Leveraging internal resources for skill building is one of the most important tools in the learning and development leader’s arsenal. There are numerous ways to use internal resources to support learning, including coaching, mentoring, apprenticing, job shadowing and engaging in trial or stretch projects. However, one of the least utilized tools is the internal mastermind group, sometimes better known as the peer advisory group.
The idea of a group of people coming together to form systematic peer-to-peer support is an old one, but our contemporary understanding of the technique was outlined by Napoleon Hill in his seminal book, “Think and Grow Rich.” Hill states, “The ‘Master Mind’ may be defined as: “Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.”
Today, peer groups most often used by CEOs and business executives exist in a variety of formats from simple member organizations like Business Network International, Young Presidents Organization and Entrepreneurs Organization to more complex organizations working under the sub-contractor model like Vistage, the franchising and licensing models like the Alternative Board and LXCouncil, respectively, and the non-profit model like Women’s President Organization.
Additionally, there are non-executive groups like Circles of Hope, Impact and Lean In Circles, Employee Resource Network Forums and cohort-based learning groups that all tend to be organized around specific organizational roles or focused issues.
As the future of work becomes the current state of work, L&D practitioners must adapt to what has quickly become a workforce driven by various types of workers from traditional full- and part-time staff to contractors, gig workers, freelancers, etc. Internal mastermind (or peer) groups can help level the learning field and accelerate strategic growth by fostering inclusivity and embracing the different perspectives coming from these diverse types of workers within a company or department.
Further, internal peer groups often used by diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging teams — ERNs — support both DEIB and HR initiatives such as engagement, onboarding and retention by providing much-needed social connections, peer-to-peer awareness, networking and cultural connection to organizational values. Essentially, they help employees make lasting relationships in an inclusive environment. Yet, despite these uses of peer groups, they still are not widely employed as internal resources for upskilling or reskilling for that matter.
For upskilling to be successful, employees must retain what they learn, be motivated and engaged in what and how they learn and show the organization that the learning was a good investment. Mastermind groups do all these things, so let’s explore this a bit.
Mastermind groups inherently reflect adult learning principles, which are fundamental for learning retention. Groups automatically provide adaptive, autonomous and social learning moments in motivational safe spaces where participants can explore applying new knowledge to real-world situations. They create micro-learning environments that expose participants to new or different processes and solutions for multiple issues that often align with individual development plans or key objectives — and they encourage a collaborative exchange of perspectives with fellow accountability partners, making any learning and goal achievement relevant and self-motivated.
Any kind of peer group or circle can be an incredibly powerful tool to achieve personal goals, increasing both employee engagement and retention. Acting as a mentorship and leadership development program for newly installed managers and senior-level leaders alike, work within a group of like-minded peers with a professional facilitator functions in the same way as would dedicated, consistent-over-time learning experiences combined with executive coaching. The group environment demands confidentiality, building a sense of confidence and reliability so young leaders can discuss mistakes in a safe, judgment-free space and receive constructive feedback on ways to move forward from group members who function in the “trusted advisor” role, and who understand the organization’s business climate, politics and strategic goals.
This same environment forces positive, solution-oriented thinking for senior leaders in the group, giving them fresh ideas and new ways of addressing old problems. And, the group accountability increases the pace of objective achievement for all the leader members as well as the organization, which certainly has implications for improving the bottom line.
Using groups to upskill for enterprise sustainability, we can look to do as Theodora (Theo) Lau suggests and treat “skilling” as a business investment. Groups work with a professional facilitator who encourages participants to align issue discussions with organizational objectives and key data points associated with their industry’s financial benchmarks. This helps participants begin to take on an entrepreneurial growth mindset when engaging in solution-oriented discussions.
As a result, the statistical average of a successful internal, often cross-functional, mastermind group could characteristically demonstrate close to 5 percent in revenue growth and an increase in profitability of almost 20 percent — that’s significant ROI.
In terms of reskilling, mastermind groups increase participant’s organizational awareness — an often underrated but critical emotional intelligence competency. Participation in these groups highlights individual skills gaps when compared to other members as well as available career pathways within the organization that support internal mobility. The groups become, in essence, communities of practice where participants build strong relationships across the organization so employees see reasons to stay and curate their futures rather than job hop due to lack of a rooted connection.
Creating a peer group program does take a bit of planning, budgeting, and buy-in. Keeping in mind a few critical elements for your programmatic design will help ensure success:
- As Stephen Covey advises, always “Begin with the end in mind.” Nothing will derail a mastermind or peer group advisory program faster than not knowing its purpose. Be clear about the vision and mission, the measurable outcomes, and the projected returns on investment and expectation.
- Plan the context, protect the meeting. Be specific as you set the time, date, location, duration, frequency, agenda and structure, scorecards and anything else that is significant for enhancing the outcomes of the group work and safeguarding the confidential environment of the meeting.
- Be thoughtful about the participants. Remember, this is a strategic L&OD intervention that is about helping participants take time from working in to working on their business. Participants will gain objective insight but will also be responsible for giving back in equal measure so they must be committed.
- Finally, always use a professional, independent-neutral facilitator. One of the most common spots where groups fail is by trying to have a team member facilitate the meetings. As an important investment in both the employees as participants and the company’s bottom line, engaging a skilled facilitator is a way to protect that investment. Professional facilitators guarantee that the group functions with integrity and accountability and help members stay focused on measurable data and benchmarks, gaining clarity around their issues, to fix problems not band-aid symptoms.
As L&D practitioners face the need to be as agile as their organizations, leveraging internal resources helps extend tight budgets and improve positive learning impact by staying relevant to the constantly changing needs of the “skilling” environment. The mastermind effect of internal role-and issue-based peer advisory groups supports development on multiple strategic levels, extending coaching capacity and building responsive collaborations and knowledge sharing across the organization. Added to all that, as one corporate peer group founder notes, “Doing it together is way more comforting than trying to figure it all out alone.”
