Have you been tempted to join a Mastermind before? If you’re not familiar, a Mastermind is essentially a Group Coaching Program where you’re surrounded by other like-minded business owners all leveling up your business game. 

I’ve had a lot of experiences with Masterminds; I’m part of a local mastermind group in my community and I’ve coached other entrepreneurs in setting up their own masterminds. I also host my own THRIVE Mastermind as part of Simply Stacey Morgan. 

So today, I’m sharing with you 5 things to look for in a mastermind…in case you find yourself going down that Google rabbithole sometime soon. 

1. One-on-one and group coaching

One of the greatest benefits of being part of a mastermind is the collaborative experience of learning alongside others. You get to share your challenges and hear people’s ideas and suggestions, and you equally have the opportunity to provide your own input to benefit others. This exchange can often spark really good ideas for you and give you thoughts and feelings you might otherwise not be exposed to in a more “traditional” professional development setting. 

In saying all of that, I believe it’s also important to find a Mastermind that provides you with one-on-one time so you can really delve into your own business and personal goals. In this digital world there is information and learning resources coming at you from every angle imaginable. You could spend all day learning from online courses, YouTube videos, books and podcasts if you wanted to! (Or had time to!) 

But all of the knowledge in the world is only valuable if you know how to put it into context for YOUR business. THAT’S what one-on-one coaching sessions do for you. 

2. Accountability opportunities

A mastermind can be so good for accountability—to make you actually act on all of the items you learn about. The more opportunities for accountability, the better. 

Accountability from your Mastermind peers on your group call or meeting each month is one thing, but ideally you have additional “accountability check-ins”, such as one-on-one with your coach, with a Mastermind ‘buddy’, and/or through a communication method with your fellow participants.

As part of our THRIVE Mastermind, we have both one-on-one sessions and a private Facebook group for members where we check in with one another regularly and hold each other accountable. And that’s the beauty of it. Each month you tell everybody what your intentions and your goals are and then you feel obligated to follow through on them because not only have you verbalised it to others—they’re going to be following up with you to see your progress!  

If you don’t have access to accountability measures as part of a Mastermind, it’s truly not that different to going to a live event and just sitting back and learning. (Except you’ve probably paid a lot more for your Mastermind!)

Where’s the value if you don’t TAKE ACTION?

3. A face-to-face meet up

This one has been challenging the past couple of years, obviously, but where possible look for a Mastermind that includes a LIVE element. 

In addition to getting to form connections and collaboration with people across the screen, it’s also really important to be able to do that in a face-to-face environment. A lot of Masterminds have an opportunity for people to come together for an immersive experience where you get to know one another on a social level, as well as a professional level, and that networking opportunity is often overlooked but it truly is such an important part of the investment you’re making. 

The fellow participants might have a market you could tap into, or benefit from collaborating with your shared services—the opportunities are endless once you have the chance to have those conversations, which usually will only take place in a more casual, unscripted setting. 

4. The right participants

Of course there’s no way to know who else is signing up for a Mastermind when you’re registering, but you can get a sense of who you’ll be surrounding yourself with by looking at the audience of the Mastermind host. 

Who is their target audience? Who does their marketing content speak to and resonate with? Who else is usually interacting with them on their social media platforms? 

Try to make sure that the other people that are part of that program are on your wavelength and committed to getting as much out of the experience as you are. 

Most Mastermind hosts offer a free inquiry call if you’re considering joining them, so take this opportunity! No (decent) person is going to try and sell you into a program that’s not the right fit for you or your stage in business. And if they’re not a decent person, you’re going to be able to sniff that out right away, anyway. So—take the free exploratory call and ask some questions! 

5. Is the timing right?

Masterminds are not a cheap investment—most start from $5K and some are upwards of $15K. So if you are going to make this sizable investment in your business, you want to make sure you have capacity in your personal life to fulfill all of the opportunities and obligations that are a part of the program, and also enact everything you are learning. (We all know what it’s like to write a list of intentions and ideas down in a notebook but never quite get around to making them happen. That hurts all the more when it’s attached to a several-thousand-dollar commitment.)

For many years as much as I wanted to do a Mastermind, it just wasn’t the right timing for me. I was too busy working in my business. I had too many classes to teach. I had too many emails to answer. I just had too much going on and it wasn’t a possibility. But even when I thought it might be a possibility, it was still a huge decision and involved a lot of tough conversations. I had to be able to justify—not just to myself, but to my husband, my family, my business coach—why I was ready to make this investment. 

I don’t say this to scare you and I don’t say it lightly either: Investing in a Mastermind requires you to take a shift in mindset. You can no longer think small and play small because it’s comfortable and safe. 

Stepping into a mastermind means stepping outside your comfort zone and into a bigger game. 

You have to be ready to live up to the investment you’re making in yourself. You have to be ready to make the investment AND do the work. 

So if you are doing your research and you are looking at investing in something for yourself, a Mastermind might be the answer if::

• You want to be surrounded by other people that are going to lift you up. 

• You’d love a support team to hold you accountable to your goals and help you celebrate your wins 

• You trust yourself enough that you’re ready to be uncomfortable, be pushed to dream big and see the results that occur when you finally make it happen!

I found one of the biggest “wins” of a Mastermind was finally being able to step away from being IN my business to finally work ON it. 

And because I hear this hesitation all the time, I want to say: A Mastermind isn’t just something for “other people” that have “7-figure businesses”. 

There are so many different tiers and so many different levels of Mastermind programs out there from so many different coaches. Finding the one that is right for you and finding something that works for you is going to be a game changer when it comes to your professional development and investing in yourself and your business. 

I encourage you to get out there, see what’s on offer and give me a shout if you have any questions. 

(And of course I’d love to have you join my THRIVE Mastermind in 2022! As sign-ups are limited, I offer the program to those on the Wait List first so if you want more details, jump on over and join the list.