1. Members
1.1. Try different possible members until you find the perfect fit
1.1.1. I/We talked to 8 possible members and ended up with a group of 3
1.1.1.1. I was adamant on finding people with similar values that I had
1.1.1.1.1. Ambition to do something great
1.1.2. We even invited a potential member to join our meeting. But it did not work out because he did not want a weekly commitment.
1.1.2.1. We declined his request to be able to drop in every once in a while into our meetings
1.1.3. I wanted members who were committed to one business and were living and breathing it every day. Their lives depend on this business ... thats the feeling I was looking for
1.2. Be precise. But not too precise
1.2.1. I started off with a very precise notion of who I wanted in the mastermind. However, that initial post in the Dojo generated no responses. So I had to go back and loosen up some of the requirements I was initially after .... and that helped us find the right member
2. Structure
2.1. Commit to Same day and time every week
2.1.1. We stick to the same day. We also stick to the same time, unless some international travels force us to change the time
2.2. Made it clear to the members upfront that it is a weekly commitment - otherwise they should not join
2.2.1. We all agreed to that structure
2.3. We are still struggling with perfect meeting Structure and find ourselves spending too much time on one discussion sometime
2.3.1. We tried stopwatches and online timers but have not been consistent in using it
2.3.2. Maybe we should assign rotating member roles in every meeting - like a self governing toastmasters meeting
2.3.2.1. Time Keeper
2.3.2.2. Accountability Master
2.3.2.3. Moderator
3. Values
3.1. When drafting the initial mastermind documents, I wanted to think of it as a company -- and I knew that VALUES would be vital to our culture
3.1.1. So I talked about these four values in the founding documents. Thankfully the members are completely aligned with these values
3.1.1.1. Ambition to be great
3.1.1.2. Brutal Honesty
3.1.1.3. Vulnerability
3.1.1.4. Structure
3.1.1.5. Respect for mastermind
4. Focus
4.1. We picked our focus - Content/Media companies
4.2. The focus has helped us a lot because we often find ourselves in similar situations that someone else has gone through .....and someone has the answer to the challenge
5. Ensuring weekly participation?
5.1. When we started I Made it clear that we all must prioritize this meeting over everything else except health issues. It should be as important as a weekly meeting with your boss (if you were employed).
5.1.1. One of the Mastermind's founding VALUES was "Respect for Mastermind" – You will treat the mastermind meeting as a sacred part of your weekly Schedule (consider it as important as a meeting with your investors/board). If you miss more than 2 meetings in a row, your membership will be in jeopardy.
5.2. We all have equal ownership in the group and everyone is committed to ensuring a weekly meeting
5.3. For one meeting, Dylan could not make the appointed slot because of a prior holiday commitment. We scheduled the meeting for 12 AM his time so that he could join the meeting that night. Now that's the way to set an example.
5.4. We hold the meeting religiously on mondays even though I am currently traveling internationally and all of us are spread in different time zones - US, EU and India
5.5. VERY PROUD OF making the weekly meetings happen without fail
6. Accountability
6.1. All of us have struggled with accountability.
6.1.1. We made commitments in the call and then did not follow through for numerous reasons
6.1.2. This is probably our biggest challenge after 5 meetings
6.1.2.1. Would love to know if anyone has figured out the perfect solution for it
6.2. www.stickk.com
6.2.1. This was the only tool that worked. We all made our commitments and then put $50 on the line if we did not meet the weekly goals
6.2.1.1. Miraculously, everyone met their goals :)
6.2.2. It is cumbersome to use
7. Communication Tools
7.1. Weekly Video meetings
7.1.1. Gotomeeting
7.2. In-between quick contact
7.2.1. Whatsapp
7.3. In between file exchages
7.3.1. Slack