What Happens to Your Business When Your Peers Are ‘Masterminds’

If two heads are better than one, imagine what 10 or 20 “masterminds” could do to help you solve your travel agency’s greatest challenges. That is what more and more travel agents are doing, enrolling in so-called “mastermind” groups that meet regularly to discuss their companies, enforce business discipline, and hold owners and agents accountable for the steps on their path to progress.

Related Articles

The Benefits of Mentors for Travel Agents

For many years now, host agency networks like Avoya Travel have been leveraging the mastermind concept to help accelerate agent growth. Nexion does not offer a mastermind program, but it does have a less formal array of peer-to-peer groups.

Katie Beddingfield, owner and travel advisor at Beddingfield Travel, in Tucson, Arizona, has been looking for a mastermind program to enhance her business, after extracting all the value she could find from other resources, like Facebook travel agent owner groups.

“There’s a real shortage of good information and resources for people who are trying to grow their businesses,” Beddingfield said. She recently signed up for the Global Institute for Travel Entrepreneurs (GIFTE) and is interested in mastermind programs, looking for more personal, group coaching.

Most experts credit self-help author Napoleon Hill with introducing the concept in the early 1900s. He coined the phrase “mastermind” in the book “The Law of Success,” and expanded on the concept in “Think and Grow Rich.”

“If you read Hill’s book, he uses the metaphor of a battery,” GIFTE CEO Meredith Hill said. “One battery on its own has power. But when you put a whole bunch of batteries together, the power is magnified. That’s our aim — elevate agents to the next level by boosting them with the power of other agents.”

To join or not to join
Before joining a Mastermind group, travel agents should think about whether or not their personality will help them get the most out of the group, and whether they have the personal commitment to others.

“The most effective people are business owners who are open-minded and don’t think they know everything,” said Leslie Grossman, a longtime business owner and speaker, who today manages three high-level executive forums in the New York metropolitan area with the organization Vistage Worldwide.

“Are you willing to try new things, challenge your beliefs? Can you hold yourself accountable to implement ideas you agree to during meetings?”

Nexion President Jackie Friedman, CTC, CTIE, agrees. “You have to have an open mind and be ready to receive new ideas.”

Grossman tells a story about one Vistage business owner who kept complaining about burnout, and dreaming of taking his family on a safari. “The group finally got tired of his excuses each month about why he couldn’t go. His burnout was clearly holding his business back,” she recalled.

“They asked him questions. ‘What is really stopping you?’ He had no good answer. Sometimes you need a peer group to help you realize you’re making stuff up in your head, so you can overcome your fear and take the steps you need to take for yourself, professionally and personally,” Grossman said.

Most true mastermind programs have steep fees to participate, upwards of $10,000-$15,000 a year to join. Grossman and Hill said having that much financial investment in a group increases the success of the group.

“You really need skin in the game,” Hill said.

Group dynamics vary
Once you’ve made the commitment to find a mastermind group, know what kind of group you are joining, and what is required of you and your fellow members. Would you benefit more from being in a travel agent group with like-minded entrepreneurs? Or do you want completely fresh thinking by being the exclusive travel agent in your general business mastermind?

Also, look for smaller groups, Grossman said, as they can create a stronger sense of trust.

Grossman’s Vistage groups meet once a month for a full day and cap out around 10 members. Most travel agent mastermind groups are larger. GIFTE’s Diamond Mastermind group meets twice a year for three-day retreats and are about the same size.

Avoya Travel has had a mastermind program for about seven years now. But in 2016, it launched Mastermind 212⁰, an invitation-only program available only to agencies with $500,000 in gross sales and looking to grow that revenue rapidly. Senior Director Tammie Richie said the more advanced program averages 12-13 members.

Trust is critical
Ultimately, what’s most important, said Grossman, is feeling you can trust your peers so much that you can discuss any topic with complete candor. “I ask my members to be prepared to answer the question ‘What is keeping you up at night?’” Grossman said.

“You have to know that when you go into that room, you can talk about anything and know that you are safe. It’s an absolute requirement because members need to be able to express their fears, talk about the most difficult issues they are facing, to achieve real breakthroughs.”

“A mastermind group is way more personal than people typically think it is going to be. You’re baring your soul in that room, sharing things almost no one else knows,” Hill from GIFTE said. “Sometimes we play the role of therapist.”

Business owners are typically required to present issues at each meeting, and if it is something they have previously discussed, provide updates on how they are progressing to implement solutions.

Over a two-day Diamond Mastermind retreat, “each person gets a seat in front of the room for 45 minutes. They say ‘What I would like to focus on is…” and we go to work on that issue. Everyone needs to contribute. Not just the coaches.”

GIFTE tacks on a third day, to have fun, “so everyone can be relaxed and foster deeper relationships.”

Another key to success is being led by a trained facilitator, “someone who knows how to get the best out of the group,” Grossman said. “A real mastermind group is not a brainstorm, so you need someone who is skilled at engaging each member, deconstructing belief systems that impede a conversation, all the things that drive the group to helping solve problems.”

That facilitator also often serves as a one-on-one business coach for the group’s members outside of the mastermind meetings. GIFTE offers one-on-one coaching with one of three coaches on staff for its invitation-only Diamond Mastermind group, which meets in person twice over ten months.

Avoya’s Richie is a certified behavioral life coach, DISC instructor and sales coach. Also, she is assisted by a team of nine to help her manage her broader program, which serves hundreds of Avoya agents.

“They have my cell number. They can text me, call me, reach out to me day or night,” Richie said.