How Do I Know If A Mastermind Group Is A Waste Of Time?

Today's Q&A Wednesday's question comes from Susie, and Susie asks, how do I know if a mastermind group is a waste of time? Nicole and I have been a part of many mastermind groups. We've started mastermind groups. We've been a part of mastermind groups together. We have a lot of experience with this and a lot of opinions. So this is a great question from Susie. But first, Nicole, can you share with us what a mastermind group is? Maybe you can give an example, tell us a little bit about the format, what you do every week or month.

A mastermind group is usually a small group of people that gather regularly to share ideas, solve problems, and to help each other with their goals.

Yeah, it's very common in business circles to be part of a mastermind group.

Yeah. Yes. We're going to focus a lot on that last part, which is about helping each other move forward with our goals. Yep.

So give me an example of a group you're part of. What's the format like? What would somebody expect in a mastermind group?

I love this question because when I finally got into my mastermind group, I was so happy because for the longest time I was a little bit jealous of you because you were a part of mastermind groups well before I was. And I saw the benefit that you got. And so I thought, oh, you know, hopefully one day I'll be a part of a mastermind. And I did. Eventually I got together with 3 other women and we ran our mastermind for 5 years, which I think when I would tell people that our mastermind was still running after 5 years, Wow. It was pretty impressive. So our format was we would meet once a month. We'd have a 2-minute start at the beginning to share a win and give each other's updates on what had been happening in that month. And then we each had a hot seat item. So we spent 10 minutes going around sharing a problem, a challenge, or something that was going on that we wanted feedback in our business. And we each gave each other feedback on that. And then the last, like, few minutes, whatever that was left, we, we'd use it to catch up.

So who was in your group and what made it a good mastermind group? How did you know that this is the group for you?

In my group was Kate and Cass and myself. Kate is in Puerto Rico, Cass is in the United States, and I'm here in Sydney. So we found a time that would work for the 3 of us. And what was really great about that mastermind was at the time when Cass joined, we'd never met in person. She was introduced through someone else and brought us— brought into the group later on because Kate and I were— had first started off for a couple of months on our own. And then when Cass came in, she brought a different business because Kate and I both ran and were part of podcast companies. So running a podcast, Cass came in running a personal styling business. She's been on the podcast, so we know who it is. And so when she came in, she brought a different perspective. She was at a different stage in her business. A bit earlier on in the business. And it was just a great dynamic. And I think what was one of the things that really stood out over time was how close we got. But we got very close because we were very committed. Like we showed up every single month without fail. And in the beginning, like we didn't really know Cass super well, but that friendship built over time. We ended up taking a girls trip together a few years later.

Like a live mastermind.

And we did a live mastermind in Japan. It was such an awesome group. Uh, I have so much to say about that group.

Yeah. And, and that group is no longer meeting, but you, you still got a lot out of it. Yeah. And that's, I believe a mastermind group should, you shouldn't last forever. Like you should outgrow this group at some point or everybody's needs starts to change as they grow.

Yes.

Uh, but one thing I wanna stress is you mentioned like, you know, you had mastermind groups before me, all that kind of stuff. I wanna say that You don't need to wait to be invited or to be a part of a mastermind group or to pay for a mastermind group. You can create one for yourself. Like, that's literally what happened with me. We went to a conference and I got along with 3 other people at this conference and we stayed in touch on WhatsApp. And then I just said, hey, do you guys wanna meet every week and do a mastermind group together and hold each other accountable? And, and they were like, yeah, let's do that. And that's one of my mastermind groups where we just created it ourselves, you know, or I took the initiative to say, let's do this. Like, you don't, need to wait or pay or anything like that. You could just create one that works for you. I do wanna stress that that group that I, I formed was good maybe for about, I would say, 2 or 3 months, but eventually that group wasn't serving me anymore. And I'm gonna share with you how I knew it wasn't a good group to continue to be in.

Mm-hmm.

Um, I love all these people. They're wonderful. And they're, you know, still friends of mine. But every time we'd show up to the mastermind, people would not progress or they would not actually do the things they said they were going to do last week, which was not a group that's very motivating. Because when you're just showing up and say, yep, I said I was going to do 1, 2, 3, and I did 1, 2, 3 this week, this next week my goals are this. And you're actually like committing to the consistency and hoping that they'll hold you accountable. But when they don't do their side of the bargain, it's kind of demotivating when everybody else is kind of like, slacking off. You have to have a unified kind of energy. And at the same time, everybody's got to take it at the same level of seriousness. Like, this actually matters.

