Yes, I have found "mastermind" groups to be very useful and effective over the last two years ... by being surrounded with like-minded and similar-experienced others aiming for some shared purpose or even a specific goal.

According to Napolean Hill, he defined the mastermind as a “coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.”

After reading Hill's book in 2007, I formed my own very-informal mastermind group with former colleagues from a company I worked at and some newly-met peers with the primary goal to aid each other while navigating the job market: interviews, tips & tricks, networking contacts & events, experiences, and such.

We agreed to meet once every week or twice a month, in the morning or brunch time, depending on the nature of topics and/or situations we each found ourselves in. The cost was either a round of golf (3 par, 9 hole = $10 with walking cart) and/or lunch, so fairly cheap for those currently without a job.

I mention "very-informal" as there are more formal methods to establishing a mastermind group, but in the case of our group, we all had common respect for each other, like-minded goals, and candid openness with each other to start. Plus, as part of our first meeting, we discussed how we had been part of others groups in the past (while working at different corporations) which had failed to meet after the first three or four meetings and we attributed that to the formality of those groups, so we all agreed in solidarity that we wanted to take a more pragmatic approach to meetings.

It worked out well. Slowly members couldn't attend as they were starting new jobs and everyone eventually found a job, so there's no more mid-week golf, nor lunches ... unfortunately in some perspectives. ;-)

Our "mastermind" group had a defined purpose and, therefore, also had an expiration by its very nature.

Here are some ideas of formation and more formal approaches:

The agenda for a first Mastermind meeting
www.evancarmichael.com/Mastermind-Group/2008/03/agenda-for-first-mastermind-meeting.html

How to Start and Run a MasterMind Group
www.deenadouglas.com/mastermind-howtostartandrun.html

How to set up a mastermind group
www.speakernetnews.com/post/mastermind.html

How to Create and Run a Mastermind Group
www.passionforbusiness.com/articles/mastermind-group.htm

Yes, I have found "mastermind" groups to be very useful and effective over the last two years ... by being surrounded with like-minded and similar-experienced others aiming for some shared purpose or even a specific goal.

According to Napolean Hill, he defined the mastermind as a “coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.”

After reading Hill's book in 2007, I formed my own very-informal mastermind group with former colleagues from a company I worked at and some newly-met peers with the primary goal to aid each other while navigating the job market: interviews, tips & tricks, networking contacts & events, experiences, and such.

We agreed to meet once every week or twice a month, in the morning or brunch time, depending on the nature of topics and/or situations we each found ourselves in. The cost was either a round of golf (3 par, 9 hole = $10 with walking cart) and/or lunch, so cheap for those currently without a job.

I mention "very-informal" as there are more formal methods to establishing a mastermind group, but in the case of our group, we all had common respect for each other, like-minded goals, and candid openness with each other to start. Plus, as part of our first meeting, we discussed how we had been part of others groups in the past (while working at different corporations) which had failed to meet after the first three or four meetings and we attributed that to the formality of those groups, so we all agreed in solidarity that we wanted to take a more pragmatic approach to meetings.

It worked out well. Slowly members couldn't attend as they were starting new jobs and everyone eventually found a job, so there's no more mid-week golf, nor lunches ... unfortunately in some perspectives. ;-)

Our "mastermind" group had a defined purpose and, therefore, also had an expiration by its very nature.

Here are some ideas of formation and more formal approaches:

The agenda for a first Mastermind meeting
www.evancarmichael.com/Mastermind-Group/2008/03/agenda-for-first-mastermind-meeting.html

How to Start and Run a MasterMind Group
www.deenadouglas.com/mastermind-howtostartandrun.html

How to set up a mastermind group
www.speakernetnews.com/post/mastermind.html

How to Create and Run a Mastermind Group
www.passionforbusiness.com/articles/mastermind-group.htm