“Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same. You wanna be where everybody knows your name.” ~Cheers theme song, by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo.
There are many practical benefits to being in a Professionals Group. The two most common benefits clients identify at the end of a group session are “focus” and “accountability”. Group members frequently share that coming to group each week has kept them focused on their goals. Many business people get caught up in distractions or swept away in discouragement. Just by virtue of having a scheduled time each week to focus on their businesses (instead of being in… or avoiding their businesses) members stay focused, on track, and experience continued momentum toward their goals.
Focus is enhanced by the accountability that the group design offers. Every week each member shares three “wins” and then for each win answers the question, “What specifically moved you forward to get your wins?” More often than not, what has moved someone forward to achieve a goal is the fact that last week they told the group they would. At the end of each session members share three action steps to complete before the next session, e.g. “working on organizing my office for 2 hours.” Somehow telling the group about it is much more powerful that just putting it on a to-do list. Accountability to others is a fabulous tool to leverage for yourself!
In addition to focus and accountability, Professionals Groups provide a place for you to brainstorm challenges with peers. Entrepreneurs can feel isolated in their businesses. They also suffer from a lack of input (or their friends and spouses get burnt out on hearing about their struggles or have lame ideas). In group you can bring a question and ask the group for ideas. Now you are not alone in your thoughts and you have a team of people who help shift your perspective and actually have some great ideas from their own experiences.
Your group peers not only provide good ideas, but they also help extend your network. I like to say that Professionals Groups “deepen” your network. When we think of networking, we think of meeting *more* people. But meeting more people is not nearly as valuable as having a handful of people who know you well, understand your value and passion, and really want to see you succeed! I am so delighted when group members share referrals with each other and use each others’ services. I also enjoy promoting my group members lavishly! Indeed, a huge reason to be in a Professionals Group in the first place is to build your business and get more customers or clients. I want my clients to make more money, with greater wisdom, and a heart warm with gratitude. The value you will get from being in a Professionals Group is tangible, tactical, and practical as well as authentic and connected.
Judy Alexander, who leads the popular Artist’s Way groups in Port Townsend, Washington, shared with me what she sees as the value of group work. “When someone else speaks, you hear your own thoughts. When someone else stumbles, you feel compassion, beyond what you might grant yourself in the same circumstance. At some point, it dawns on you that you are sitting in the company of people who struggle with life just the way you do, and you are forgiven not being perfect in realizing WE ARE ALL IN THIS ADVENTURE TOGETHER.”
We humans sometimes see our mistakes as unforgiveable, our potential as limited, and our value as debatable. As Judy suggests, the group design has a way of bringing more acceptance and forgiveness to ourselves as we more easily forgive the mistakes of others. People in groups also tend to estimate the potential and value of others higher than that of themselves. Noticing this tendency allows group members to suspend their own disbelief about what they are capable of and recognize the value they create by sharing their struggles and resulting wisdom with others.
To find out more about joining a Professionals Group, contact me.
Also, Judy Alexander has started a new Artist’s Way group which she calls Discovering/Recovering Your Creativity, in mid-January. The group lasts 6 months. She also has another A New Earth group, using Eckhart Tolle’s book by the same name, starting soon. Contact Judy at lightenup@olympus.net for more information.