The Power of Mastermind Groups in Sharing Wisdom

Shared wisdom benefits the giver and the receiver.  The receiver gains knowledge and the giver gains a reputation as an expert.

A mastermind group is the perfect demonstration of how sharing wisdom works, but there’s a lack of understanding about what a mastermind really is.

Masterminds aren’t a new invention, Napolean Hill published Think and Grow Rich in 1937 and in it he talks a lot about masterminds.  A mastermind is collective minds working on a single issue; some people call it the ‘hive mind’.

A mastermind uses a process, honed over time, and this is successfully used by, mostly, business people to explore and solve challenges they’re aiming to overcome. 

Who are the collective minds?  Generally, it’s a small group of people, usually fewer than a dozen, with varying life-skills and experiences, who meet up to share knowledge, but mostly to brainstorm issues, problems or challenges.  They can be people within the same industry or a pan-industry approach.

The process

Most masterminds run on a common agenda, the members share their current individual challenges, then each problem owner is asked questions so everyone understands the detail of the problem.

The next stage is to listen and take notes as the other members offer their advice, experience and knowledge to help to solve the problem.  At this stage it’s a listen only activity for the problem owner, no arguments or explaining why not, just take notes.

You can choose what to accept and what you don’t.  In some masterminds the last stage is when the problem owner outlines their proposed plan of action, but not all masterminds include this.  Some people like to go away and review their notes before deciding on a plan.

The value of participating is to get multiple people’s help on giving you solutions to your issues that you probably wouldn’t have thought of yourself. 

You get different perspectives based on life skills and experiences, the result of which is that the problem owner goes away with a host of ideas to try out and implement to achieve a better outcome.

Ninja Masterminds

When I launched the Ninja Achievers mastermind, there is much more than just masterminding, as there is also mentoring and learning involved.  However, I realised that even in these 12-month duration small cohorts, there was plenty of brainstorming and informal masterminding going on.

Then when someone suggested a special group just for the big hitters where they were working with others at a similar level, I knew that a mastermind was a great way to do this, and the Ninja 100 Club was launched in 2022.

The members are all qualified Ninjas, who have implemented the Buy, Refurb, Refinance philosophy that they learned on the Ninja Investors Programme successfully and from that have made profits in excess of £100K.  It doesn’t matter how they’ve achieved this, whether it’s from buying/selling or buying/adding value or a combination of both. 

To a lesser or greater degree, the big thing here is that they’ve achieved life-changing results by following a simple 7-step sequential process. This is a mastermind that is 100% results orientated - there’s a running ‘joke’ that the Ninja 100 Club is the mastermind you can’t bribe your way into!

Typically, members are people who are lifelong learners and they like that they’re talking to people at a similar level to them.  While there is a place for newbies, this isn’t it! 

Ninja 100 Club members have made significant progress on their journey, they’re talking the same language - they’re above the bar, like achieving a single digit golf handicap, it’s an exclusive ‘club’.  If someone is talking about £1m deal and how to get it over the line, others get it and can contribute usefully.

I’ve added another layer – with a carefully selected group of honorary members.  These are powerful, knowledgeable people invited because of their expertise and, currently, include a RICS surveyor; an accountant, a planning consultant, an auction trader, a quantity surveyor, a commercial property expert and a highly regarded property magazine publisher who are all at the top of their game.  These industry experts are often also doing deals and potentially getting business, while sharing massive value to the other members of the group.

If you haven’t qualified yet …

If your property journey hasn’t got you over that magic £100K line yet, that doesn’t mean you can’t be in a mastermind.  Anyone can start a mastermind – all it takes is a handful of people who are willing to share their wisdom – and accept the wisdom of others.

There’s no reason why you shouldn’t launch your own group.  The Ninja 100 Club meets quarterly, but there are masterminds that meet monthly or bi-monthly.  There are groups that meet in person and others that meet digitally (although personally, I prefer the face-to-face version).  There are paid masterminds with entry fees from very modest to high roller groups where membership is in the £000s.

If you’re genuinely looking for a mutually supportive group, sharing the venue/refreshment costs is usually a good way to start.

Where do you find a bunch of people who might be interested?  Might I suggest your local Property Chats meeting or one of the three annual Pitch-Free Networking days we hold.

If you’re thinking of starting a Mastermind, this overview document might be useful.