How Masterminds help with “The Learning Spiral”

  Photo by Jonathan Singer on Unsplash

The Smartest Person In The Room

In business, we hear of success stories and tend to think If only I had a few hours in a room with that billionaire. I could learn so much from them and find out what makes them successful. Flash back 20 years ago and that may have been true (ie picking their brains or learning their habits) Today we live in the Information Age. Information is commoditised and often the question you would have asked them is already written, recorded or tweeted. Richard Branson is a good example. His earlier successes, hacks and tipping points are in his book, in recorded interviews and in handy bite-sized slogans all over social media. So you only need to replicate exactly what he says and does – simple right? Unfortunately, most of this free information is out of context or out of date. It also might be hard to apply to your specific issues thus making it almost worthless. So knowing what they know is NOT the issue anymore.

Increase Your Average

The famous Jim Rohan says ‘You’re the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”. Whilst this may be a little disingenuous to your friends and family it is true when it comes to business. Especially your business connections. It often referred to as the learning spiral. If you have ever played any kind of sport you understand this. When practising or training with people that are less competent than you don’t improve your skills. If anything it will drag you backwards because you are not able to push yourself and improve.

Which League do you belong in?

                Let’s stick with sport and use that as a good analogy. Many sports have leagues and levels. To reach the elite level you often have to go through the various lower levels first. This gives you the grounding in learning the basics, improving your skills. It also helps you to not feel intimidated. It’s the reason that boxers get groomed and the fights are hand-picked for them for a progression path to become World Champion. You need to pick the right level to be challenged (learning) but not overwhelmed (out of your league).

Mind the gap

                No two business owners have the exact same level of experience! Some will have certain areas of expertise and skills that you don’t have. It’s part of what makes Masterminds so powerful. But we need to be mindful of the size of the gap. Before you can run you need to learn to walk. If the gap between you and the people you surround yourself with is too large then nobody benefits. If you’re at the bottom chances are you will be either intimidated or in awe of the more experienced members. When this is the case nobody learns effectively. The more experienced person, giving out their wisdom, may feel that they have to “dumb it down” too much for their advice to be useful. Again no help to anyone. You need to be on the learning spiral. Remember that it’s all part of gaining experience. You need to be on a continuous spiral of learning where you connect to people more experienced than you. Always learning, growing and improving. When you are ready – you step up to the next level.

Find your level of discomfort

This is the critical component in your development. You need to overcome any limiting beliefs and doubts about not belonging or being afraid to fail. You need to find a group where you are challenged, motivated and inspired to do more. Not overawed, intimidated or feel that you have nothing to learn. When you find that sweet spot then that’s where all the magic happens. Enjoy the ride but remember as Kevin Spacey says “When you get to the top send the elevator back down”

If you are the smartest person in the room

You need to find a different room to hang out in because your learning spiral has now stopped. If you are never challenged you will stagnate. Are you ready to connect to smart, motivated entrepreneurs to help you spiral up? If the answer is yes then join one of the multiple Mastermind groups that our platform hosts.