Mastermind: what is it and what does it mean?
Have you heard the word 'mastermind' but not entirely sure what it really means?
I have written this article to share my perspective on what I attribute a huge part of my own person success is down to and to shed some light on the unknown for so many on the entrepreneurial journey.
This is my version of the meaning behind the word - ‘Mastermind’. I want to bust the myths and mystery around this word that is so often thrown about in the coaching industry...for good reason: I am part of one and I run one; and 'masterminding' has without a doubt been THE key to my success.
A 'mastermind' has given me unwavering mindset growth, mutual support, collective power and the feeling of 'belonging' (whichever way of describing it fits for you and I will address each aspect separately) and is undoubtedly key in supporting my strongest vision of getting up every day as my very best self in my life and business.
So often conversations I have raise questions around the art of 'masterminding' - from a lack of knowledge as to what it is, to being able to 'do it alone', or not having enough time for 'things like that'. As the biggest advocate of the practice, and now about to open registration for yet another group of mastermind level entrepreneurs to work with me, I felt it was timely to unpick the practice and delve a little deeper into why it might work for you too.
‘Yet I am also aware that there is some ambiguity around the word, what it is and what it means both inside and outside the business world.
— Nicola Wilkes
If we are clear about why we showed up, joined and made ourselves available for the collective in the first place, we can then be even more definite about our desired outcomes, the learning we have made ourselves available for and what we intend to gain not only from our teachers, but from our peers.
When we come together as a group, think, talk, debate, problem solve, support and join forces from a positive standpoint, higher vibration, and all-encompassing willingness for growth, we are are a stronger force, a collective unity, we learn quicker, we create change. Lasting change. Faster.
This is my own mastermind, formed a few years back during a coaches training course with world renowned coach and author, Gina DeVee. We formed a strong bond that has seen no boundaries to time zones, distance or separate lives. Pre-Covid 19 we travelled the world together every 90 days to coach and train together.
Since the world changed last March we made the decision to mastermind even more. Now, every Monday evening at 8.30pm GMT on the dot you will find us on Zoom, goal setting, checking in, discussing work, sharing personal stories. We are business like, but mindful to keep it as real as life is. The conversation will flit from politics to astrology, moon cycles to our latest digital launch. What's worked, what hasn't. A new course, a great meditation, what's happening planetary-wise, what we are focusing on. What we are intentional about for the next week, month, quarter year. We will talk about our children, partners, how we miss travel, what we desire next.
Our mastermind reflects the entirety of our lives: if you opt for business mastery you opt for personal mastery too, and in this very personal yet professional, all-encompassing blend of the masculine and feminine energy, I have found - as I know each and every one of my mastermind partners would agree - my compass, my grounding, my 'home', my reasoning. But also my drive, my motivation, my champions, my belief.
These women show me - as I hope to show them - what the collective of 'mastermind' means and feels like. How strong we can be.
So, this is what I am referring to when someone casually asks me 'so just what is a 'mastermind'? And I say, 'it's my grounding, my space, my way back.'
So, here are two conversations - both polar opposite but about the same 'thing' - that I have often and they go something like this:
I'm having a conversation with someone about coaching, perhaps they're a prospective client, someone I've met at an event or perhaps online via a social media channel and they will tell me they're in a 'mastermind'. 'Great!' I usually say. 'Tell me more about it.' Said 'mastermind' is usually a large group - when I say 'large' this could be anything from around 75 to thousands - and it takes the form of what I consider to be straight up, group coaching, otherwise called in this instance, a 'mastermind'.
I am sat chatting with someone I have just met - and usually this is in a more personal space - and the conversation turns to work. I might find myself quoting or paraphrasing something one of my mastermind partners has said to me; or make reference to where they live if its relevant to the conversation (we're a global bunch: two from the UK, one from Holland and one from Australia) and the following question is normally, 'what's a mastermind?'
‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’
— African Proverb
The reason I wanted to highlight both sides of the conversation is this: masterminding - whether it is the form of a large group of people, a group of four, or even just two, it comes down to the same thing. Regardless of the number of people you are with, the art of truly 'masterminding' will create a 'level up', expanded mindset and higher collective thought. Because as coach, embodiment expert and author of 'Your Body Is Your Brain: Leverage Your Somatic Intelligence to Find Purpose, Build Resilience, Deepen Your Relationships and Lead More Powerfully', (Trokay Press, 2018), recently explained during a coaching call I was on, 'We are a collective but also a collection of individuals beginning to form a field together'. We may be operating each individually but as many time author, and leadership coaching expert, Richard Boyatzis also quantifies 'we are emotionally contagious'.
I use these two quotes, not from a book but from my own notes, my own learning, my own listening from two experts facilitating the expansion and greatness of coaching - sometimes in a group call of 600+ proving my point that whatever the number of learning members, the intention and the outcome is the same.