Whenever a group of people comes together, one way to build trust and connection is to uncover the values they share. Here’s an exercise you can do with your mastermind group members. As your members agree upon what’s most important to the entire group, it creates expectations about goals, actions, group behavior, and mindset, as well as overall psychological safety. (You can do this exercise with any kind of group program: mastermind groups, group coaching or mentoring, and membership-based groups.)

I recommend you do this exercise with your group sometime in the first or second meeting of a new group. Do not share this Values List with them. Instead, start by asking them to brainstorm a list of values of their own.  Ask them: what do you think makes a group work well together? What’s important?

Second, have them vote on this list of values they’ve created. Note if there are any disagreements, either in the importance level of a value, or the definition of that value. If you want to challenge them, ask them to come up with a short list of just eight shared values for the group.

The Mastermind Group Shared Values List

Here are some possible shared values that might come up during the conversation. I’ve put my definition next to each one, but your group members might disagree on these definitions! (Often, people use the same word to mean two or three different things.)

1. Abundance mentality – be open and sharing of your knowledge, ideas, resources, and network of connections that might help another mastermind group member. Don’t hold back and “keep something for yourself only.”
2. Accountability – members are responsible for designing an action plan, taking action, and reporting it back to the group. They are also responsible for reporting if they didn’t achieve a task or goal.
3. Action-oriented – members are focused on moving forward, taking action to create the changes they want to make in life. They are self-starters and attempt to avoid procrastination and limiting beliefs that get in their way. (This isn’t always possible, we are humans after all. But the mindset is focused on moving forward — and dealing with problems as they arise.)
4. Community-minded – being part of the tribe, nurturing each other, and encouraging everyone’s professional and personal development
5. Creativity – coming up with alternative ways of seeing a situation or solving a problem, if it seems like a wild, crazy idea. Sometimes the best creative thinking looks a little wild and crazy at first!
6. Empathy – truly understanding and having compassion for someone’s situation, even if you have never experienced something similar yourself. It’s being able to stand in their shoes and see the world through their eyes, without judging or belittling them.
7. Empowering – always encouraging the other members to work towards their dreams, and supporting them both emotionally and with practical help.
8. Equality – treating each member equally, regardless of the differences you have.
9. Excellence – each member of the group is using their fullest human potential to move forward in life. They are continually innovating and improving their lives.
10. Honesty – having integrity in all things you do and say. If you have a conflict of interest, you tell others about it. If you make a mistake, you admit it.
11. Listening deeply — listen without interrupting, and truly hearing what the other member has said.
12. Participation – being committed to showing up consistently to all meetings, and participating fully and deeply during meetings. Showing up on time and ready to do the work. Both asking for help and offering help.
13. Positive mental attitude — when members approach each meeting with hope, courage, and persistence, magic can happen.
14. Privacy – respecting each other’s privacy and not sharing what they hear during meetings with anyone outside the mastermind group.
15. Respect – members agree to treat each other with respect, including listening deeply, providing constructive feedback, and allowing each member to own their own feelings and behavior (instead of telling other members what they “should” feel or what they “should” do).
16. Sharing mindset – each member works in a collaborative way with the other, is generous in sharing their knowledge, creative solutions, feedback, and applause.
17. Solution-oriented – members are focused on finding a solution to each problem/challenge (as much as possible) and implementing those solutions
18. Vulnerability – being willing to share your wildest dreams, your deepest fears, and your biggest failures.
19. Unbiased, positive, constructive feedback – when a member has to share feedback that might feel negative, including tough love, they do so in a constructive way. They focus on gently pointing out blindspots and failures and work with the group to find solutions, not focusing on blame.

Want to learn how to start a mastermind group? Click here to get my free video tutorial on how to create a mastermind group of your own.

Want to learn how to start a mastermind group? Click here to get my free video tutorial on how to create a mastermind group of your own.