Over the past few weeks, we’ve been taking a deep dive of discovery into the idea that your relationships play a pivotal role in your private practice success.
We started by taking a hard look at the nature of your current professional relationships.
You then took this quiz to get an honest assessment of the way YOU may be contributing to stagnating relationships.
And then we explored the how behind creating powerful professional relationships.
This week, we’re going to talk about how you can harness all of this professional power to take your business to the next level by joining – da da da DUUUN – Mastermind groups.
How a Professional Mastermind Can 10x Your Practice Growth
For some of you, the concept of a Mastermind group is completely new. Others of you have certainly heard of them and perhaps even been a part of one. If you’re in the latter group and you’re still reading this series, chances are you’ve fallen into the bog of a failed Mastermind.
GAGH.
So, let’s take a minute to talk about what a Mastermind group is and is not.
A Mastermind Is:
A place to discuss clear and actionable strategies to grow and streamline your business
A place to give and gain support and guidance that serve to grow and streamline your business
A place where you are called on your shit when you are unconsciously sabotaging yourself
A Mastermind Is Not:
A fest of (ahem) bi*ing, where you complain about how hard it is to be in business
A constant wellspring of validation and praise about all the things you’re already doing right, with an inexplicable shrug offered to account for the fact that you didn’t reach your goal
A weekly campaign to air all of your frustrations – personal and professional – with the aim of, well, airing your frustrations*
*These are called support or process groups. They’re totally amazing and if this is what you’re looking for, join a therapy group. You world will be rocked.
While many Mastermind groups start out with the best of intentions, the vast majority of them digress into the latter camp. If this happens, we spend tons of time feeling frustrated and guilty about the state of the group… which leads us to start a second group to get support with the first group. And on and on. #therapists
No. Stop. Don’t to it.
The success of your Mastermind depends upon:
1) The structure;
2) The willingness of participants to stick to that structure;
3) Your ability to find participants who are committed to setting clear goals and creating the map to achieve those goals, even when “life gets in the way.”
How to Structure your Mastermind Group
There are a lot of different forms your group might take. The important thing is that you decide upon a clear structure and stick to it in a disciplined way.
Here are some things to take into consideration as your considering your Mastermind’s structure.
Location: Will they be online, in person or some combination of both?
Frequency: Will you meet weekly, monthly or quarterly?
Participants: Will your group be made up of people from a variety of professional backgrounds or will they all be therapists in private practice?
The way you answer each of these questions depends on your goals. For example, if you’re someone who is in the beginning stages and need consistent accountability, more frequent meetings are a good idea. If you’re someone who is interested in innovating in terms of how you run your practice, it makes sense to attract participants from a diversity of professional backgrounds.
Jamie Tardy of Eventual Millionaire has a great podcast episode where you get to listen in on a live Mastermind group to get a sense of how they work. While we all like to think we’re unique and, thus, want to build everything from scratch to account for our special natures, this isn’t the area to do so.
Bajillionaires have already refined the structures that lead to formidable Mastermind groups. Learn what they do and then copy it!
To Start or To Join? That is the Question.
So, now that you are stoked to be part of a Mastermind group, the question is – do you start your own or join one that is pre-existing?
One of the difficulties for a lot of therapreneurs that I speak to is that they don’t actually know too many driven, direct and highly successful people. Thus, it’s hard to find one, much less 4 or 5 solid professionals.
A second problem is that of a track record. When forming a Mastermind group, it behooves you to find people who have been as successful, if not much more, successful than you – at least in the particular areas you want to grow. For example, if you’re really great at creating high-end workshops, but you struggle to come up with systems to allow you to offload some of the work, it would be a great idea to invite a member who has done an excellent job at investing in great systems, but wants to learn how to put on large events.
Many therapists fall into the trap of inviting friends who they’re comfortable with – folks who may be in the same place you are, or not quite where you are, but who say they want to take it to the next level. By inviting members who are excited to join, but lack a track record of strategic, disciplined follow-through, you run the risk of creating another social circle. These social circles can be fun and emotionally supportive, but they are not mastermind groups, which have the sole goal of building and streamlining your business.
So, while it may feel hard to start a group from scratch, it’s not impossible. Here’s an example of one up and coming business owner who used consistent and strategic outreach to entice entrepreneurs who were much further along to join her Mastermind group.
The second option is that you can join a pre-existing Mastermind group of powerful, disciplined movers and shakers who are looking for a new member. Make sure that, when joining, you are clear and direct about what you are looking for and that you make sure their groups contain the elements of a successful Mastermind that we discussed in this article.
You can also invest in joining a paid community of business owners who are putting their money where their mouths are by committing to join a group led by successful business owners who have already created the structure. These often include strategy and guidance from the leaders, along with an online community and clear guidelines that keep you and the group on point. Here’s one that Allison Puryear from Abundance Practice Building and myself have put together!
Whether you invest in joining a pre-built Mastermind group, join a pre-existing peer group with a great track record, or build your own, being a part of a motivated community of individuals who are as eager to learn and apply said learnings to their businesses as you are is one of the surest ways to create a six or seven figure business – yes, even as a therapist in private practice.
If you get this formula right, it’s almost impossible to go wrong! You’ll end up with a powerful group of brilliant people who are investing in your business’s success and you just might form some of the most intimate friendships you’ve ever had.
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