“A mastermind is a special collection of people in form and function. Each person has a specialized role to fulfill. The group includes a manager to keep all in harmony while dedicated to one definite chief purpose. For Carnegie it was the mining, manufacturing, distribution, marketing and sales of steel. Together the collective can do more than one person alone. It’s not about self, but the group.
It’s why each person has a function as Carnegie admitted he knew nothing about any of the above, but his mastermind experts did. There’s a vast difference between a mastermind and a masterclass. They are different and serve different functions. Today, some use the name mastermind incorrectly. It’ not a collection of brainstormers who come together to improve their individual efforts through coaching.
Or anything else for that matter. It’s a priceless collection of people put together to accomplish a specific task. Both groups are valuable but are not the same nor serve the same purpose. Knowing the difference is a good thing. My hope is people are invited to join masterminds that add value to the team and the planet. Hill points out that two people in a committed relationship can be a mastermind.
Why? Because they’re dedicated to making their relationship work together in harmony and can support each other in the process. They aren’t just working on getting their needs met from each other, which is important. We should give and receive. They can work towards a greater good because of their harmonious union. Together we’ve more energy to direct at a definite chief purpose than alone.
Batteries connected have greater power than a single battery. Get this. When we unite around a singular purpose in complete harmony it’s infused with much more energy to help make it happen. Harmony is crucial. Not all unions are masterminds. They could be but not all relationships are harmonious. United positivity, harmony, and right thinking and action plus persistence make it happen.
You don’t pay to belong to a mastermind but are compensated by the founder because without that specialized expertise in a specialized role the mastermind doesn’t function as intended. It’s not a group to serve the members, although members can and do benefit, but harmonious individuals together serving the purpose of the group. Whether the compensation is cash or something else doesn’t matter.
You pay for a class or brainstorming group to have value added to you and to be a contributor to others. This is not the same as a mastermind. It’s all good. And if we want to understand Hill’s work so we can benefit from it maximally, it is important for each of us to understand what he was offering. The mastermind is a very special group of people working in HARMONY toward one specific positive end.
You don’t join a ‘mastermind’ to succeed in your business. That is a master class. You are invited to join a mastermind because your expertise is needed for a specific greater purpose because one person cannot accomplish it alone. Brainstorming can be a part of this but it’s the purpose of a mastermind that is important to recognize. Carnegie, Ford, Edison are all mentioned as examples. Consider this.
An example from my background that’s relevant but not perfect is a motion picture or television production. Experts come together to produce a vision and put it on the screen. From development to viewers experts in different roles are enlisted to make it happen. It however, is not governed as a mastermind with the harmony and principles guiding it as Hill suggests. Right governance is crucial.
Harmony is desired in these productions. There are different departments and development teams that are put together by a head or heads of production. This is the structure of a mastermind but may or may not embrace and embody the spirit of a mastermind. As mentioned, harmony is desired. Those who don’t fit, break rules or grumble may be dismissed. If you don’t fit in or break rules, you’re gone.
The most difficult aspect is having all working together have the same mission. A collection of people can have different desires, ambitions, and understanding of what they are doing. A producer or director and the team may not be on the same page about what content they are bringing to the viewer. This can show up in a movie that turns out scattered and flawed. We’ve all seen confusing and bad movies.
The goal is to put the money on the screen and have all working make the same movie but that doesn’t happen much. That is the purpose of a mastermind. Everyone is supposed to share the same mission and vision. They have a definite chief purpose and are clear about it. There is a clarity of vision they all agree on. Remember, definiteness of purpose. Clarity. Specificity. One united purpose is a challenge.
Not everyone shares the vision. We say in production the goal is to get the director’s vision on the screen. That is a difficult undertaking because of our individual ambitions and understanding as I mentioned previously. Working together all on the same page for a definite purpose with a definite chief aim is why we bring others together in a mastermind. It is delicate and tricky. It’s worthwhile.
One cannot do what a qualified mastermind can. A good team can be helpful, but a good team could be a mastermind but usually isn’t. Hopefully, you are beginning to understand the importance of the principles and practices in putting together, managing and working together in a mastermind. Yes, two people can be a mastermind as Hill points out. Not every group fulfills the criteria of the mastermind.
They may have other elements. Desire, Faith, Persistence. Planning. Organized knowledge. Imagination but if the purpose and harmony isn’t there, it’s not a mastermind. Think of going on a camping or fishing trip. You want to bring the people who are there to also have fun. They enjoy each other. There is support. You don’t bring complainers and dividers. You seek the best for the purpose you have.
It may be safe to say all mastermind groups are teams made up of team players but not all teams or team players are a mastermind or part of one. Remember, Ford, Carnegie and others believed in, managed and maintained the mastermind in their business. There are other examples, again not perfect, but you get the idea. A sport team. However, whatever the endeavor it’s not about stars.
It’s about cooperation and harmony, individual expertise working together on a SHARED definite chief purpose and aim. It’s not about showboating or grandstanding. It is about adding value to all those in the mastermind and those benefiting from the mastermind’s purpose and efforts. It is about exponential, bigger energy than just one. It is about agreement and creation. It’s not replaceable.
Besides needed expertise it’s important to have a pleasing personality and embrace the other understandings in Laws of Success and Think and Grow Rich to become a valued member of a mastermind. If you are invited to participate in a mastermind, it’s important to be of the right mind and right action. It IS why Hill spends time on personality and the other important principles.
Many things matter. On the road to becoming more successful, transforming yourself into someone others want and need to include is priceless. When others need you because you provide great value and are great to be around you can go further faster. What’s in it for them must be your primary directive because serving them is how your needs can be met too. Remember Rex’s rule. GO FIRST.
Go first by putting them first! Put them first and everything else can fall into place. Get this and you get a lot. The role of each member in the mastermind is service. It is dedication to the masterminds’ purpose for being. The more you think on serving others and go beyond what is required of you the more successful you can be. So, best wishes to you and each of us in our journey toward creating more excellence for all to share. Celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes
PS Here is a link to the discussion we had. Hopefully it is easy. The discussion is worth listening to because some awesome questions were asked!
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I too have been very concerned about what I have been reading when people were discribing a Master Mind. I could tell they had no idea of what it was and it bothered me. Especially when they were charging people to join them.
Every Master mind I have been a part of has attained the desired dream in or before the time dead line. I have been in five master minds. All five got grand impossible dreams in a very short time. So, I think we are doing it right. Rex thanks for all your sharing. You truly are a national treasure. You remind me of Napoleon Hill. I want to personally thank you for helping to get the master mind information acurate. It amazes me the fantastic power that is generated by the master mind, it makes wild impossible dreams come true. Thanks again for sharing you accurate insights.
Warmly and Magically,
William Young