Business Breakthroughs with Nexus 86: Peer Groups Reimagined

Welcome everyone to another episode of Mastermind Mastery. This is the podcast for you if you are wanting to create or already running peer groups. It's what we call PACs, Peer Advisory Councils. They might be known as mastermind groups, CEO peer groups, all the same. But this is the podcast if you want to run better PACs, that you want to be better at being a moderator, you want to up your game, learn advanced techniques, hear from myself as well as guests, what works, new concepts, trends, techniques. Also learn content, things you could take back to your meetings, different ways to do different things to solve problems that we all have when we're running groups. It will increase your retention, reduce your attrition, get you more members, make you more money. This is the podcast for you. I'm Tina Corner Stolz. The host. I've been doing this since 2005. I built a territory of 10+ groups, sold for a multiple, started Ellis Council, Leader Exchange Council, in 2012. We are a licensing model. We are the leading educator in the peer advisory council space. We have the podcast. I have a licensing program with certification. I've written 2 books. So today, when you hear this episode, each and every week it's a new podcast where we dive deep into a topic for 15-20 minutes. One week it's me doing a deep dive on all the experience and insights from not only today with our entire licensed partner community or the past, um, what I've learned along the way, but we also have guests that are out there doing groups today that share their insights and new concepts. So let's get started with today's episode. Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Mastermind Mastery. I am your host Tina Corner Stolz, and Today we have two guests on. They work together. We have Stan Colasano and we have Inga Hebden, and they are of Nexus 86. And I'd like to introduce both of them and we will get started on talking about today the type of groups they're running and a little bit of insight into why they do the format they do. And that should give all of you some listeners today that are running groups ideas about your own groups in regards to do you want to make any tweaks or confirm maybe that you're doing something similar? So Stan and Inga, welcome.

Hi, Tina. How are you today?

Great. Great. So why don't you tell the audience, first of all, where you're based?

Sure. I am out of Indianapolis, Indiana, and— or small town Fishers. And I'll let Inga explain where she is down in Texas.

Okay, I'm in Houston, Texas, although I'm not a native, as you can probably pick up on the accent. I moved to Houston, Texas about 2 and a half years ago from the UK, although I'm originally German.

Yes. Well, welcome to the US. And tell our listeners today, how did you get into the, the peer group space and why?

Sure. Um, I was actually in a peer group a number of years ago. I was an interim CEO for a commercial real estate firm here based out of Indianapolis, and I had met a fella named Peter Fuller who was running at the time called the 86 Executive Club, which we have now taken over and it has become Nexus 86. And I just loved it so much, um, It was— the benefits were tremendous. And then after I finished my interim CEO position there and continued on with my own business consulting and coaching, I then took over Peter's groups and started to facilitate them because I just think they're a wonderful thing for a business owner CEO.

Yes.

And so I agree. And Sorry, go ahead, Tina. No, I was just gonna tag on because I'm kind of new-ish to it, although I facilitated many workshops and team coaching sessions and one-on-one conversations or coaching conversations. And I always loved how you have a certain dynamic when you go into a workshop and you brainstorm ideas, you come up with a strategy. And then when Stan and I met and had a conversation about it and kind of started to brainstorm what we can do together, I thought that's a great way of progressing on what I've previously done. And it's so much goes into the, the other type of work I'm doing. So it's kind of a two-way street.

Both worlds feed into each other, which is important that they leverage and they support each other. And I have to ask, why the name? So does the name have some specific meaning behind it as far as Nexus 86?

Inga, do you want to take that one?

I, I can. Um, there was a lot of brainstorming, Googling, and, um, AI, um, in— involved, um, because we were thinking about how can we use, um, what we do but come up with a more interesting and short name which also is not solely about mastermind and roundtables, but really looks at it from a more encompassing perspective. And that's pretty much how Nexus 86 came about. It's, it's short, it's sweet, and it really symbolizes the, the world of collaboration, peer exchange, Moving forward and still has the 86 in there, which is a short version of 8 people every 6 weeks.

