What is a business mastermind?
Eight CEO'S out of 10 told me they had never heard of a business mastermind group. That was in 2005. Fifteen years later, the statistics have improved to 6 out of 10! One or two points might seem like small progress. It is still progress nonetheless.
What is a Business Mastermind?
A group of business peers who meet regularly under a confidentiality agreement for a sounding board to gain input, insights, and perspectives on their challenges, opportunities, problems, or ideas. Particularly for privately-held companies, it is an alternative to a formal board of advisors commonly required at public companies.
What is a Peer?
A business peer is a professional with the same level of responsibility or position, like a CEO, Sr. VP, Sr. Leader, etc., and level of business acumen.
What is critically important to the effectiveness of the group, is that each member is with peers who have had a similar level of business experience or knowledge. The experiences will vary but the level of sophistication will not. Think of an entrepreneur who is starting their first business with less than 10 employees, worried about making payroll versus a CEO who has been in business for 20 years, just did an acquisition, has managers managing managers. The two are not business peers.
As a member of a business mastermind group, you must be able to learn from each other regularly, not occasionally. Without some equality in business knowledge, the longevity of the group will diminish and not be sustainable as one member will feel like they are constantly giving advice and acting as mentor vs participating as a peer.
How Many Members Are in a Business Mastermind Group?
The short answer is no less than 6 and no more than 12. There are exceptions. The objective is to have enough members so you have a diversity of thought and experiences to share that increase the value of the dialogue but not too many so that the intimacy of the group is lost.
If you have too few members and someone misses the meeting, then you lose valuable input needed and if you have too many, it’s hard for everyone to get the time they need from the meeting.
How Frequently Does a Business Mastermind Meet and For How Long?
The regularity of meetings is a very personal decision of the group.
They could range from weekly to two times a month to monthly to quarterly. It will depend on the agenda format as well as the type of group. The objective is for the frequency to match the desired timeframe for accountability, length of meetings, and connectedness between meetings.
The length of meetings will vary based on frequency. The more frequent the meeting the shorter and vice versa. Weekly will most likely be one hour. Two times a month is usually 2 hours each and monthly will be from a half-day to a full day. Quarterly meetings will be multiple days and usually require travel.
A business mastermind group can be a gamechanger for you as the leader and for your business. Having a group of peers you trust, is unbiased, and you know confidentially will not judge you, allows for you to be vulnerable to learn and grow.
Protecting your business as a founder/owner/CEO or Senior Leader is your #1 responsibility. Participating in a business mastermind group helps you do that. It's like you are an athlete of your business and your peer group is your coach.
It will allow you to get out in front and stay there. As A.J. Foyt, an American race car driver said, when asked how he won so many races. “I just get out in front and stay there.” Mastermind groups help you win the business race.
