WOULD A MASTER MIND HELP FOR YOUR CAREER PIVOT?
I received an email this weekend from a podcast listener asking for advice on how to speed up their career pivot. He had listened to my discussion with Lynda Spiegel and wanted more.
After some thought, I wrote back and suggested he consider joining or starting a Master Mind.
The vast majority of time, you hear about a mastermind it is usually in reference to a group of business owners.
However the principles apply to any subject area individuals are interested; career advancement, job search, personal branding, internet marketing, the oil and gas industry and career pivots.
WHAT IS A MASTERMIND?
If you were to ask ten different people to define a mastermind you’ll probably get ten different answers. I always refer back to the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
Written in 1937 as a personal development and self-improvement book, Think and Grow Rich is much more than a book on the secrets of how to gain wealth.
It’s a philosophy that can be used to help people succeed in all lines of work.
The book consists of 13 principles for personal achievement one of which is the Power of the Master Mind.
According to Mr. Hill a Master Mind occurs:
“When a group of individual brains are coordinated and function in Harmony, the increased energy created through that alliance, becomes available to every individual brain in the group.”
Or said another way it's like a brainstorming session on steroids.
Everyone in the group is focused on a single purpose. One idea fuels engagement from other team members and before you know you are all functioning in perfect harmony working to solve or resolve the challenge at hand.
When this happens Claudia Alutcher might say the idea machine in the room is running at full capacity.
This is the power of the master mind. Surrounding yourself with a group of like-minded individuals for advice, counsel, and cooperation around a single purpose.
FINDING PEOPLE FOR YOUR MASTERMIND
One of the most important aspects of the mastermind is finding the right group of people.
Jim Rohn once said:
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”
If this is true and you want to make a career pivot, who should you be spending your time with?
Keep in mind the people you hang out with in your current job all know the same stuff you do, something that David Fisher pointed out during our discussion.
If you want to learn new stuff you need to hang out with new people.
So how do you do this? How do you find like-minded people with shared interests in your new career field?
This is not an exhaustive list but here are a few suggestions I can offer.
Attend a local meet up
Search on meetup.com or Facebook to find any meetups happening in your area.
Anyone can attend a meetup. You don’t need an invitation. Take the time to meet and speak with as many attendees as you can.
Madalyn Skylar would remind you to take your business cards.
Host a Meetup
If there are no scheduled meet ups consider hosting your own. Use LinkedIn to find individuals who already have the job you are seeking. Invite them to the meetup.
Use Meetup.com and/or Facebook to schedule and post your events.
Include the position you are seeking in the description of your meet up. This will help attract like-minded individuals.
As the host make sure you are adding value with these events. Have an agenda and present on a topic.
There’s nothing worse than attending a meet up under one pretense only to have it turn into a drinking party.
Get Social
If you don’t have a Twitter account (John Sparks would not approve) sign up for one today.
Take advantage of Twitter’s advanced search functionality. Narrow your search down to users in your chosen career field.
Engage with people. People on social networks tend to be willing to share information.
Use this to your advantage. Share back, add value to the conversation and when the time is right to ask questions about your desired career field and how you can help them.
Network, Network, Network
As Linda Spiegel pointed during our discussion on career pivots networking is key.
Reach out to people who do the job you want to do. Offer them something of value and in return, you may gain the inside knowledge you need to help make the transition easier.
Companies tend to speak their own language. Have conversations with employees currently working at the company on social media. In this way, you’ll be able to get an inside look at the company and its language.
This is why employer branding is so important to a company and its potential employees.
SUMMARY
I think the Beatles summed up the mastermind best when they said:
“I get by with a little help from my friends”
The challenge for you, however, might be that you’ll need to find 5 new friends to spend your time with.
I want to offer you a word of caution about the Master Mind.
Don’t force your mastermind into existence. As you find people with whom you can collaborate, your master mind will form naturally.
Don’t be an Ask-Hole, as Mark Babbitt says, and ask every person you meet if they want to be in a mastermind with you. It doesn’t work like that and you shouldn’t either.
Finding the right fit will take time but so will your career pivot. Use your time wisely. Find the right people, form a master mind then watch out.
