In this solo episode of the Mastermind Mastery podcast, Tina Corner Stolz—founder of ElixCouncil and author of Your Seat at the Table—walks moderators of peer advisory councils (PACs) through the fifth and sixth phases of the member‑journey map. After briefly recapping stages 1‑4 (anticipation, excitement, awareness/confirmation, and engagement), she defines Stage 5 (Nurture) as the critical, often stressful period when members encounter significant personal or business crises (e.g., a partner leaving the business, embezzlement, divorce, or severe financial setbacks). She explains how members may either lean into the group for support or withdraw, and why moderators must proactively set expectations, encourage openness, and sometimes convene extra meetings to help members surface difficult issues. Real‑world anecdotes illustrate the transformative power of this nurturing moment for both the individual and the whole council. Stage 6 (Optimized Trust) follows naturally when members have successfully navigated the Nurture phase. At this point, members operate in a rhythm, demonstrate self‑awareness of meeting structures, bring high‑impact challenges to the table, and experience regular “aha” moments because they fully trust the facilitator, the process, and their peers. Stolz emphasizes that the Nurture stage is the catalyst that catapults members into this deep trust. The episode concludes with a teaser for the upcoming Stage 7 (full vulnerability) and a call‑to‑action directing listeners to show notes, templates, and community resources.
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Hello and welcome to Mastermind Mastery, the podcast for professionals who want to create and run successful peer advisory councils, or as we call them, PACs for short, or they're also known as peer groups or business mastermind groups. I'm your host, Tina Corner Stolz, founder of ElixCouncil, where I've been in the industry running groups since 2005 and now help those like you with education, certification, and support wanting to do the same. At one time, I ran 10 groups, nearly 100 members, and sold my groups for a good multiple, and recently released my second book, Your Seat at the Table: How to Create and Run Your Own Peer Advisory Councils, published by Forbes, and grateful to you that it's an Amazon bestseller. I invite you to join each week where we share strategies and techniques to successfully launch and become a master of running your packs. You'll hear insights, perspectives, dos and don'ts, learn from my and my guests' mistakes, successes, and get the inside track to key takeaways. Each time we have a guest, we'll be having a bit of fun.
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Mastermind Mastery. I am your host, Tina Corner Stolz, and today's topic is talking about stages 5 and 6 of the member journey map. In previous 2 episodes, I've talked about stages 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. So stages 1 and 2 are about anticipation and hope and excitement and judgment because they've said yes and now they are just so excited about what's to come and they anticipate great things because they've had in their mind all these reasons why they've said yes. About everything, their whole experience that they're gonna get by being in your peer group. And then as they've attended a meeting and, or a few meetings and gone through more of your meeting structure and process, they are now in the awareness confirmation stage, stage 3, and engagement stage, stage 4, where they are aware now of really what this is all about. They are getting confirmation they made a good decision. Anyway, you hope that's the case, not a confirmation that Maybe they didn't make a good decision, and they're becoming more and more engaged because they're getting more comfortable with the other members, and they're getting to know you, and the members are getting to know them, and they're really starting now to get a little bit into a rhythm, right? So today we're going to talk about Stage 5, which is nurture, and Stage 6, which is optimized Trust. And these two stages is where your member is now going. If you can recall from the previous episodes, and if not, I really encourage you to go back and listen to those. But in the previous episodes, I've talked about how also you're trying to get your member to go from the mindset of I am now in a group, where they will then transition to the mindset I'm in our group, but you're wanting them to now transition to the mindset of I'm in my group. Where they have personalized and truly believe this is their board of advisors, this is their advisory board. Personally, it is theirs because they believe it and they feel it. So stage 5, they're beginning to exit from our group, and stage 6, they are moving into where it is my group, meaning their group. So what is the nurture stage? So we're gonna go stage 5. We're gonna talk about this, talk about the stages. What can you do to make sure your members escalate through them as quickly as possible? Because as a reminder, every member goes through these stages at a different pace. What you're wanting to be sure is that they do not get stuck in a stage. And some members do, and there are some members who never really get to stage 7 when I talk about that in the next episode. And that will hinder your group if you can't get your member there into stage 7. And, and the faster that you get your members through the journey map, the better their experience and value that they will receive. Okay, so nurture, stage 5. This is probably, I would call, one of the most stressful stages for a moderator because it's in this stage stuff happens. Okay. And this happens with every member. It's just a matter as to when, where something happens in their business and you, meaning them, your member, leans on the group for it, or they lean away from the group and isolate. This is a very critical point in the member's journey. Because when that event occurs, they either think, my group, I need them now, I gotta go to them. They begin another level of vulnerability, or they're embarrassed, they don't feel truly bonded to the group, and they isolate. They may isolate through not showing up to the meeting. They may isolate in the typical what you might see just being very distant. They obviously will not bring up the real issues in the meeting to address, and you know there's more going on, but they're just not revealing it. So this is the stage you have to nurture, remember, and the nurture is being intentionally focused that this is going to happen and to be sure that they are encouraged by you in order to be open with the group and bring something extremely difficult to the table. Because this is where their feedback and getting the insights and leaning on the group for help is transformational for not just them