That was going to be my next question. It's like, what? Well, I'm missing what 86 is then. So 8 people every 6 weeks. So perfect. And we're going to get on that. We're going to talk about that. But I would like to underscore something that you guys both said, which is you've picked a name that means something in regards to the type of groups that you're running, or the format in this case. And for everyone out there, if you don't have a name, consider it, right? Consider creating a name because it's your brand, right, that you— and that you, um, actually get behind. But it means something, and it can be very effective, obviously, in your marketing, but also sends the message to the members participating. About the type of group. Excellent. Well, let's— it's a great way to transition. Let's do that in regards to 8 members every 6 weeks. So why the 8? Why every 6 weeks? Because— and then is it in-person or virtual? Because most people do, you know, every 4 weeks, or sometimes you'll hear every 2 weeks and stuff. And so you guys are on a 6-week, which I think is a differentiator. So let's start there. Why 6? Why 8? And then we can get into virtual versus hybrid or in-person.

Sure. So we believe that the 8 is a perfect number. The groups can range anywhere from 6 people to 10 people. If you go below 6, it's too small. There's not as great of a benefit. If you get above 10, it's too many people. Our sessions last 4 hours, and we're pretty intense and packed in those 4 hours. 8 seems to be the perfect number. It seems to work really well so that everybody has an opportunity to process their issues, bring ideas, make the meeting as beneficial as possible. So that 8 really kind of is the sweet spot, but we'll go anywhere between 6 to 10.

Okay.

Why the 6 weeks? No matter what you do in business, whether it's running peer groups, whether it's being a CEO, you need to have a cadence and a rhythm to what you're doing, an accountability check. And we believe that that 6 weeks, that timeframe is a great accountability check. When you do something monthly, what we have found is it becomes very cumbersome. Weeks fly by fast. We need time to process what we just learned and start to implement it into the business. 4 weeks generally is not enough when people do it monthly. I think when we hold somebody accountable or we come back to the next meeting and say, OK, we gave you an idea or you're going to implement this, how's it going? If it's 4 weeks, commonly what we would hear back is, I just haven't had enough time yet. So I think those extra 2 weeks allows for the implementation, allows for a process to get going. And then we can spread the meetings out throughout the year. And stay on that rhythm and cadence. So, so go ahead.

A couple of questions about that, because if I'm thinking it, I'm sure they're thinking it out there, which is, okay, every 6 weeks. So do you have any issues or does it— obviously it seems to work fine that it's not on the same day of the month, right? It's going to be necessary. It's going to be 6 weeks, which is a different week of the month with every 6 weeks. So how do you deal to be sure that it's not that they remember, okay, and that doesn't seem like an odd cadence versus it's just a normal because it is every 6 weeks?

So the meetings are held on the same day at the same time. When I say day, day of the week. So if your meeting is Tuesday from noon till 4, 1 to 5, whatever, it's a Tuesday, it's that time frame, and it's every 6 weeks. So we just tell people, put it on your calendar. It's going to pop up every 6 weeks and rather than monthly. And that just seems to work. Plus, I think we're very good at staying in touch with each other. That is something that we promote and recommend. Talk to us during those 6 weeks. Talk to the other members. Tell us how it's going. There, there's the accountability piece. That's why we're in these groups. We want to be held accountable as business owners and CEOs because we don't have a board. We're a private company with no board of directors, no one above me asking me to be accountable. So we become that accountability piece. We become that board and we'll stay on top of you.

Yeah. And just to, just to add to that, because that's what Stan is describing is really important, right? It's the community we're creating. So it's not just those people coming together every, every 6 weeks. And obviously it's important enough for them to, to be there, hence they have it in their, in their calendars. But the community, the checking in, whether that's with us or amongst themselves, to really figure out the details of the strategic things we discussed in the roundtable or in the master group to then figure out the details in, in between. And that creates, um, a type of commitment also, and it keeps the, the meeting or the meeting coming up on top of their minds.

