The Difference Between Mastermind and Peer Advisory Groups

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, do's and don'ts, learn from my and my guests' mistakes, successes, and get the inside track to key takeaways. Each time we have 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 2, 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.

So welcome everyone to Mastermind Mastery. I am Tina Corner Stolz. I'm your host. And today my song is Donna Summer, "She Works Hard for the Money." And where this song really resonated for me is when I lived in Los Angeles, and this was back in the late '80s, early '90s, and there were some famous restaurants there. One of the very famous restaurants that like movie stars went to, Donna Summer was in that restaurant one evening and she went to the ladies' room. Ladies' restroom. And in the ladies' restroom, many times during restaurants like that, you would have an attendant there that would be there to hand you a towel to dry your hands, or maybe if you wanted some chewing gum or mouthwash, anything like that that you might want to like freshen up while you're in the restroom. And as Donna Summer walked in, she found that the attendant there was asleep. And so she was kind of fascinated by that and kind of recognized that this woman must be very tired. And kind of struck up a conversation with her. But it made an impression on her because this woman was holding multiple jobs, was trying to make ends meet. And the point is she was working hard for the money. And so it inspired Donna to write this song. And how this kind of really resonates with me, other than I believe I'm the same, a female working hard for the money, is it resonates with me because in the peer group world, usually your members, right, are working hard for their money. Either they are the founders of their business and they're working hard to make, you know, the business successful and reach their vision, or they could be a senior leader who's doing the same in their position. And that, you know, everyone really works hard for the money. So in today's episode, opening up with my song on that, and as we get started today, The topic is really wrapped around a little bit of what I call the Wild West, and the Wild West is this industry. Okay, so you could talk about lots of different things, um, and they use different words and different terminology about the same thing. So today in particular, we're going to break down mastermind versus peer advisory council or peer groups, peer advisory groups. What is the difference? Is there even a difference between them? And so it's a little bit of a history lesson today, but it's very common in that you will hear that people call themselves that are running groups, they're either chairs or moderators or certified facilitators, or they just call themselves like, I run a board. It's all over the place. So as you're either new getting into this industry or you're a veteran, right? Masterminds have really become like a common, you know, thing to talk about these days. It's very popular. And what does it mean when people are talking about, I'm in a mastermind group or I'm running a mastermind group? And is that any different than somebody says, I'm in a peer group or I'm running a peer group? Well, there is a difference. And so where did all of that come from? So that's a little bit of what I want to dive into today, because I do believe it matters from the standpoint of being on the same page, whoever it is that you're talking about. But the other thing is, I believe it's important that if you're wanting to run groups or you already are, that you understand a little bit about the, the progression of how we got to where we are today. So a little bit of background so that this industry that you have chosen to participate in, that you know something about its roots, right? So the whole peer group council, this is where we're going to start. Peer group concept has been around thousands of years, right? And so, you know, how did it really start and how, you know, how far back are we talking about with thousands of years? So I'm gonna go all the way back to ancient Greece, okay? Where you had Plato and Aristotle and Socrates, and they sought out to surround themselves, right, with others who would help them keep their mind sharp, challenge their thinking. And this is where the Socratic method really came from, where it embodies people to look inside and be insightful in themselves to come up with the answers themselves. So starts all the way back then where our really smart, um, you know, people back then had this concept. And then even goes as far as Jesus because he had his disciples, and the disciples in many ways were a peer group. We're continuing that tradition of, you know, peer groups called discipleships, and these groups gather in the same vein, they share faith. But they're also advising and they're, they're embarking their wisdom on each other to help them even learn even more under Jesus's, you know, leadership. And then probably the most famous, I would say, peer group was King Arthur's Round Table. Okay, and this is back in the 12th century. So the significance of the round table, meaning a table that had no head at the table, was that everyone was equal sitting around the table. So equality was built in, meaning the peer group concept was built in from the, the get-go, that not one over the other was more important as far as who was sitting at the table. And so it started back then with his round table. And if you go forward into the United States and go back to some of our presidents, that we had, the whole peer group concept started in the cabinet. So where there was cabinets of advisors to guide and support them. So our cabinet today is very different than the cabinet back then, because if you go back then, start with Ben Franklin, who was probably also the most popular, wrapped around the peer group concept because he formed his group called the Junto Group. And its objective was to promote knowledge. And also in that promotion of knowledge, sharing like successes and sharing what some of the trends were back then. And they met frequently. It was 12 members, very different industries. They were all different, like an engineer and a cabinetmaker and a physician and a chemist and etc., printer, bartender. And they met weekly and they met, if you can even guess how many years, 38. Isn't that crazy? So now fast forward to a president in the early 1900s. President Theodore Roosevelt continued where when he took office, he had his group of advisors that he focused on and that helped him with insight, etc. And then Warren G. Harding did the same thing. Probably most famously he called it the Vagabond Group, and that's where there was Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone and Henry Ford were in that group. And then as time went on, the cabinet shifted to what today it's more of an enforcement of the law and very specific on what they represent when you are part of the cabinet in today's environment with our current presidency. So now if we stop there with— you have that whole history all the way back to Plato, all the way through about how our presidents used groups and Ben Franklin to— I'm going to pause. And how many of you understand or even know about the concept communities of practice? So communities of practice are groups that really come together organically and typically inside a company or an industry because they're composed of professionals that have the same expertise and they have the same intention of sharing very specific knowledge and best practices to solve a particular problem in their industry or in work, etc. And so in this case, the members are not required to participate. It's very informal. It's very self-organizing and they're not paying money to be involved, etc. Okay, so that's kind of the community of practice concept and they exist today, but not to be confused with masterminds or peer groups. So now let's focus a little bit on mastermind. So you have the American industrialist Andrew Carnegie, right? Who was in the steel industry, he had a mastermind. So in Think and Grow Rich, famous book by Napoleon Hill, he described— and it was the first time the concept of mastermind was really put in writing and, and the concept gotten out there. And so he, in his book, he talked about masterminds being advisory and like a council. And he discussed this with, you know, Andrew Carnegie. So here is how Napoleon Hill described a mastermind group. Again, two words. So I'm going to quote him now. He said, mastermind is the coordination of knowledge and effort between two or more people who work towards a definite purpose in a spirit of harmony. So no two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third invisible intangible force which may be likened to a third mind. So this was the original intent of mastermind, which is now one word, and you'll see how that shifted, just like how the cabinets for forefather and what being in the cabinet meant back then versus now. Mastermind back then with Napoleon Hill versus now is different. So how is it different today? So this is what I want you to think about. A mastermind group has definitely become even, you know, more popular today is because, first of all, is that there's a lot of experts out there that have found that having a mastermind group can be an additional revenue stream for them. A way to create more engagement with their clients or their fans, right? And earn money by that. So in the case of a mastermind, think of it as these groups are assembled by an expert. So it could be a business owner who has a specific type of service or a company with a certain type of product, or, you know, it could be an influencer, right? Who invites their clients to gather with the purpose of advancing a program they developed. So they use the gathering as a way to leverage support for their clients. Okay. And clients could be students, they could be anybody that's bought their program, et cetera. So this type of mastermind typically is an extension of that program requiring some kind of fee or a change in level membership. It's usually about this additional revenue stream that helps do a deeper dive into whatever that person, right, is wanting to know more of. So think of it this way, in that if I bought a program on, let's say, how to utilize SEO better, right, for my business, and I wanted to you know, know more, and I wanted to hear and pick the brain of the person who developed that program, I might be in their mastermind group. So when that's the case, okay, it's usually students learning from the mastermind, the expert. And so it's typically not a free-flowing two-way conversation. It's a lot about that expert, i.e., subject matter expert, imparting their knowledge further into the group and helping them grasp the concepts better and utilize them better. And of course, learn from each other in regards to using whatever it is that they bought or that mastermind is, right? Their, their intellectual property and what they're giving out there. So literally think of it as two minds where the arrow of communication is more one way, meaning the expert is really the mastermind imparting that knowledge on others. So now, why is it— okay, then you have the peer advisory concept, which is the opposite, right? So the opposite is, is that those around the table a round table. Okay, those around a table actually are peers, and they learn from each other. They have equal— from an equality standpoint, um, equal time to speak. And whoever is at the head of that round table really is just there to facilitate and moderate, not to embark, right, their knowledge onto the group solely. So if you think again, two minds, it is two-way arrows. All right. Because it is communication that goes back and forth. That's the learning. That's the, the level right up of experience sharing and insights and perspectives. So the difference between mastermind is you is the real concept is you're learning from a master the master in that specific topic. Peer groups is truly as it is labeled, a peer group experience where everybody around the table is peers and they're equals. So why do we call the podcast Mastermind Mastery? It's because still today, this is what everybody relates to. So more people Google mastermind when they're wanting to know about peer groups more people instantly kind of understand it from the concept of not the real meeting meaning, but the meaning of a peer group. So that's why we use it in order to not confuse everyone, while in reality it's two completely different concepts. So the podcast is today, you know, called Mastermind Mastery, but it is about how to create and run in a very masterful way, right? Peer groups. So there's your history lesson for today. Hopefully that gives you a little bit of background. And your takeaway really I want to be is that as you're talking with someone and they may say, what do you do? You might lead off with, I run mastermind groups. And do you know what those are? And see what they say. Um, or you could say, I run peer advisory groups, and do you know what they are? And see what they say. But just don't be surprised. And now you can have a little bit of an understanding why people use those words interchangeably and why in this industry it is still the Wild West. So with that, I look forward to seeing you next week, this same time. And, um, now just 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 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.