peer advantage

The Yin & Yang of Mastermind Groups

In recent weeks, I’ve updated the original presentation of the five factors common to high performing groups (The Power of Peers, 2016) from a list to a reinforcing loop. Also, after leading workshops for more than 100 mastermind groups over the past few years, it’s become clear that if an individual member wants to drive higher group performance, then that member needs to Show Up, Step Up, and Follow-Up. I invite you review these two articles.

There’s a third dimension at play here as well, and that’s the yin and yang relationship of factors 2 and 3 – an environment that’s safe/confidential and one that fosters valuable interaction. One provides emotional safety, while the other supports intellectual dialogue that offers valuable outcomes critical to delivering member value. You simply can’t have one without the other. And without one you have neither. These forces are not opposite so much as interdependent. Hence the reference to the Daoist concept of Yin & Yang.

The safer people feel in their group meeting and the more they are willing to leverage that safe environment, the more likely the larger, deeper, and more important topics (challenges and opportunities, personal and professional) will come to the forefront. You can’t have valuable interaction if you don’t have anything valuable to interact about. Deep conversations, on the other hand, inspire trust and increase emotional safety.

If generally speaking, you believe your group meeting to be a safe and confidential setting, then challenge yourself to leverage that environment more fully. It’s not unlike being at a spa that has a magnificent pool, full of restorative power. The thing is, only total immersion will provide the maximum benefit. Looking at the pool from your lounge chair or sticking your toes in the water isn’t going to cut it. It won’t work in your group either. By being one who willingly shares and empathetically listens, you’ll encourage others to do the same through the sheer power of your example. You’ll see the trust grow and the dialogue improve. Just watch.

The rich dialogue that can take place in a mastermind group is what pushes us to be better, both emotionally and intellectually. Participating in these conversations by bringing your whole self, is an act of both generosity and courage. It’s the Dao (or the way) of high performing mastermind groups.

Enjoy!

On Stepping Up

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:22 — 35.7MB)

Today, we continue our discussion on the 3 major elements required to have the most effective peer advantage:

Showing Up
Stepping Up
Following Up

Stepping up is exactly what Leo’s Boston Bruins did versus the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, sweeping the Canes 4-0 in a best of 7 series (yes, there’s a reason today’s graphic is sporting Bruins’ black and gold). Leo and Randy discuss the importance of trust and preparation in stepping up.

Some useful links for information mentioned in today’s discussion:

WACD Inspirational Quotes

Feel free to use this 4-minute video loop at your next mastermind/peer advisory group or team meeting. A big thanks to Vistage UK Chair Bob Battye who supplied most of the images!

On Showing Up

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:19 — 34.7MB)

We’re about to enter round 3 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Leo’s Boston Bruins have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. Randy’s Dallas Stars are fighting to stay alive in game 7 with the St. Louis Blues to advance to the Western Conference Finals. (A fitting gift as we celebrate Randy’s birthday!) We’re hoping for a Boston vs. Dallas Stanley Cup match-up!

Today, Leo Bottary and Randy Cantrell discuss the first of the three elements necessary for effective group/team performance:

Show Up
Step Up
Follow Up

Want Your Peer Advisory Group To Be Higher Performing?

If you’re a peer advisory or mastermind group member and you want your group to perform at an even higher level, understand that it all starts with you! Being a more valuable group member is the first step to building an even higher performing group. As Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner so famously outlined in their five exemplary leadership practices, it’s up to you to “Model the Way.” You may not be the leader of your group, but you can always be a leader in your group.

After facilitating more than 100 workshops aimed at helping new and experienced peer advisory groups squeeze the most value out of their time together, two findings have consistently emerged: 1) The strength of the overall group rests in the hands its individual members; and, 2) there are three things a member can do to immediately up his/her game to everyone’s advantage: Show up. Step up. Follow up.

Show up. If you believe that 80% of life is about showing up, then understand that to be a really good member, it’s that and then some. If you (and your fellow members) don’t attend meetings consistently, the group will never realize its true potential. I use the five factors for high performing peer groups described in The Power of Peers to help groups assess their current performance against what they believe to be ideal. These factors include: 1) Having all the right people in the room; 2) a safe and confidential environment; 3) valuable interactions that provide meaningful and actionable takeaways; 4) a culture of member-to-member accountability; 5) a servant leader who serves as the steward of the first four factors. Every time you don’t attend a meeting, it’s not just a loss for you, you’re sabotaging the group’s ability to perform at its best. Life happens, but being a great member starts with being there.

Step Up. Since you’re at the meeting anyway, you might as well bring your A game. This starts with being prepared. CEOs, small business owners, and key executives alike have admitted to me countless times that they are less prepared for their group meeting than any other meeting on their calendar. For those who do prepare, it’s obvious to the other members, and best of all, it’s easy. I haven’t had one “prepared” member yet tell me that it takes any more than 15 minutes to get ready for a group meeting. The better prepared you are, the more engaged you’ll be. The more engaged everyone is, the better your group will perform.