We were super organized. What we had was a— I don't know if you guys did this, but we had a spreadsheet. And so we would fill in the week before we were going to meet, everyone had to fill in their hot seat item. So it was one of those things that you could go in and you could see what the challenge was or the topic that was going to be discussed for each person. A little bit beforehand. So you could kind of prep and have at least have an idea in your mind what was going to be discussed. And having that spreadsheet, I mean, I sometimes go back and look at it because it's that record of the progression of our businesses, our challenges, of the things that, you know, we were dealing with at any given moment in time. But having that spreadsheet gave us that accountability of like, here is this thing that I'm going to talk about. We would have a column at the end too, where we'd write our little notes based on the feedback that we got from each other. We'd write down our action items as well, what we were going to do. And it was, it was a record that we all could refer to. So it did keep us more accountable, I think, in that regard, just having that little level of organization.

Yeah. So I left that group and, you know, joined another group and another group and another group. And I want to kind of lay out what I believe makes a great mastermind group, what you should look for. And then how to know or how to test the waters before you commit. So the first thing I believe a mastermind group should have is that when you're entering this group and you're looking at the members of the group, everybody in that group should be better than you at something. So they should be better at something like, uh, maybe they're better public speakers, maybe they're better writers, maybe they're good at social media, maybe they, uh, have some success with a podcast and you haven't started one yet. Maybe they have success with YouTube. They're better at something that you are not so good at, so you can learn, right? You can't be the smartest, most talented person in that room for everything, you know, or it's, you're not gonna get anything out of it. Uh, also you wanna be able to contribute in some way so that you are a net positive as a part of the group. So you have to take a look at who's in this group. Are they, can you learn something from them? Can you, uh, maybe extract something from them? Ask their advice when it comes to some area. And when everybody kind of contributes something special, the group becomes really valuable. Would you agree with that?

For sure. I think it's— yes, it's about being better at, I guess, a skill set. It could be a different set of experiences that the, you know, that business can bring to that person. I think maybe as an example, like with Kate and I, we both had— we were both part of podcast teams. And so there was, you know, similarities there. They were a few years ahead when they had started their podcast and Kate Kate was really amazing at systems. I would really lean on her when we discuss different operating systems, you know, for the business, for the team. So I saw her being ahead there. But then, you know, when Cass joined and she was really early on in her business, she had a completely different perspective that was super fresh. And I suppose, you know, yes, we were able to provide her with some insights, but then she was really good at other things that—

Yeah.

that I wasn't good at and I could, and even though maybe they weren't related to my business or what I was doing at that time, I was still learning every time watching her, her business grow and watching the things that she was doing that maybe didn't apply to me again. 'Cause I remember that the point of a mastermind is to help people further along their goals.

So I think that the nature of her business is a little bit different. She was selling high-ticket services. So like you can learn from that experience as well. So like, even though she was maybe in the early stages, Um, she was doing something different from everybody else.

Yeah.

So that you can extract that knowledge. So that would be the first thing, in my opinion. The second thing that every mastermind group, I believe, should have is that by the end of each meeting, there should be decisions made.

Mm-hmm.

Like, I think the beauty of having a group to help you is to make a decision, right? You might be struggling with something that's happening in your business, a hire. Maybe you don't know how to price a product. Maybe you're just looking for feedback. But the point is, is that you should end the call with some decision because that will allow you to know what actions to take in the following week or month or whatever the cadence of that meeting is. And can you gimme an example of a decision that maybe you had to make in your mastermind group or somebody else and you helped them through it?

Well, yeah. And I think that's where the format really, um, helps because for us, when we discussed our hot seat item, our challenge, we, you know, we made, we made decisions in that moment of like, sure. Okay. That sounds really good. That's what I'm gonna action. And then when we'd come back the next month when we do our win and our update, we'd refer to what, how, you know, the progress that we'd made with that thing that we were talking about. I remember preparing for my first talk that I had to do on stage. And Kate, for example, had done a ton of talks on stage. She had a wealth of experience there. Cass had done media training, was really good on social. So I got their insights. And, you know, they really helped me work through certain things. I remember even going through my slides presentation with them, which is super valuable. And then of course, when we come, you know, I'm going to work on those things, take on their advice, work on those tips. You know, probably if I'm, if I'm not mistaken, I would have done that talk by the time the next mastermind call came around and I was able to, you know, share feedback on how it went. So yeah, for sure. Like we had to, we gave, you know, our action items at the end and then that win and update round, that first 2 minutes at the beginning of every, of every session.

Right.

was a way to recap and share what we had actually done and moved forward with what we said we were going to do. So we're constantly holding each other accountable and ourselves accountable in that process.

