Not Every Group Called a Mastermind Is Actually a Mastermind

"The biggest problem?"
"There wasn't any structure."

Those were the first words a business owner shared with me about a mastermind group she had joined.

She invested both time and money, expecting a room that would challenge her thinking, hold her accountable, and help her move important decisions forward.

Instead, she left disappointed.

She mentioned anyone could pay to join and leave at any time, so the level of commitment and accountability was not there. As we unpacked how the group was operated, it became clear that the issue wasn’t the mastermind concept. The room simply lacked the elements that make for an effective one.

I wasn’t surprised because her experience sounded familiar. I’ve heard similar stories from other founders, senior leaders, and business owners during the selection process of my masterminds. The pattern is the same: the room promises outcomes, but without structure, the conversations are inconsistent and never turn into action or growth. Leaders walk away assuming masterminds don’t work, when the real problem is that the room wasn’t designed to facilitate progress.

That conversation stayed with me.

A few days prior, someone direct messaged me after I shared a brief breakdown on social media about what elevates a peer room from curation to facilitation. She thanked me for explaining how masterminds should function because, in her words, the term had been “co-opted.” She also added, “Curation absolutely matters.”

Different people. Same problem.

Anyone can use the word mastermind. After all, language gets borrowed and evolves all the time.

The confusion begins when workshops, coaching programs, or training sessions are presented as masterminds.

Those experiences all create value. But they aren’t the same experience, and they aren’t designed to produce the same outcomes. When the distinction blurs, people walk away with the wrong conclusion about masterminds entirely.

A mastermind isn't defined by what people call it. It's defined by how it's designed.

The lesson is simple: structure determines outcomes. Many rooms fail not because leaders lack discipline, but because the room lacks design.

These conversations make me wonder how many leaders have experienced a true mastermind and how many have not. The gap matters. So, I’m dedicating the next few weeks to a three-part Mid-Summer Series on what actually makes these rooms work.

We’ll explore:

• What separates a true mastermind from every other kind of group

• What actually happens inside a well-designed mastermind session

• Why the right room consistently leads to better decisions and faster growth

Once you understand the difference, the hope is that you won’t look at these groups the same way again.

To kick off this series, let's clarify the distinction that is most often misunderstood:

Many people think a mastermind is just another group or another workshop. It isn’t. A workshop or training is a limited-time learning experience led by an instructor or expert. A mastermind is an ongoing, facilitator-guided, peer-to-peer advisory environment where every member brings expertise to the room and holds each other accountable. One teaches information. The other sharpens decisions.

This Mid-Summer Series explores why that difference matters and why the right room changes everything. Once you see how these rooms are built and why design is the difference between traction and frustration, you’ll notice which rooms sharpen your focus and which rooms occupy your time. You begin choosing environments that match the level of decisions you’re responsible for.

If you’ve ever left a room feeling like nothing changed, here’s how to quickly audit whether the room was built for progress.

Reflection

1. The Structural Audit: Consider the last professional group you joined. Was it truly built for peer advisory, or was it just teaching and networking presented as one?

2. The Bottleneck Audit: What one critical decision on your desk right now would benefit from a room of leaders who have already successfully solved that exact problem?

This is the work I do inside curated mastermind rooms for leaders navigating growth, transition, and complexity.

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