Follow up. Let’s say you ask for assistance from your group to either assess a potential opportunity or address a tough challenge. With the group’s help, you arrive at a conclusion as to how you will proceed. Be sure to follow up with the group at the next meeting (and after that as necessary). Letting your members know what you’ve done serves as an expression of gratitude for the time they spent helping you, it contributes to a positive culture of member-to-member accountability, and becomes an invaluable learning opportunity for everyone. This is when everyone learns about what worked and what didn’t work – invaluable information that eventually becomes a critical part of a group’s ever-changing DNA.

While I feel fortunate to have captured a great deal of data about the specifics of how to take any group to the next level, consider this: If your group can’t take my workshop, start with these three action items. You’ll notice an immediate and palpable difference in your group’s performance. Just remember, it all starts with you.

On Randy’s Circle

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:19 — 33.8MB)

Get a What Anyone Can Do update, find out how to be a better group/team member, and consider joining Randy’s Circle!

Click here to learn more: ThePeerAdvantage.com

On Great Books

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:13 — 30.1MB)

If you’re writing and speaking more than you’re reading and listening, it’s time to right the ship! Here are three books you’ll love! When you don’t have immediate access to the right people directly, you can still surround yourself with their ideas! Enjoy!

Amazon links to the books (not affiliate links):

Cracking the Curiosity Code: The Key to Unlocking Human Potential by Diane Hamilton

Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement by Rich Karlgaard

Lifescale: How to Live a More Creative, Productive, and Happy Life by Brian Solis

Let’s Talk Teams

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 40:46 — 37.9MB)

In the wake of Tiger’s win at The Masters, we talk about the value of the people who surround us and how, together, we can do things we would never otherwise achieve.

Jeffrey Hayzlett On Heroes

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:47 — 32.4MB)

Join us today as we talk about heroes, hero cultures, paying it back, and paying it forward! Visit HeroFactorBook.com for your free business transformation kit.

How Will Doing What Anyone Can Do Possibly Help Me?

Great question. One I’ve been asked many times.

In Joe Henderson’s 1976 book The Long Run Solution, he suggested that becoming truly accomplished at running (or at anything, for that matter) doesn’t typically require us to perform superhuman feats. We don’t have to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Success doesn’t ask us to do what no one else can do. All too often, success and happiness find those who have the discipline to do the everyday things, the things anyone can do that most of us never will.

To keep it in Joe Henderson terms, let’s say you want to run a marathon. Until the 1980s, and well before IRONMAN competitions and ultra-marathons were part of the public consciousness, marathon running was considered extreme. It wasn’t something most people would even attempt. Only a freak, or someone who lacked any other mode of transportation, would choose to run 26.2 miles. With the advent of Team in Training, which has raised more than $1 billion for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society since 1988, marathon training programs for the average person became more prevalent.

In 1994, Oprah Winfrey showed the world that if you surround yourself with the right people and follow a training program, you, too, could run a marathon. (She also lost seventy-two pounds). The real challenge, of course, is sticking to the strict regimen required to get you ready for race day. Those of you who have done it know that the race is the easy part, relative to what it takes to prepare for it—sixteen to twenty-four weeks (depending on the program) of the daily discipline to do what anyone can do on a given day.

The wonderful part is that when you do the things anyone can do every day for four to five months, you can accomplish something almost no one can do. That’s the magic. The task is no different, whether you want to be an artist, a scholar, or a business leader. The question is: Are you willing to do the things anyone can do on a daily basis to achieve what you want in life? Because most people aren’t willing, doing what anyone can do puts you a step ahead of the rest.

How Can We Do Things Anyone Can Do More Often?

Surround Ourselves With the Right People.

Wanting something is one thing. Being committed to doing what it takes to make it happen is quite another. Left to our own devices, we all too often don’t do the work—or we don’t do it over a sustained period of time. We might get off to a good start, but we eventually succumb to whatever rationale we can conjure that explains why we stopped.

Even the most disciplined among us can benefit from involving our friends, family members, and colleagues in helping us achieve our goals. While we all know that no successful person in the history of the world ever accomplished anything totally by him- or herself, we see self-help as by-your-self-help. As a result, we view our goals as solitary pursuits, and we don’t do the things anyone can do nearly often enough. This is why we fall short.

One thing we can do is seek out people who can play a positive role in our success and enlist their support. When we invite others to be our partners in success, they tend to help us do all those things anyone can. And when we do, we give ourselves the best chance to achieve our goals whatever they may be. That’s why doing what anyone can do help you HUGE!

*Includes excerpts from the book, What Anyone Can Do: How Surrounding Yourself With the Right People Will Drive Change, Opportunity, and Personal Growth.