Well, that leads me to the third thing. So I mean, the first thing we said is that there's a diverse amount of talent that you're learning from each other. Two is that there are decisions that are being made in the actual mastermind so that you can take action Uh, for the following week or month. And the third thing I believe is holding each other accountable. And I believe that this third element is what differentiates it from a mastermind and just like a hang session with your friends.

Mm-hmm.

It's like, are you actually holding each other accountable so that next week comes around, that next meeting comes around and you say, hey, how did that go with that, that, that situation? Did you action that thing that you said you're gonna action? Uh, you said that you're trying to lower churn in your business. What's the churn rate right now? A month later?

Yeah.

Like, is that actually happening? And that's really what you need. You need somebody to put your, you know, put your feet to the fire and hold you accountable. And somebody that's gonna kind of say, hey, come on, man. You know, you said you're gonna do it. Let's do it. You know? And push each other. And you need to do that as well for your fellow mastermind group members.

Yeah.

Uh, do you find that that was challenging?

No, I think that that's where you make that decision and that call. Like, I'm in the right group of people. I'm surrounded by the right group of people. Because that's what I want for myself. The whole point of you going into a mastermind is so that you're actively moving towards your goal and you're using the support of a group to help you do that. So by not committing even to the group or committing to yourself, what's the point in even—

You're wasting your time.

You're wasting your own time. So then that's where you make the call. Am I surrounded by the right group of people? Because if you're Met with people. And that's what our mastermind lasted for so long. And, you know, it was as successful as it was, was because we constantly recommitted every single time and we were, were following through. And as soon as you're in that group where you feel like, oh, there's not that follow-through, that's when you make that decision to bow out or to—

well, I think that— I mean, this is no, no shade on anybody, but I think that Often in mastermind groups, you know, one person will, something happened in their life, maybe they're overwhelmed, maybe they can't commit and they can't, you know, hold themselves accountable, hold other people accountable. And they kind of just say, hey, I, I'm gonna bow out. That's actually the honorable thing to do. Mm-hmm. To say, hey, I'm not be able, I can't continue. Uh, find somebody else to replace me, something like that. Because I believe that, you know, you're doing a disservice when not everybody's at the same level or energy level or commitment.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, for sure.

So I definitely say that. So those are the 3 things I would recommend to look for. Now you might be saying, well, how do I know this beforehand? Well, there's a lot of ways you can join mastermind groups. You could form mastermind, you could start one like I mentioned, and you could just say, this is just a trial. Let's, let's try doing this for, uh, you know, 3 weeks or 3 months or whatever it might be, whatever the cadence is, monthly or weekly. And in those 3 months, or you can find out if this is for you, if it's ticking all these boxes. Um, you know, we mentioned you can Join groups and pay for it. Like, you know, there's a Dynamite Circle. That's like a networking group we're part of, uh, where you can, I think it's like $750 a year, which is very affordable. And you're part of this forum, but they also, um, curate mastermind groups for you so that you can be part of a mastermind group if you'd like to. So you can, you know, jump into there and go on a Zoom call and meet up with people in your time zone and see if this is right for you, but make sure it ticks all 3 boxes, I would say.

Yeah. There are so many out there. I think once you become aware, like, I can tap into this and have this resource in my life because it's an incredible resource. I was talking to someone recently when we were traveling who's running, who's starting a business. She's super new. Um, you know, we were having these chats about her business and then I mentioned to her, I said, do you have some people around you that you can talk to?

Yeah.

And she said, no, my friends don't really understand me. I'm the only one in my group. that's starting a business. And I said, well, you got to get yourself some mastermind friends. And then I shared with her Dynamite Circle because that's the first one that came to mind. But just from the last years in business, there's just so many opportunities. You have to just look for them. They can be paid or you can just start with your friends like we did. Like Kate and I were friends and then we brought in Cass. You know, it was game-changing. Like it really, really was something that I looked forward to every month.

Yeah.

And helped me so much along our business journey.

Yeah. And a lot of these paid mastermind groups, they, they have some rules, they have some intention to make sure like, you know, there's no competing businesses in the same group so that, you know, IP is not being shared. There's rules about like commitment and time and they set up like the Zoom calls for you. So if you want like an easy lift, there's ways to do that. Like we mentioned Dynamic Circle, but That's just one example. There's other ones you can look up in your industry, like if you're in software or SaaS, I know MicroConf does masterminds as well. So you want to be around other software companies. So yeah, definitely that support group. And it also just normalizes success, like, okay, it's normal to want to grow and be ambitious and all that kind of stuff.

