About a year ago, I was given the opportunity to sit down and have coffee with Tim Marks.  Tim had shared some of his past experiences with me and we had a great talk about what we as people and a country of character are really all about.  Several months after, he stopped by for a visit with one of his business partners to give an intimate presentation to a small group of close friends.  With everything he went over, such as: education, finances , family values, and business building…there is one simple thing that sticks out in my head every single day.  ”Define, Learn, Do”.  With that, I pulled an article I found while I was researching some team building  theory.  Here is one that I’d like to share.

The six step outline below was created and written by Napoleon Hill.

Forming and Maintaining a Mastermind Group

Instructions by Napoleon Hill

FIRST:

The first step is to adopt a Definite Purpose as an objective to be attained bythe alliance, choosing individual members whose education, experience and influence are such as to make them of the greatest value in achieving that purpose. There isn’t any use in forming a Master Mind Alliance just to have someone to chat with. It will soon play out if you don’t have a strong motive behind it, and it’s up to you to plant that motive in the minds of the group members.

Your allies for this group should be chosen for their ability to help you get to where you are going. Do not choose people simply because you know them and like them. I have found out by experience that merely because you like a person is no reason whatsoever to have him as a member of your economic Master Mind Alliance. It is all right to have such a person in your social or purely personal alliance, where his contribution may simply be this very friendship you appreciate.

You should make a careful analysis of your purpose and list the items you will need for its attainment and then systematically go about supplying the links with which to forge the chain. Each member of the alliance should make some definite, distinctive, unique contribution to the overall picture. In making your selection of allies for this economic group, you may have to be a little “cold blooded” at first. It is no easy job to select the right members.

You may have to choose and eliminate until you get the right ones. This is costly in time and money. You should be guided in your choice by the things you need which you do not already have. If it is money you need to finance the deal, you must find a person who has the money to invest. No matter what nice people you know who would like to work with you, if they don’t have any money they cannot really make the particular contribution to the alliance you need. No-you must find a person with the money and cultivate his willingness to cooperate, by showing him the opportunities to make a profit from the investment.

Of course, you don’t take the first person who answers the major requirement, unless he also possesses the other necessary attributes. The qualifications of membership in a Master Mind Alliance are very exacting. Consider each candidate for membership in the light of his ability, his personality, and his willingness to cooperate with you. I cannot overemphasize the necessity for harmony, if it is going to be a successful organization.

SECOND:

Determine what appropriate benefit each member may receive in return for his cooperation in the alliance. At this point review the nine basic motives which I termed the alphabet of success. Base your appeals for cooperation on one or more of these motives. I can tell you ahead of time which motive will have the greatest appeal and I’ll bet you can guess it yourself.

You’re right! It’s the desire for material wealth, or profit. If you make a profit, be willing to divide it with those who help you. Be not only fair, but generous with them, and the more generous you are with them, the more help you will get from them. Remember the principle of going the extra mile. What a pity that not all businessmen know about that! One of my purposes in life is to see that they learn about it.

THIRD:

Establish a definite place where the members of the alliance will meet, have a definite plan, and arrange a definite time for the mutual discussion of the plan.

You will recall the importance of a plan in connection with your Definite Major Purpose. Well, this is the time and place to reveal that plan to those who are your friends and harmonious associates, who will have a community of interest in the success of the venture. You may think your plan is very good, but before you get through discussing it with your allies you will undoubtedly modify it until you hit upon the perfect plan.

When you have established rapport between your mind ant he minds of others in your Master Mind Alliance, you will find that ideas will flow into the minds of each of the members and likewise into your own mind. When the Master Mind is in effect, it produces ideas that would not come to your mind alone. I have had that experience many times when sitting in on the many groups of which I am a member on a consulting basis.

The Round Table discussion will be the place where everyone meets, and where each member may speak with confidence. They all see what’s on the table. You have no secrets in such a group, which results from the care with which you select members.

It is important that frequent and regular contacts be made between the members. Indefiniteness on this point, or utter neglect, will bring defeat. You must keep in almost continuous contact with the other minds of the group if you are to get the full benefit of them. Meetings should be scheduled often, and telephone numbers exchanged, so that it is possible within a few minutes to discuss any sudden development with the group.

FOURTH:

It is the burden of the leader of the alliance to see that harmony among all the members is maintained and that action is continuous in the pursuance of the Definite Major Objective. Action or work is the connecting link between desire, plan, and fulfillment.

FIFTH:

The watchword of the alliance should be Definiteness of Purpose, Positiveness of Plan, backed by continuous perfect harmony. The major strength of such an alliance consists in the perfect blending of the mind of all members. Jealousy, envy or friction, as well as lagging of interest on the part of any member, will bring defeat unless he is removed at once.

SIXTH:

The number of Individuals in an alliance should be governed entirely by the nature and magnitude of the purpose to be attained. If you are going after a purpose comparable to that of Mr. Edison’s you will require a large number of persons with special talents and training. A lesser undertaking will call for a correspondingly smaller group. In general, it is better to have as few members as possible, because it will be that much easier to maintain harmony among them. Quite often a man will need only a really cooperative alliance with his wife in order to achieve the purpose he feels inspired to achieve.

If a man cannot find that harmony which I have mentioned as being desirable between man and wife, it is possible for a man to form a purely economic alliance with a woman other than a wife.