When I look at the most significant shifts that will come from our journey over the last months and those yet ahead of us, my view is that the role of everyone, not just leadership, needs to take a big move towards what Andrew Carnegie, in the late 1800s, early 1900s, defined as the capability of the MasterMind.

Napoleon Hill studied Carnegie and his wisdom and wrote this about Carnegie’s MasterMind approach. Hill defines the principle as, "Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.”

I am a mechanic and electrical engineer by education and trade. I like the battery concept that Hill relates….

Hill/Carnegie writes …“To better illustrate the concept, he compares the human brain to a battery.

Just as a group of electric batteries will produce more energy than a single battery, a group of coordinated brains will produce more thought energy than one, single brain. And just as different batteries will provide different levels of energy depending on the capacity of their cells, some brains are more efficient than others.”

The MasterMind perspective is not a Carnegie creation, it has been around for a VERY long time.

In the Post Graduate Survival Guide, Sinem Gunel gives some further definitions of the MasterMind…
Per definition, a Mastermind Group is a mentoring concept through which individuals can form groups to learn from each other and grow together. The intention of a Mastermind Group is that peers can help each other solve problems and develop themselves together through input and advice from each other. The core value of a Mastermind Group is the synergy of energy, motivation, and commitment as well as the willingness to learn and grow together.

“No two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind [the master mind].” — Napoleon Hill

The beauty of Mastermind Groups is that participants raise the bar by challenging each other to create and implement goals, brainstorm ideas, and support each other with total honesty, respect, and compassion.
At the start of any MasterMind gathering, Carnegie would read the following…

I RELEASE… I release myself to the mastermind because I am strong when I have others to help me.

I BELIEVE… I believe the combined intelligence of the mastermind creates wisdom far beyond my own.

I UNDERSTAND… I understand that I will more easily create positive results in my life when I am open to looking at myself, my problems, and opportunities from another’s point of view.

I DECIDE… I decide to release my desire totally in trust to the mastermind and I am open to accepting new possibilities.

I FORGIVE… I forgive myself for the mistakes I have made. I also forgive others who have hurt me in the past so I can move into the future with a clean slate.

I ASK… I ask the mastermind to hear what I really want; my goals, my dreams and my desires, and I hear my mastermind partners supporting me in MY fulfillment.

I ACCEPT… I know, relax, and accept, believing that the working power of the mastermind will respond to my every need. I am grateful knowing this is so.

Recall this was his thinking in the late 1800s. In this perspective specifically, Mr. Carnegie was extremely progressive. While the intro above is a bit too “my” centric for “our” world, the beliefs are the same. And that leads us to my perspective of what we are learning about our world today.

I believe that every one of us is a leader, perhaps not by title, but absolutely by role. The “old” perspective was a title in nature and implied that you were at the top of some org structure. (another outdated topic for an upcoming blog). What is coming to be is the need to shift from leading “people” to lead “thinking”!

That is where we now go. It is the companies, groups, and organizations, of all kinds, large and small, that will shift, again, into high gear, and mobilize the mass good that MasterMinds can help us all co-create the global goodness that we all desire.

No easy feat, as every part of our world fights with all of its might to hold on to the status quo, and not become irrelevant. My perspective is that the ONLY way to remain relevant and thrive is to recognize that the world has changed and make sure YOU change to complement and LEAD the thinking.

Just maybe, what was once old, is actually new again. AND more relevant than EVER! Go out and study a bit, about Master Mind, and form your own perspective…… Please learn and choose your direction!

OK, lets roll!

Mitch