a perfect community for networking.
4. Customer referrals
Similar to networking, strong mastermind groups can provide free advertisement of your products or services to group members and their down liners.
A group member is more likely to buy from you or recommend your product or service to other buyers.
This cuts down advertisement cost, increase referrals, sales, profitability and general impact of your business.
5. Mentorship
Apart from peer to peer learning effect, mastermind groups attract special guest to sharpen the business intelligence and technical knowledge of the members.
Constant exposure to timely industry information and resources equips members for high quality business decision making.
6. Increased accountability.
One of the demons of business failure and stress is lack of accountability. Most business owners make poor decisions and take suicidal short cuts which would qualify for firing under a good boss. Some tow those lines because they are uncountable to anyone. They set their own rules and break them in the name of freedom. This attitude has robbed many founders of the benefit of consitency, integrity and personal discipline in their business life.
Find out more about the responsibility that guarantees freedom.
Mastermind groups provide some form of grounds for accountability to its members. It deflates the spirit of loneliness and dangerous shortcuts and helps regulate the freedoms which may largely threaten the survival of start-ups.
7. Funding.
Mastermind groups present a strong front for mobilisation of funds to support membership businesses. Membership fees and voluntary donations create a pool which can serve the funding needs of members.
Similarly sales of tickets for paid events organized by the mastermind groups can increase inflows to cater for members' financial needs.
8. Leverage the explainer effect.
By volunteering to explain concepts to assist members, participants can clarify their own thoughts and access new ideas in the process.
It's a publicly know fact that you retain much of the information you teach to others. Peer to peer teaching at mastermind group give members that boost in their knowledge and confidence.
Thought leaders leverage the power of explanation effect to grow their brands. You too can.
9. Instant and valuable support.
From time to time business executives face challenges for which instant support is necessary. There's so much relief to learn that some of your peers have navigated through such challenges smoothly. By sharing their experiences with you it saves a lot time, energy and money.
10. Think bigger.
When riding on high way sometimes I feel that I am the fastest man on the road until someone overtakes me almost immediately.
Running your business in your closet can make you settle for a weak benchmark.
When you hear the testimonies and experiences of others at a mastermind group it pushes you beyond your limit. One of the most important lessons I learnt from Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump is that; If you want to think, Think big, stretch your limits else you will never win big.
Mastermind groups cancel weaker mental barriers of their members and help them set new and challenging ones. It helps them set more challenging standards that place a great demand on your personal power.
Ultimately you can win big and gain the trust of more people around you.
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