Understanding the Different Types of Mastermind Groups
CEOs from various industries in your local area - In person
CEOS from similar industries - Nationally - Virtual
Presidents of large marinas - National - Hybrid
Principles at Family Firms - Local - In person
Female Executives - Local - In person
Co-Founders of Tech Start-ups - Regional - Hybrid
Faith-Based Entrepreneurs - Local - In person
Young Professionals - Local - Hybrid
CHROs from Healthcare companies with over 1,000 employees - Virtual
CFOs from Global companies aspiring to do business in one foreign country - Global - Virtual
Leaders from within one company - Local or National - In person or Hybrid
CEOs planning Their Exits (/Succession Planning) - Local - In person
Executives Planning Their Exits in the same industry - Regional or National - Virtual
Manufacturing Clients of an Accounting Firm - National - Virtual
The above are all examples of business peer advisory councils (PaCs) or mastermind groups as many of you call them, and I promise you there are new types popping up every day. I’d like to expand your thinking beyond traditional types of groups. This field has the opportunity to become more personalized and niche-driven. It’s happening now on a small scale, in pockets. But make no mistake, there is so much more to this field than PaCs built around traditional CEOs, and I’d like to help you find your niche. How can you capitalize on your passion by creating, launching, and moderating a group around your passion? Let’s work through these important details together.
What Types of Mastermind Groups Are Right For You?
Do you already know what type of peer advisory council you want to moderate? Or maybe you’re already moderating today and you want to expand your business. Have you really analyzed where your passion lies, where your expertise can be most helpful, and where you have connections to the type of PaC you aspire to? If you think you know, take a gander at this list of real-life scenarios from my training academy business graduates, for a few cautionary tales and potentially problematic ways of thinking.
Jim wanted to launch a PaC that consisted of construction-related business owners only. His father worked for a GC most of his life and Jim thought, why not. He knew something about the construction industry from listening to his dad talk about work at the dinner table. And, it would be nice to be able to have something to talk to his dad about that they could have in common when he visited him, especially since his dad was retired.
Jim embarked on creating his construction-themed PaC of business owners together to meet in person locally. He was excited and couldn’t wait to surprise his Dad about it after he got his first few members. Jim made a list of all the GC’s in the area and all the related construction firms, prioritized it by who he thought was the most prestigious by category like plumbing, electrical, architecture, etc. He then planned what he would say when he called, the why his council would be unique. He was so excited to start as no one else appeared to have this idea as a niche that he could find anyway. It would be his biggest differentiator and he couldn’t wait to get started.
Jim prioritized calling General Contractors first. He thought that if he got a General Contractor as the anchor member, that all the other calls to the tradesman would be easier. His call to the first GC was a success. They were very interested and basically he had his first member! Jim thought, wow, this was easy; however, secretly he wondered why. He soon found out why.
Jim started to make the next calls on his list and after just two calls, he was hit with objections he had not anticipated. And he had no good answers. It looked like his idea of a construction themed PaC was not such a good idea. But why? What were the objections?
What Jim failed to consider is that a General Contractor in a group of tradesmen like an electrical contractor, plumbing, concrete, excavation, roofing, etc. could not be possible. But why? Because GCs hire them as subcontractors. Or sometimes the GC competes with them directly. Clearly conflict of interest. Why didn’t Jim see that? He though the GC was complementary to the trades but they are not. Why was the GC so keen on joining his group? Because the GC saw that they could get intel from the trades, they could be potential clients of theirs because getting good subs was such a tight market, the GC looked at being in Jim’s group as a way to network. The wrong reason to participate.
Jim had to start all over. He had to call his first member, the GC, and tell him he couldn’t be in his PaC. He sure didn’t want to make that call. And now he looked like he didn’t know what he was doing. Can he recover with the other trades that brought up the objections to him. Can he call them back and put his PaC together still with just the trades?
But wait! Jim can recover from his misstep with the GC. But he doesn’t know that, he doesn’t realize there are options.
Jim’s PaC was not a bad idea. He just wasn’t aware of the nuances. If he had been aware, he would have saved time, money, and embarrassment, and still been able to accomplish his dream and passion around putting the right-fit members together for his themed PaC.
But how?
General Contractors are competitors of each other if they operate in the same geography. They are competitors by possibly bidding on the same jobs, using the same subcontractors and resources. General Contractors can benefit from being in a PaC with other GCs but they have to be geographically non-competitive. So Jim could do a virtual group of GCs in other locations. He can also put his trade niche PaC together, but it has to be without a GC as a member.