Absolutely. And then here's my second question, and this is a little tactical, um, which is, okay, if it's every 6 weeks, how do you Invoice. Is it every 6 weeks or do you still do monthly and somehow get it figured out?

We do monthly, so we'll have a yearly cost and then we'll bill monthly for it.

Got it.

Perfect.

Yeah, I think a lot of times people get hung up on that, that if I'm billing monthly, then the meeting has to be monthly and it, it doesn't because you've set— it sounds like an expectation that this is an annual commitment. Am I hearing that right?

Correct.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, and think, think about it. It's kind of like a retainer or a membership, right? Because it's not just the mastermind people are attending. It's the creation of the entire community, of getting access to the entire community, of having access to Stan and myself in order to brainstorm things further or to get clarification and really have that piece of collaboration. In there. So, um, besides a whole lot of insights which is available in our, in our database, or even access to speakers. So there's a whole lot more people get access to, which is why we're saying, well, it's, it is an annual commitment because it usually takes time to make change happen. It doesn't happen overnight.

Absolutely. I think that is I'd like to underscore that and make sure everybody heard that, which is there is something to be said whether you formally or informally ask for that annual commitment because what you just said, change takes time, like real change and real working on the real issues, right? And so you talk about 8 people, 6 times a week, and there's another piece to the format. Um, you do virtual completely. Yeah. So explain a little bit about that and what does that entail, and does that include, um, any global clients, etc., because you are virtual. So, um, you know, how do you figure out your makeup?

Yep, that's the, that's the goal and that's the intent behind it, because obviously it gives you the opportunity to operate this globally as long as time zones work for for people. But being virtually, um, not just from the convenience perspective in terms of you saving time to travel to a certain location, but it also enables you to get people together from different locations, geographically— geographic— never mind, I can't pronounce that word today— from different continents even, and countries, which also introduces a an interesting aspect when it comes to diversity and on different culture, cultural takes on, on certain issues in, in business or challenges in business and different experiences. And we can nicely loop that into a conversation and make really, yeah, use it to our advantage and So, yeah, that's the main reason why, or the main reasons why we do it virtually, to really benefit from that perspective, from that point.

Okay. Stan, would you add anything to that?

Yeah, I would. And Inga's done a great job of explaining why, but just to add on, today's world, business moves so fast and it's globally. And if we simply restrict ourselves to one small geographical area, we're missing the boat. You know, I always go back to my high school English teacher who told us one day to stand on our chairs and look at the room differently. And that's what we like to promote in our groups. Look at the world differently, look at your business differently, take advice and experience from others that are not in your little geographical area. And expand your knowledge, expand your reach, which ultimately is going to expand your business and, you know, increase your margins and put more money in your pocket. So that's why we do that.

Excellent. Okay. And as we come upon our time, as it always goes so quick, a couple of questions, but one, and speaking virtually, any specific learnings from running groups virtually that would help those out there that are either considering it or maybe already doing it and this would help them do a better job?

I think you need the commitment. Inga mentioned that before, and we've touched on it. You have to be committed to do it because virtually there's a little— there's more distractions that can occur. So get in a quiet place, have your people committed, focused, shorten the time a little bit. I think other groups will go 6 to 8 hours per session. We do it in 4. We cut out drive time, we cut out meals, we cut all of the, the extra out. So be committed, be focused, get that commitment from them in writing so that they understand we're here for you, you're paying for it, we're here for you, we're going to make your life better because of what we do. So be committed for it.

