In this episode of the Mastermind Mastery podcast, host Tina Corner Stolz (founder of Elixir Council) introduces the upcoming national conference for peer advisory council (PAC) moderators and then dives deep into the role of the "resource connector" within mastermind groups. She revisits the FORD conversational framework (Family, Occupation, Recreation, Dreams) and explains how it uncovers members' needs, enabling moderators to act as conduits who link members to each other and to external resources. Stolz reframes the classic sales mantra "Always Be Closing" into a new ABC: "Always Be Connecting," emphasizing that moderators should continuously facilitate introductions, referrals, and knowledge sharing. She provides concrete examples—connecting a member seeking acquisition expertise to another member, offering personal recommendations for Napa Valley trips, and handling business or personal referral requests. The episode underscores that effective resource‑connecting deepens trust, positions members as experts, and creates lifelong loyalty. The show closes with a call to action to access show notes, join the online community, and share the episode’s takeaways (the "shiny pebble" metaphor).
Chapters
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 Elixir Council, 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 PACs. 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.
So are you ready?
Let's get going and dive into today's episode. Hello everyone, it's Tina here. We have a special event coming up in November in St. Petersburg, Florida. It's the first ever national open conference for anyone wanting to run and already running peer groups or mastermind groups. Join us for 2 days, VIP reception with the keynote speakers, and a full day of upping your game and running groups with peers like you who are experienced or just want to get more knowledge before starting their journey and creating their first group. This conference is for you if: 1, you're already running groups and you want to be better, or you want to be the best. You want to learn from other experienced moderators and get inside tips to the latest meeting techniques. Or two, if you're thinking about creating and running groups and want all the knowledge on how to do it right and learn from veterans, then this conference is for you. But time's running out. There's only a few VIP tickets available and the conference has limited capacity. So as soon as we hit it, we're going to have to close registration. So join us in downtown St. Pete, November 9th through the 11th. It's the best self-development gift you can give yourself. And don't you want to be the best at running groups? See you in November.
Welcome everyone to a new episode of Mastermind Mastery. I am Tina Corner Stolz. I am your host. And today we are talking about being a resource connector. What is that? Why is that important? And how does that make the experience of your members even better? And you as a moderator running your groups even more as a trusted advisor. So today, um, with the resource connector, I have talked about a little bit about the FORD concept in a previous episode, and we're going to build upon that because a resource connector kind of enhances that methodology of FORD. And just as a reminder, FORD stands for F as in family, O as in occupation, R recreation, D as dreams. And it is a foundational concept of having a conversation with someone in order to dive deeper into their family, occupation, what they love to do, right? And on their free time, in their spare time, and then D, their dreams, their aspirations. So today, and we talk about a resource connector, I talk a lot about it more in my book, Your Seat at the Table, in Chapter 4, because it wraps around the concept of the member experience. And I talk about how the member experience is really important. And it starts the moment that you actually are meeting someone and talking to them about your peer groups, your PACs, as we call them, peer advisory councils. And as your members are participating in your groups, they're a member over time, they will look to you to be a resource connector. So what are we talking about in regards to, to a resource connector? So we're gonna start with, as a moderator, you're a conduit. That means that you connect your members to each other, right? And you connect them to others who can be of help to them. So this will come naturally to you when you employ the F.O.R.D. technique because you're going to have a deeper dive with them in regards to listening to their answers. It will spark ideas on how you can help. So I equate this to, and I'm going to talk a little bit more about the ABCs, and if any of you can remember the Glengarry Glen Ross movie, I'm gonna come back to that in a second. But when you are running the group, your members will have a tendency to look to you as kind of the spoke of the wheel, right? The place where everything comes together and intersects in one place. And you have insights that others don't have about each of the members. So your goal is always to make the members appear like they are the smartest in the room. All right. They need to look good to each other and you want them to connect and look to each other for answers rather than you being the one with the answers. Okay. So being a resource connector deepens your relationship with the member because they know you've listened to them and they have their best interests at heart. And how is that? So I'm going to give you, like, an example. So if a member talks and they're saying, You know, I really need to know more about acquisitions. And you know that the other member in their group knows a lot about acquisitions. Instead of you saying what you know about acquisitions, you go, you know what, Sally, Bob knows a lot about acquisitions in the group. You should connect with him and talk to him about that. That's an example of being a resource connector. But