but the whole group. So let me give a couple examples. One that was extremely profound with me when I first started running groups, and this was way back in like 2006 or 7, And I had a member who— so the group was fairly new, okay? And I had a member who fortunately leaned in because I fortunately was aware of this particular challenge she had and encouraged her to do that. And she trusted me enough to do it because I was back to— the group was still fairly new as a whole new group to begin with. So they were nowhere near stage 6 or 7 because they hadn't been together that long. And the issue was, is her partner suddenly left the business. Complete surprise. And it particularly hurtful because this was her twin. Okay, so she had a twin. They were partners in the business. And the twin wanted out. The business would be significantly different without this twin. Um, both of them really divided and conquered the duties of running the business equally. And so this is a major hit, not only just personally from a family perspective, but also for the business. So instead of retreating, she leaned in, and the group actually had a separate meeting up and beyond the normal meeting just to help her because it was an emergency scenario and the meeting wasn't due to come up for another couple of weeks. So they pulled together, had, had a meeting, we had an extra one and helped her. And it was through that process over many, many, many, many months that she came out successfully. But that's an example. There's another example that I'm sure you guys, as you've run in groups, you've seen it over and over, but it's a significant event. So a significant event where a member might not lean into the group is when they're completely embarrassed that something happened on their watch, and it's just terrible. So it could be something that they felt like, well, everybody should know this. I don't know how this happened, but I'm just really embarrassed. It could be that they found out that they weren't making the margins that they're making, and really the business is struggling, and they don't really want everyone to know that they are really in trouble, um, or they have a big issue, possibly, um, if it's a family firm with some family members and compensation. It could be that it might be very personal on the personal side, that they are struggling and they're going through divorce, and they just don't really want to bring it up even though it's extremely impactful. The point is, it is something that happens that is significant. And so if you talk to your members prior to, okay, this happening and saying to them, you're going to have something, there is going to be a day that it is significant. It could be they have an embezzlement. That's a great example. And that actually just happened in a group that I'm aware of. less than 6 months ago, and this member has been a member of the group for years and had million dollars of embezzlement and brought it to the group about what to do versus hiding it because it can be embarrassing because they all still believe this person was really a family member. So if you tell your member up front this is going to happen and at some point in the back of your head when it does, make sure you lean into the group because that is what the group is for. So you set them up for success up ahead because in this stage, this is where the members' takeaways are most meaningful. The things they're bringing out from their experience of being in the group every single time you have a meeting, this is the stage where it is amped up and what their takeaways are the insights, the perspectives are the most meaningful for them. So now when you have a member that has been that open, it encourages the other members to be that open, particularly if they haven't had that happen yet. So it's a wonderful example in order to elevate the bonding and the transparency of your groups. That's the nurture stage, stage 5. Stage 6, optimized and trust. This is when now you can just feel, you can see it in your member. The member's in a rhythm. They're self-aware. They understand the meeting structure. They're, they're capitalized on it. They understand how to bring the best and most meaningful and impactful challenges, opportunity, problem, right ideas to the group. They understand the real issues that need to be addressed, right? And they actually begin to have regular aha moments. So they're in the groove. And that happens because they trust everybody. They trust the process. They trust you running the meeting. They trust their peers. They are here. So they have crossed over that threshold and now feel extremely comfortable by being in the group. And it is quite simply just that. And that's what you're trying to get them to. Now, if you noticed, I put stage 5, nurture, ahead of this because it's that stage that catapults the member into this huge trust factor that they have with the group. So there you go, audience. Stage 5, Stage 6. So you go from anticipation and hope, Stage 1. Stage 2, excitement and where they're going to be judging. It's a critical component you have to manage. Stage 3, awareness. They're confirming. Then they're becoming more engaged, which is Stage 4.
Right?
They're actually going through all the things that membership has to offer. And now the thing happens in stage 5 of nurturing that catapults them into the trusting stage. So next episode, stay with me, we're going to talk about the final stage of the member journey map, stage 7, which is where they fully open up in vulnerability. And what does that look like? What does that mean? How do you get them there? And until then, you guys enjoy the rest of the week and we will see you next Tuesday. Now go make it happen.
Hey, moderators of groups, thank you so much for listening to today's podcast. To get access to today's show notes and exclusive content and resources, visit TinaCornerStolz.com/podcast or LXcounsel.com where you can also become part of an exclusive online community, attend our academy, or get free resources, templates, checklists, and more. And you can even contact me there as well. So if this episode resonated with you and you know someone who can also benefit from listening, please share with them by taking a screenshot and even posting on your social media. I also love reviews and appreciate hearing from each of you. Those actually do doing this wonderful work. Please tune in next week for another episode of Mastermind Mastery. And I'll close by sharing something my mentor did after every learning moment. He shared a shiny pebble from his pocket with anyone he passed knowledge to and asked them to forward that pebble knowledge on. So now I encourage you to go pass on a pebble. The takeaways what you learned today to either your existing groups or fellow peers. Now, go make it a great one!