Yeah, I think the— and the other, just to add on to that, the other thing is It's down to the facilitator as well to pay a little bit more attention. People keep telling, or people keep saying, it is a lot more— it's trickier to facilitate a really in-depth conversation virtually because you're only— it's kind of this much what you see, right, and on camera. So the entire body language and dynamic, to a certain extent, is missing. But it is possible if the facilitators really pay attention to, is somebody distracted? You can tell, are they kind of glancing over and paying attention to somebody else? You can pay attention to somebody's eye movement and therefore can tell whether or not they're actually in that conversation or if they're reading an email in the background. So the there is a lot more responsibility on the shoulders of the facilitator, hence Stan and I. But we are aware of it. Both of us have facilitated many online conversations. And the— there's so many tools nowadays out there as well, which can be used in order to really enhance that collaborative aspects of a virtual room. And as long as there's an awareness there that some of this stuff needs to be organized and facilitated in a different way, or moderated in a more— in another way, it works really well. And yeah, we can harness all those advantages we have from operating in the virtual world.

So you mentioned tools. Do you have a favorite one that helps in collaboration?

Uh, besides, um, well, we don't operate really in, in those breakout rooms, but one of them I love, for example, is, um, is a brainstorming whiteboard tool where literally everybody can log in and, and move things around at the same time and put certain thoughts into it. And that works really well. It sometimes needs a little bit of preparation, in particular if you have a specific topic and a different strategy and a certain strategy or an outcome you want to create. But it's a fascinating tool when used right.

Mm-hmm. Great.

Okay.

Well, I always end the episodes with what one piece of advice would you give our listeners who are running groups or they're thinking about groups? And it could be on anything. And so, Stan, what would you say?

I would say have a format, follow it, and have a partner. Don't always try to do these on your own because they can get difficult and cumbersome. And just as we are a board to look at different angles for them, it's good to have a partner that can help you look at things from a different angle. Which is why Inga and I make a great team.

Yes, well, great. And then, Inga, what would you say?

I'd say don't think you need to be the expert in everything. That's not the, the job. Um, the expertise comes in moderating and facilitating a conversation and asking questions in order to But basically to create a platform for the, all the other people in the room to dig deep and dive into the issues and find their answers and provide solutions and ideas to one another.

Yes, that's so true. Well, how can our listeners get a hold of you?

Yeah, they can send us an email at admin@tina-corner-stolz.com. At nexus86.com.

Excellent. And then I think you also do something every now and then.

We do. Every Tuesday we have a mastermind group. It's from 2 PM to 3 PM Eastern Time. And if you go to H7 Networking, they have a virtual meeting calendar and you'll find us on there. And it's just a 1-hour version of our of what we do every 4 hours. So it's kind of a little teaser, a little taste of how we run our groups. And again, that's— or you can email us at admin@nexus86.com and we can give you all the information there.

Excellent. Okay, well, Stan, Inga, thank you so much for being guests today and sharing your insights from a different format, like the difference in the cadence, and then some good just advice and nuggets in there for our listeners today. And to all of you out there, thank you for joining another episode of Mastermind Mastery. And until next week, go make it happen. Thank you everyone for listening to another episode of Mastermind Mastery. And to get access to today's episodes, not only the show notes, but any tools and resources, encourage you to— not only will you find them in the episode show notes, but also you can go to the website www.lxcouncil.com. So lx counsel.com, and you will find a plethora of articles and content and tools and resources and worksheets and things like that that can be helpful to you in creating and running successful PACs. I want to leave you with one thing that we end and teach to do in in every single meeting, and that is the very last thing is to ask, what is your takeaway from today's episode? I encourage you to give that thought. Take advantage of the time you just invested in listening to the episode, and what can you do to move one step closer to the vision that you have and the goals that you're trying to achieve with your groups? So again, take a step back. What's your key takeaways? What what can you actually act on? And I leave this with one note, and those of you that have read my book, Your Seat at the Table, you know that I ended the book with a story about my mentor. He always, when he met people, had a pebble in his pocket that he passed to them when there was knowledge shared. And so I ask you today to think about that pebble concept and to pass what you learned today on to someone else, which could be your members, or take it internally to yourself and act on it. So now go do something with those takeaways.