As part of joining the mastermind, you and I agree to do certain things.
For my part, I commit to serve you, wholeheartedly and completely. There is no ego in this for me. The mastermind exists to serve its members.
For your part, you agree to come ready to participate and help serve the other members of the group. If it’s all about you and what you need, this is not the right place for you.
If it’s all about serving others, you will find lots of opportunities to serve others.
A few things to help us keep our commitments:
Be Attentive
For the time that we are together, use the time effectively to focus on meeting the needs of those in the group. It’s easy with technology to get sidetracked and do other things, but do your best to be there.
Norms
We follow these meeting norms. Video on, sit close to the screen. Mute when you’re not talking. All these things help us stay focused and committed!
Support Each Other
We are there to support each other. There’s no room for egos in the mastermind. There’s no room for political maneuvering. This happens in our schools plenty, we don’t bring this into the mastermind.
Assume the Best
Everyone else on the call is doing their best to be their best. In a podcast interview with Melinda Miller, she mentioned assuming positive intentions from others.
Avoidance
We avoid whining, complaining, admiring the problem, ethical fading. We focus on showing up, being our best, and seeing the best in others. During the hot seat, it’s easy to overanalyze the problem, but we want to know what the problem is just enough to solve it.
Psychological Safety
You may be in a place where you can’t be yourself at work. I’ve been there. And it’s really hard. Psychologically safe means that you are able to admit your mistakes and own them. Not dwell on them, but recognize that you’re not perfect, and you don’t have to pretend to be! Read more about psychological safety here.
Most importantly, Have Fun!
Our jobs are stressful enough. The mastermind is a place to be yourself and enjoy yourself. We have serious, deep conversations.
At the end of every meeting we ask, “what was most useful to you today?” So many times the answer to that question has been, “It’s so good to not feel alone anymore.”