What is important is thinking to throw the nuance of any niche PaC you’re considering. You do not want to get to a place where you actually launch a group and find a conflict or a major gap that inhibits full participation because you have the wrong member or members involved.
The 7 Most Common Types of Mastermind Peer Groups | Peer Advisory Councils (PaCs)
I’ve been doing this for almost two decades, and I’ve identified seven types of peer advisory councils that I have seen succeed over and over again. There are likely other ones, but if you like the idea of moderating PaCs and you have a lot of interests and/or you haven’t landed on a single topic that thrills you more than others, perhaps this will narrow down your thinking. You can also be a maverick.
Every day, graduates from our training academy have created new niches to explore, such as Kit, who is a License Partner who’s passionate about private equity companies. He was a partner in a research-based consulting firm for private equity groups, family offices, and other private investors focused on relatively obscure, niche sub-segments. But private equity companies as a whole are far too general and Kit knows that. He is focused on heads of operations within the PE firms specifically. Why? Because the leader of operations have common challenges. They are not in competition with each other like other leaders in a PE firm would be. For example, business development. But with operations, they have a common goal. To get the best return on investment from their acquisitions of similar companies. How to leverage systems, integrate cultures, and people, not lose clients, talent, etc. Kit’s PaC with operations leads had an overarching principle: the strategies around putting an effective, high-functioning council together.
Let’s explore more in detail the seven types of Peer Advisory Council (PaCs):
Position/Title/Level of Responsibility
Member Description: CEO, business owner, President, CFO, Sr. Leader, Key Executive, CIO, CHRO, etc.
Decision Points:
Do you love working with leaders of a specific type?
Do you have experience as one of the types? Have you held a previous position as one or worked with that type in a previous or current role.
Advantages:
Can include all industries so there is a broader market to pull from in creating your PaC’s.
Selling to a leader to be in a group is an easier sell because they make the decision or have a budget or profit and loss responsibility.
It’s the most common type of group so it could be easier for them to understand and grasp the peer council concept. They may already know someone who participates in one or has heard of it before.
These members have a tendency to easily discern who they are with their true peers by title. While not true, their belief is if I am with a similarly titled peer they must be my peer.
Disadvantages:
Differentiating yourself is critical to succeeding in the competition. You can do this with a different agenda, tools, and expertise. If you have these then there is no disadvantage.
Matching members by title only is not sufficient in truly putting peers together in a group.
Industry Specific
Member Description: Operates in a specific industry. Marine, Manufacturing, Technology, Construction, Accounting, Law, etc. that do not conflict with each other.
Decision Points:
Do you understand something about the industry?
Do you know the lingo, the common challenges, the pitfalls, and trends?
Are there industry levels to consider? For example Marine 2020 or Auto 2020
Does geography matter? For example, if doing a construction PaC, and it’s made up of General Contractors then geography will matter as GCs usually cover large geography, at least the entire city they are operating from. This is necessary to avoid conflict of interest. But if it’s a trade-themed group that is made up of a plumber, electrician, roofer, architect, paver, excavator, builder, an accountant with a focus on construction, interior designer, landscaper, painter, etc.; then you can have a PaC close in proximity.
Advantages:
A shared commonality in lingo, industry terms, contacts, and customers. Reduces the need to educate on industry nuances.
Share financial data or metrics can lend to true benchmarking
Industry trend analysis, discussion, and observations are relatable to all and can lend more insights than if observed independently.
Adds to the level of conversation by being more specific and targeted and many times more effective and valuable. For example, conversations around bonding or working with subcontractors or project management.
Common challenges shared can lead to sharing of successful solutions that have been tested by someone else already
Industry knowledge, resources, and connections are shared. There is a higher level of opportunity to help each other leverage specific knowledge that directly has an impact on the others. Example: We use this specific project management software and not the others because of XYZ. I know someone who might be a good fit for your job opening, or I know of a project being released for bid.
Disadvantages:
Groupthink can emerge. What is the definition of groupthink in the context of PaC’s? It is when the council has accepted “its the way it is” for common challenges or ways of doing business. It’s a belief that there can’t be a solution so just accept it, work around it, or ignore it. Since it’s a problem for everyone and has been forever, there must not be a different solution. There is no creative thinking, no innovations considered that could be a disruptor.
Meetings after a period of time can get stale because the conversations can become so similar. With too much commonality, bringing in new ideas, changing up the format, and pushing the envelope on performance will help keep things fresh.