there are many different ways to be a resource connector. But first and foremost, instead of you being the one with the expertise in the group, if you know it exists elsewhere, you connect that one member with the member that has that expertise so that they look good and they recognize they're in a group with other smart people. They don't need to feel like you're the smartest in the room. You shouldn't be. You don't want to portray that you are as the moderator of the group. Okay, so another way of resource connector and why it's important other than deepening the relationship you already have with the member right now that you know, they know that you've listened to them, you have their best interests at heart, you show you care. The key is for them to feel like you care about their business as much as they do. So here you go. Listen to this one part. Be as committed to their success as they are. When they feel that you are as committed to their success as they are to their own, you will have a member for life. Being a resource connector helps you accomplish that goal. How is that? So, for example, A member asks you for help. Again, it could be an acquisition. Maybe it's about a business practice. They need more information about someone. Again, number one thing you're going to do, refer them to another member if you can, right? If that exists. The other way of a resource connector is let's say you know that a member is getting ready to go to Napa Valley. You might recommend the top 3 or 4 restaurants for them to enjoy based on their favorite type of food. You might even connect them to the chef of one of the restaurants, or maybe you share your favorite places to go because you've been to Napa Valley and there might be certain wines you know they love, and you might share a winery you went to that you recommend. You might share a winery not to go to. There could be the dos and the whole don'ts. So the point is, is now you are enhancing their experience based on something they're getting ready to do, right? So one of the most common sidebar, I call reoccurring questions that members will ask you many times is that they will say, do you know a person? Which you may have heard more as, do you know a guy? Right? So do you know a guy, blah, blah, blah. So at some point your members need to be referred to others. This might include a business referral. It could be a personal referral. You know, it could be, so let's say for example, A business referral is, I need a new payroll provider, I'm looking for a new accountant, or I need an HR consultant. Personal referrals are, I need a caterer for a party, I need a better landscaper, right? You just never know what you might be asked. But the key is, do you know someone who knows someone? You want to help your member save time and be connected to a resource quickly and reliably and for you to be the go-to person. So now why is that right? Why is it that you should be the go-to person? You're in a position, right, where you know a lot about all the members that are in your group, but also in your networking that you do. And just by listening to them, you will automatically be a resource connector. And we're back to if they can rely on you of, do you know someone who knows someone? You are that go-to person that will enhance their experience, not only as a member of your group, but will enable them to have a good experience with others because you do know someone that you can connect them to. So let me go back to what I mentioned earlier about that movie, that famous movie, I think in the '80s, early '80s. So the Glengarry Glen Ross, Blake was played by Alex Baldwin, and he's in a room with a bunch of salespeople, and he's trying to teach them a fundamental lesson back then about what he called the ABCs, which was always the ABC in sales was Always be closing. A, always. B is be. C is closing. And it's like this traditional view of sales and having sales and success, but you had to always close. It was a hard close. And you know what? Back then, that's kind of how we did it. I was in sales then, and that's exactly— it was always be closing. But today there is a new ABC. Okay, because now there's the internet, and we have a vast world of network and networks that help us become more educated, that include best practices, that include just lots of knowledge easier at our fingertips than it ever was before. So now the new ABC is always be not closing, it's always be connecting. So what you wanna do as a resource connector is think about how you can always be connecting your members when they need it most about resources that are beyond not just their group, but also within the group. So you wanna be kind of that coordinator, that person who is constantly kind of maneuvering and helping, you know, There's someone I think you should meet. There's someone that also shares that same interest. Have you ever thought about this book? Have you, you know, thought about this course? Have you, have you whatever? And that will only enhance their experience. So in summary, think about how you can be a resource connector. And doing that will come easily when you use the FORD methodology in your conversations because it will uncover where you can help people and enhance their experience by being in your group, and where you can connect people that enhance your centers of influence relationships, um, as well as your members relationships. So your takeaway is a new ABC, which is Always Be Connecting. So until next week when I see you, on a new episode. Um, thank you for listening to Mastermind Mastery, and I look forward, um, to next week. But as always, you go make it happen. Until then.
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 podcasts 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 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 you learned today, to either your existing groups or fellow peers. Now go make it a great one.