So yeah, there's definitely that code that you have to go into it with, like what's in— what's, you know, discussed in the mastermind stays there, stays in the mastermind.

Otherwise no one's going to be vulnerable. You have to make sure that people Feel safe to share their issues and problems. Yeah. Before we move on, if you are listening, if you are watching, and you have not subscribed to the podcast yet, what is going on? Subscribe. We got an upcoming episode that I don't want you to miss. It's called Multiple Revenue Streams Will Kill Your Business. And this is a very, very important episode because a lot of people, they think that I got to build all these multiple streams of income in my business to be. Uh, you know, smart or to hedge my bets. That's not really applicable if you're making less than $1 million in revenue. And I'll explain why and what to do instead in that episode. So go ahead, hit subscribe because you don't wanna miss it when it comes out. Can't wait for you to check it out.

What's your opinion on, uh, being a part of multiple masterminds at one time?

I'm not sure if I have the time for that. Like, I think that that's, that's a big time commitment.

Yeah.

Uh, I know that there's some people that do that. For several reasons. But I do think that one good mastermind group probably is enough. I think the frequency is one thing to look at. Like, am I going to meet every week? Am I going to meet every month? What does it look like? Is this in person? Is this online? Most of them are online. So yeah, I mean, you have a business to run, so you need to be mindful of that.

I was always surprised because even my group, I remember someone maybe was like in multiple masterminds and I know lots of people are in multiple masterminds. I think that's actually to close off the loop, like why it's not running anymore. There was a year that I did go into another mastermind, worked with an executive coach, and I felt like I was getting a lot of input and I needed to take a break the following year and implement. So yeah, I do think that you can probably be overdoing it if you're in a lot, but it depends on the time in your business, what else is going on in your life.

Yeah. And the reason why I say this is because one of the things I really want to drill home is, and to be balanced, is that A mastermind group is not a magic room, right? It's not gonna solve all your problems. You, you have to go in there with vulnerability, with the ability to be honest about your shortcomings and the mistakes you're making. You have to be willing to take on feedback and advice and see it as data points and not as criticism.

Mm-hmm.

You have to be able to commit to the things that you say you're gonna do, and you gotta do them. Like you have to implement those things, which takes time. So if you're taking it 100% seriously, And not just a way for you to learn or to kind of be around people that you admire, you know, if you're actually putting yourself out there and giving 100%, it's, it's gonna take a lot of time and attention. So I, I, I do wanna stress that, like, it's, you're only gonna get as much as you give. To really put this all together, I would say to Susie and everybody who's listening, if a mastermind group feels 100% comfortable, it's probably not serving you. You should feel a little bit uncomfortable. You should feel a little bit like, oh yeah, I'm not doing so good there. Or, you know, I have a tough thing to go through. Or even hearing people deal with challenges. If you're like, oh, that's cringe. I don't wanna deal with that. Like, this is not for you then. Mm-hmm. You're in the wrong room if that's not happening. It should feel a little bit uncomfortable because you're, you're getting through problems, you're getting through hurdles, you're solving problems as a group. And problems are not fun. Okay. So you, you should feel a little bit, you know, not in your comfort zone. I'm not saying 100% of the time, but like a good amount of the time, because that's, you're having tough conversations together as a group and you're working things out. So if you're looking for social hour, you could do that outside with your friends. There's no, there's no limit of having coffees or lunch or dinners or holidays with your friends. You could go ahead and do that. And they could be entrepreneurs. Great. And we do that all the time. You know, we— I'm going on a ski holiday with a bunch of my entrepreneur friends next week, so that's great. But if I'm in a mastermind group, I should expect to be challenged.

Yeah, that's why we always left our little social conversation for the very end. We really— we were very, very strict, uh, with that first 2 minutes to keep it, uh, on, you know, to, to stay focused, uh, because you do develop close friendships with your group and it's natural that you're going to want to talk about life stuff and go off track. So we were always very diligent about leaving enough time at the end for that, for those, you know, catch-up section of the call. So I agree with you that you should be uncomfortable. And what's also, I think, another point is that you should be seeing progress. Like we saw each other grow throughout those years in different areas personally, like going through some personal challenges and, and overcoming them. We also saw each other's businesses grow.

Right.

As we tried new things, as the business itself Grew. And, and I think that's another thing you want to be tracking throughout is that there is that growth. And it doesn't necessarily mean like, oh, okay, everyone's constantly like winning.

Achieving everything.

Yeah, achieving everything and crushing it in every area. There's always that personal growth. And that's where that vulnerability comes in that you need to be really open and upfront because what might be a really basic challenge for you, for someone else, it's huge to overcome. And if they've overcome that and you've witnessed that, Then they're uncomfortable and they've, you know, they've proven something. They've overcome something huge. That is growth.

