“People have experience and exposure that you don’t have and could learn a lot from.”
One of the things I enjoy most about our Creating Magic Mastermind is watching people from completely different backgrounds help each other solve problems.
The 11th event brought 15 people together for a day and a half. There were doctors, a dentist, tax accountants, hotel managers, entrepreneurs, and even a recent college graduate. Everyone arrived with a challenge they wanted help solving, and everyone had something valuable to contribute.
Even though these professionals have different job descriptions, they have a lot in common. A dentist may have a problem with employees or customer service that someone in the hotel business has already figured out. A tax accountant may understand something about selling a business that a doctor hasn’t considered. During one of our conversations, we saw this play out when an accountant was able to guide a dentist through the financial considerations of selling her practice. They work in completely different industries, but his experience gave her a perspective she didn’t have before.
That’s the value of getting different people in the room.
Years ago, I read Peter Drucker’s advice about spending several hours with your team without a formal agenda. Let people talk about what isn’t working and give them time to work through solutions together. I have always believed in that approach, and I continue to see how effective it can be. Too many leaders sit in their offices trying to figure everything out themselves. They think they’re supposed to have the answers because they’re in charge. But there are people all around them who have experiences and knowledge they don’t have.
You don’t need to organize a formal Mastermind to benefit from this idea. Bring together six or eight people from different departments. Include someone from operations, finance, maintenance, or customer service. Present a problem, ask for their opinions, and listen.
The important thing is making people comfortable enough to tell you what they really think. When people feel safe admitting they don’t know something or sharing a problem they’re struggling with, everyone has an opportunity to learn.
I walk away from every Mastermind knowing something I didn’t know when I arrived. After all these years, I still learn from the people around me. Leadership doesn’t require knowing everything. It requires being willing to ask for help, listen to different perspectives, and recognize that someone else may already have the solution you’ve been looking for.
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Episode Chapters
[01:00] Why masterminds work across industries
[02:16] Solving problems through different perspectives
[04:10] Creating your own problem-solving group
[06:51] Learning from other people’s experience
[08:38] Asking for help without hesitation
