Equestrian Professional Mastermind Groups

General

A productive mastermind group creates its own energy that helps empower and inspire its members to achieve their highest goals.  The group provides a unique combination of support, brainstorming, honest feedback and accountability that in essence “raises the bar” for its members.

Mastermind groups challenge members to sharpen their business skills and move forward in their personal growth.  Members must be committed to support each other with total honesty, respect and compassion.  With the end goal being to help each person in the group achieve success as they individually define it.

How Groups Are Formed

Members must apply to participate.  We make every effort to place Equestrian Professional.com members in groups that we feel will work well for them.  However, not every applicant is accepted because sometimes we do not have a group that is appropriate to place them in and because the mastermind group itself must give final approval in order for the group to be formalized.

Mastermind groups will be set up for a minimum time period of 6 months and members must commit to both this time period and to being a member of Equestrian Professional.com during this time to join a group. Groups may elect to continue longer than 6 months if they desire

How the Groups Are Run

 Mastermind Groups meet via teleconference once per month and group members are encouraged to communicate via email and online discussion in between meetings

Groups contain 4 – 8 non-competing, vested business owners whose skills, experiences and goals compliment each other.

Members of each group must adhere to a strict code of ethics and confidentiality.  A confidentiality agreement must be signed by all members of the group.

Mastermind Group Members can be voted out for bad behavior or for not honoring their commitment to participate

 Since participation is such a key element of successful groups, members who miss more than one meeting will automatically be removed from the group.

Groups can elect to add new members and new members can be added when all members' unanimously agree.

The primary focus of the mastermind group is that the group members talk with each other, not the facilitator It is important that each of the group members participate in the conversation in order to build the bonds, communication and trust that makes the Mastermind Group powerful.

The Facilitator –

Elisabeth McMillan the editor of Equestrian Professional.com will help the groups get started and act as the facilitator. (Unless otherwise stated)

The role of the facilitator is to administrate rather than lead.  The facilitator will set up the teleconference, publishes the agenda, calls the meeting to order, administrates the speaking cycle, organizes and moderates the online discussion forums.

The administrator will not dominate the conversation and will generally be the last person to respond to a question or provide feedback.  Mastermind groups are not classes or group coaching sessions.  If the group would like to schedule a class or session this can be accommodated but it should generally be scheduled in addition to (rather than in place of) the regular meeting.

The most important role of the facilitator is to help the group become a cohesive and powerful force that the other members can rely on.

The Tools –

Equestrian Professional.com will host the Teleconference call line and organize the Mastermind Group Online Forums.

Tele-seminars covering a wide variety of horse business and marketing subjects are periodically offered to the entire Equestrian Professional.com membership and sometimes are open to non-members for a fee.  They are free to all our members and we encourage the members of the mastermind groups to suggest specific subjects that they feel would benefit their group.  Seminar subjects that have been requested by several people will receive top priority.

Group Coaching Sessions are a fabulous tool for some Mastermind Groups. Groups may request coaching on a subject of interest by session or request a quote for a series of subjects and sessions.  Generally these sessions are scheduled in addition to the regular monthly meeting.  Group Coaching Sessions can be set up a variety of ways – From an in depth discussion/brainstorming session to a more structured class/seminar format or they may include a combination of both formats.

The Site - Equestrian Professional.com has a host of tools and resources that can help group members accomplish their goals – from profit margin calculators to goal setting tips and tracking sheets.

If you are a member of Equestrian Professional.com and interested in joining a group please complete an application or contact us for more information.  If you are not a member yet – we invite you to join us!