Should have a full PaC to counter groupthink and add to more diversity in thinking. An intentionally small group is dangerous to believe the members will not get groupthink to a deeper level. Having more members can be difficult if your industry is too narrow or you are meeting in person and geography is challenging to find members in a certain radius.
Geography
Member Description: Operate globally, have global interests, specific challenges operating globally or entry into a specific country or want to expand globally
Decision Points:
Do you have a broad understanding of global nuances such as language barriers, culture differences, and business practice differences?
Are you open to doing virtual meetings all the time or sometimes to accommodate traveling members or members in different time zones?
Advantages:
Can be a very powerful group that creates change beyond their own organizations, global change or a direct impact on a country. Example: Your PaC are organizations that want to learn to do business in Africa to impact health conditions there. They share a common cause and mission
Usually this type is directly aligned with strategic initiatives inside the organization making the PaC a very important part of their strategy. A result is a long term member for you.
You have an opportunity for the members to be resource connectors for each other and directly find resource connectors for them. I talk about what a resource connector is in Chapter 9, Retaining PaC’s and Members Long Term.
Disadvantages:
Being truly global with members in time zones make it hard to find a common time for a meeting that isn’t in the middle of the night for someone
Getting the members to truly bond and be vulnerable with real issues and who also may have different definitions of what meaningful relationships look like
Family Firm
Member Description: Privately-held family firms. Could be any industry. The criteria are the company is majority-owned by the family and the family is in primary control of the strategy and leadership.
Decision Points:
Do you genuinely have experience or knowledge of the family firm’s intricacies, challenges with succession, etc.?
You must love and understand this type or it could be frustrating having a PaC focus
Are there enough family firms geographically close to begin a local in-person council or will you have to be virtual?
Advantages:
Family firms have a lot of challenges both in business and personal that other firms do not have. Their personal and business intersect and are not exclusive. There will be an endless need for help from their peers.
They typically are so appreciative to begin making positive changes and realize they are not alone in their family challenges. It can be very rewarding and frustrating working with family firms. Rewarding because they are grateful and have a lot of opportunity in spite of themselves at times. Frustrating because they might not be able to make a decision that is right for the business but bad for the family. So either it's indecision or a band-aid.
Typically they are very private and are in need of others who are challenged with the same challenges they face. Its also a form of disadvantage discussed next.
Disadvantages:
Since there is a tendency to be very private, understandably since it includes family, there may be a reluctance to be vulnerable in a meeting. A level of vulnerability required for the best insights to be given
There can also be a reluctance to share dirty laundry and therefore can’t imagine being involved in a peer advisory council
They have trouble deciding who should participate since many times there are cloudy boundaries on roles.
They have difficulty getting all the family on board (group decision making) and choosing one person who is going to aire challenges and opportunities with “strangers”. Strangers that the rest of the family does not know or trust.
The person who is chosen to participate as your member, you’ll need to work with to get the rest of the family comfortable with the concept, the benefits to them, and possibly how do they stay connected and support the person participating.
Specialty
Member Description: Woman-owned businesses, Men, Women in Technology, Investor, Religious, Exit Planning-Succession, Fast Growth, etc
Decision Point
You directly relate to the specialty type either through belief, experience or knowledge.
You have an affinity for helping this type of member succeed
Advantages:
Can be very rewarding to work closely in a specialty you share a specialty with.
Relevant conversations around common topics that if you are not a similar type member will not be able to relate to. For example, a parent running a business trying to balance being a parent vs a CEO would not get great insight from members who are not parents of the same involvement as that member.
Bonding can be quicker and easier because of this common personal connection.
Disadvantages:
Isolation can occur when the members are solving challenges or discussing opportunities that don’t take into consideration the real world of business. For example, women-only groups whose clients, vendors or competitors include men, may be blinded by insights from men and their perspectives on business. This can be minimized by you being a moderator of the opposite type, a male running a woman-only group. While unlikely a solution, but a possible one, you can also mitigate by having a meeting guest or expert in the area where there is a gap.
The PaC can have blindspots you will have to mitigate through guest speakers, strategic roundtable discussions, or guest leaders. For example, religious groups can be blinded by how fair others should operate and the lack of ethics that may exist to protect themselves.
Combo Types: These are combinations of one or more of the above types. For example: CEO (Position) + Family Firms / Woman only + Geography / Industry + Global (Geography) / CEO (Position) + Exit Planning- Succession (Speciality
What’s Trending?
