A mastermind group is a group of peers who meet to give each other advice and support. Groups are usually comprised of five to ten members and meet regularly, developing a deep kinship and understanding of each other. 

Mastermind groups can also involve brainstorming, educational presentations and even discussing personal issues. 

The group decides what the key issues are and work to help lift everyone up. 

For marketers, often working in solo, perhaps divided by category or geographical obstacles, a mastermind could be transformative in sharing ideas, building best practice and resolving common problems

One of the most powerful methods of self development lies in the accountability of making the journey with others. 

Many top athletes, entertainers and business people have achieved significant things in their careers by working with mentors and joining a mastermind group.

Billionaire steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie went on record crediting his entire fortune to his mastermind group. And his story inspired Napoleon Hill to create the term “mastermind” in his 1937 book Think and Grow Rich. 

Titans of American industry such as Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone had their own small mastermind group.

Self improvement guru Tony Robbins says “The quality of a person’s life is most often a direct reflection of the expectations of their peer group. You become like your inner circle and vice versa”. 

There are numerous benefits of creating and joining mastermind groups. The best groups hold members accountable for their goals – driving each other to reach the highest levels of success.

Here’s six ways a mastermind for marketing professionals working in the same company can specifically help you develop.

Masterminds focus on big issues. It’s a space for marketers to step away from the nitty gritty of the day to day and focus on the big needle moving projects. 

Rarely in the day to day project management reality of marketing do teams get afforded the time to think deeply about bigger issues.

Masterminds allow you to identify roadblocks to success – it might be people, process, resource, technology, budget or market knowledge – and work towards improving them.

A quality mastermind group provides you with a peer community that will improve your life and professional development. Being around other driven business people who are looking to achieve the same things has an energising effect.  

An internal mastermind group can talk about common or related clients, projects and share recommendations and references – a big help if you’re trying something new in your area of responsibility.

Whether you’re thinking about new product or service innovations, entering new markets or running new campaigns, a mastermind group is a place to share your ideas and get feedback. 

An experienced group will help you brainstorm, provide different perspectives and help you critically assess your strategies. 

It’s far better to be able to run ideas by others in other teams or divisions to learn what has worked or proved challenging elsewhere.

Understanding how it is for others is a hallmark of a beneficial mastermind group. In an internal company mastermind this means data can be shared and discussed in a way it may not be possible in a public group.

Take the opportunity to learn by sharing and analysing the data of others to improve your marketing activity.

Meeting regularly with others opens you up to different skill sets. Seeing how other people approach their work is likely to open you up to new processes, new techniques and new tools. 

Overall, tapping into the combined strengths of a group elevates your creativity and reasoning, helping you to make better decisions.

Mastermind groups, when they work well, help you question things that might be holding you back and challenge you to do better. Marketing is a challenging business and imposter syndrome can be high at all levels so it’s especially important to take this head on. 

It also allows you to safely beta and split test ideas before full launches.

Above all, mastermind groups should be a supportive community who come together not only to help and nudge you forward, but also to celebrate your successes. Marketing is fast paced so it’s important to build in time to review what worked and what didn’t.

And when things don’t go to plan, they should encourage you to get back up again, reflect and make the necessary changes to achieve your goal.

Much of our work involves bringing teams together to work more creatively and more effectively. Get in touch to find out more.  

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