Mastermind It

If you have studied successful people the way I have, you will realize that they almost all surround themselves with like-minded people. Not “yes-men”, “friends” or “lazy people”. They all have a mastermind group of people that gather to brainstorm, generate solutions to business problems and become successful.

Growing up Italian, I understood that we all know someone who does something that can help us. We ask family, friends and friends of friends for help. In return, we help them when they need what we have to offer. All the friends help each other. So I have all these different people that I go to when I need advise or help for my business. Masterminding is more than just old school or new school networking. It is a group of people from different business backgrounds coming together to help each other solve business or other problems. We can’t know everything, so surround yourself with those from different backgrounds to help where you lack.

Here are few of the great mastermind groups. Looking back, we can see how these groups changed the world. They also show the power of vision, teamwork and focus. Andrew Carnegie had a group of approximately 50 men to whom he attributed much of his success. Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, John Burroughs and Luther Burbank were all in one mastermind group. The president has the cabinet, Bill Gates has Steve Ballmer, and Paul Allen. Even Jesus had 12 disciples. Napoleon Hill’s book Think and Grow Rich, illustrates mastermind groups and how to make one that is successful for everyone. Although I don’t have a weekly gathering of great minds, I do have a network of people I pull from when I need a solution. Everyone can help me in one way or another. I’m not sure what that says about me, but I’ll take any help I can get! It’s difficult to get people to meet once a week, let alone once a month, but the results are clearly worth the effort.

When my sister and I wanted to hang out with the party kids, my mother would always say, “Birds of a feather, flock together”. Of course we would roll our eyes, but we knew it was true, no matter the situation. Right now, I have my friends, and we’re mostly small business owners on the same level, with a few extremely successful superstars. Here is my dream mastermind group: Donald Trump, Howard Stern, Bob Proctor, Donny Deutsch, Puff Daddy, Marcia Kilgore, Jason Hayes and of course Tory Johnson. I’m not sure if I’d get a word in edgewise, but I know some history would be in the making!