One thing I want to kind of touch on, because you've been part of masterminds where they were all women and you've been part of masterminds that were mixed men and women. That one in particular, I was a part of as well. What are some of the advantages of both?

Oh, that's such a good question. Yeah. I want to say it's very special to have a group of women. I think, you know, there's, I think different things get discussed for sure. There's a different dynamic that you can't get when it's mixed. And then when you're in a mixed group, you also have a very different dynamic that you can benefit from.

Yeah. What are some of the advantages or some of the things you think that dynamic gives you by having a mixed group?

I definitely think with when I, when it was all female, I felt that I could be probably more vulnerable.

Okay.

Um, and I think the closeness between us was because of that.

Yeah.

Um, it might be, I think with a, with a mixed group, it might tend to be more strictly business, but I think with our our female group, we did tend to, yeah, bring in our personal life a little bit more, even as we, you know, were very, very focused. I mean, we're talking about these women that were crushing it. We were still very focused on business, but we tended to make time and make room for probably conversations that probably— I don't know if I could see myself bringing up in a mixed group.

I think you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I do feel like in a mixed group, As a man, I was conscious of how I give feedback because I think in male groups, unsolicited feedback is given constantly. Men just give feedback and they give their opinion without anybody asking them, right? They might be looking at your update and be like, "You know what you need to do?" Da da da da. Like you know, I've done this before, and it could be useful feedback. But with a mixed group, I do feel like as a man, you should be careful when giving feedback. Because women may not be asking for feedback right now. Maybe they're not looking to focus on this area right now. So I was very conscious of the fact that like, I shouldn't give advice unless somebody's asking for my advice. Uh, and it kind of had to fine-tune my, you know, uh, way of, uh, conducting myself in that mastermind.

That's interesting. I don't know if it's more about the male-female dynamic or—

I actually felt it as a receiver too. Like I noticed in that group, Unless you explicitly say, hey, what do you guys think? Tell me, you know, like women in that group would not tell me what I should do, but then they would pop off and start talking, you know?

Right. I mean, like, I think like you said, there can be very explicit rules and very strict format to certain masterminds. You know, don't give unsolicited feedback, only speak if you've had experience. I think ours was a little bit more informal in that, in that regard.

Yeah.

I think it also depends on how many people I prefer. I think you and I differ this way. I really like— I think 3 is perfect. Yeah, some people might think it's too small, but I disagree.

I think the sweet spot is 5.

Yeah, 3 is small, but I think those bigger groups, I think it's a bit challenging, right, to give feedback.

Yeah, just because there's not a lot of— you got to meet for like 2 or 3 hours because, you know, in order for everybody to have time, you know, like you have like 10 people on the call, like this That's a lot of people. And I, I just wanna, you know, have a caveat that like what I mentioned is like, it's not, there's no right or wrong way to do this.

Yeah.

It's just that I was conscious of the fact that like, if I want, you know, Mary's advice, Mary's a fictional person, then I will have to ask for it. Like, like, Mary, what do you, you have experience with this? Tell me about, like, she wouldn't just volunteer it.

Right.

And I, and that could have just been Mary or just the dynamic of the group. But I found in all male groups, men will Give you advice on what you're asking, what you're not asking, what you're wearing. Hey, by the way, I saw this reel you saw yesterday, blah, blah, blah. You should do XYZ. Like they're just so open to just like saying what they think.

Yeah. I think it's important to find the right group because you're going to come across all sorts of people. And I think we've been through a lot of masterminds and definitely some felt better and more suited to the way we operate than others.

Well, that is your answer, Susie, and everybody who's listening. Mastermind groups could be super helpful and useful. I would definitely use that 3 criteria to make sure that you're joining a group that you can get value from. There's people that are, you know, have experiences or have some skills that you don't have. Make sure that there is some decisions being made in those meetings and then make sure there's accountability. That piece is so, so important. Lastly, make sure that you tune in next week because we're here again, Q&A Wednesday, every Wednesday. And if you have a question you want to ask, go ahead and submit it over at 100mba.net/q. If you want to continue learning, maybe you're not in a mastermind group yet and you want to motivate yourself to keep building your business, keep growing, do the things that you know you have to do. We have an episode that I want you to check out. We recently published this episode. It's called How to Motivate Yourself to Get Things Done. So scroll up on whatever app you're on— Apple, Spotify, YouTube, we're on them all— and find that episode. You'll love it. Thanks so much for being part of today's Q&A Wednesday. We'll check you next time.

Bye.

Take care.