The pandemic created a need for better collaboration methods. Plus there is a shift in business to grow profitable services like advisory services, a need to retain clients through more meaningful relationships as well as gain new clients faster. The peer advisory industry can be the mechanism to accomplish those strategies.
This is a whole new way of thinking for most, so let me explain.
Client | Community
Any organization that has a large community of customers where they interact with them regularly or on some recurring basis, has the opportunity to expand that relationship exponentially. By creating and moderating their own peer advisory councils made up of their clients only. These internal PaC’s will have a tremendous impact on the organization's strategy and results. How?
I’ll answer that with an example to illustrate the concept with more in-depth understanding.
We are finding accounting firms are in need of increasing their advisory services where margins are higher to compensate for the commoditization of traditional services that generally had acceptable margins. Also, new competitors are emerging offering these traditional services at no cost to lure clients to their firms. Additionally, partners are retiring and transferring relationships can be tricky to newer partners. And last, how do they retain the best clients and grow simultaneously? Because securing new clients is costly and time-consuming. It takes a lot of effort to build trust and a relationship that will at some point translate into revenue. And, how do they get to know their existing clients better, strategically, and develop a stronger bond? One that allows them to serve the client in a more personalized and proactive way.
Peer Advisory Councils to the rescue. A mechanism (remember that point earlier?) to accomplish their strategy initiatives. PaC’s that are strategically created with any of the above classes will enable the accounting firm to build deeper relationships, offer a unique differentiator to their clients, increase advisory services, and gain new clients. This happens because the firm can participate as an advisor in the actual PaC or take a more arms-length approach and host the meetings only with interaction with the members prior to the meeting start regardless of in-person or virtual. They can showcase their expertise with sharing knowledge at appropriate times throughout the year or briefly each meeting. Learnings from the meeting as desensitized by the moderator can be shared to help the firm address common client challenges and opportunities. And last, if prospects are included, it's a no-brainer that eventually they become a client when surrounded by other clients of the firm and the regular interactions with the firm.
This concept works for any organization, like an accounting firm, which has a set of clients or a community of relationships that can benefit from being in a PaC with other clients. Industry, position, and family firms classes are the most common PaC’s niches to start with.
In-Company
A company that has a complex organizational structure is ideal for having an internal PaC The PaC would consist of their employees to increase collaboration and better problem solving of complex challenges and opportunities requiring different perspectives and insights. The methods used in the structure of a meeting about the nuances of strategically putting a PaC together enables this concept to work successfully. A few industry organizations have tried this concept and have failed. Did they fail because of not following the nuances?
Types of Mastermind Groups: Levels of Practice/Experience
When it comes to business councils, and this is also true for hobbyists, there are different levels that correspond to the amount of practice/experience a person has which makes matching them with those of similar experience important. Levels are also relevant to further classify PaC’s. There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all council. I find it helpful to think about three levels, and your niche might have even more. Keep in mind that your niche also might be complete and launchable without a discussion of levels.
Entrepreneurial - usually consist of new organizations and leaders or even serial entrepreneurs. I am going to also include in this category, solo-entrepreneurs or those that are running their business as more of a life-style business versus a legacy business. Common characteristics are their companies are still developing their internal structure, proof of concepts of their products or service offerings, heavy focus on growing revenue, and building processes. Their time is spent primarily on tactical day-to-day activities. A good rule of thumb is their time is split a ratio of 75% + on tactical work vs 25% on strategic. The point is heavy tactical and very little strategic thinking.
Growth - usually consists of more established companies and leaders past the entrepreneurial phase. They have a solid business model and now are concentrating on scaling and growth. They’re often concerned with expansion in their industry, gaining market share or diversifying. The company typically has a strong foundation and structure and client offerings, and the leaders are both tactical and strategic at a ratio of 50/50 versus the 75/25 split above.
Strategic - usually consists of seasoned, mature leaders who think strategically. The business is mature in many ways or large enough to have progressed to more complex, sophisticated, higher-level business practices. It’s not uncommon to find both mature lines of business as well as new lines of business within the company. And the ratio is flipped from 25% tactical to 75% strategic.
As a professional trying to determine the right peer advisory council for you, the levels above will assist you in determining the level of sophistication in your members that you desire to work with.
Starting Your Mastermind Group with LXCouncil
Overall, think about what type you would excel at moderating because you are knowledgeable or passionate about that type. Then determine if virtual, in-person or hybrid. Once you answer those two decision points, you are ready to plan putting your peer advisory council together.
