Managing people and teams can be exciting and motivating. Yet we all know that management is rarely black and white. For a moment, imagine yourself in the shoes of a manager named Maria:
It is 2 a.m. and you wake up—not because you are rested and not because of a bad dream. You are awake because your mind is still working through the day’s challenges. You keep returning to a situation at the office that requires a solution.
One member of your team has repeatedly said that he wants to become a team leader. Yesterday, he hinted that if he does not receive the role, he will look for opportunities elsewhere. You believe he is not ready: he still needs to work on both his skills and his attitude. In your view, he needs at least two more years of experience and a gradual increase in responsibility before he can step into the role effectively. You do not want to lose him, but you cannot give him the position. What should you do?
However much training a manager has attended and however many books they have read, sooner or later they will face a situation for which they are not prepared.
Why are traditional forms of management development not enough?
Specialized training programs provide a valuable and necessary foundation. They help managers understand what good management involves, experiment in a “laboratory” environment, and learn from strong practices and leading concepts for people and team management. We should remember, however, that training is only a foundation. Management books and online courses can provide solid theoretical knowledge, but applying that knowledge requires considerable self-discipline and self-control—qualities that not everyone can maintain consistently.
As our late-night encounter with Maria illustrates, real life rarely follows the textbook. Every day, leaders face situations that are far more complex and ambiguous than theoretical concepts. They are expected to deliver on everyday work, think strategically, support and develop people, solve team problems, manage performance, make critical decisions in uncertain circumstances, and much more. Many leaders have to decide how to act in real time and improvise in the moment.
In other words, leaders spend most of the working day—and often more—“on stage”: planning, assessing, talking, listening, deciding, and acting. The pace and variety of their tasks limit their ability to step “backstage” and make sense of what is happening. Creating personal space for reflection becomes increasingly difficult. Most reflection happens outside work: in the car on the way home, while clearing the dishes after dinner, when trying to fall asleep late at night, or even on the beach during a holiday.
Yet stepping “backstage” is essential to a manager’s development. We have all heard that “people learn from their mistakes.” But do they? Without time to reflect on what happened, why it happened, and what it means for us and our work, we are highly likely to repeat the same mistake. As American philosopher and educational reformer John Dewey put it: “We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.”
How can we help managers spend valuable “backstage” time while they are at work?
The Mastermind Sessions: a format for sharing experience
The Mastermind Sessions are a format for management meetings based on the model of “support groups.”*** In 2002, the Stockholm city administration piloted the approach, making it available to managers across municipal institutions. Thirty-one facilitators were trained, and between 2004 and 2006 a total of 376 managers participated in 47 support groups. The project was distinctive both for its unconventional development method and for its scale. A 2007 study by Karolinska Institutet, based on ten focus groups, reported strongly positive results: 91% of participants would recommend a support group to colleagues, and 78% had received ideas and help with a specific problem.
Experience sharing is at the heart of The Mastermind Sessions. Participants work with real cases they have encountered—or are currently facing—in their roles as managers. These may be past situations in which they are unsure whether they acted appropriately, current cases that require a decision, or situations they expect to face in the future. Common topics include staffing issues, conflict or tension within teams, action in complex or sensitive situations, feedback, and people-development challenges. Because the format depends on sharing genuine personal experience, it is most valuable for managers with at least three years of experience.
What do The Mastermind Sessions involve?
The Mastermind Sessions are regular meetings of six to eight managers at a similar organizational level. A meeting may last 90 minutes or longer, depending on participants’ needs and the time available. Sessions are usually led by an external facilitator or a specially trained person from within the organization.
The format focuses on sharing and reflecting on real experience. Once the group selects a case, every participant can describe how they handled the same or a similar situation and what the result was. Both successful and unsuccessful experiences are welcome. The meetings have two main objectives:
- Managers exchange experience and learn from one another’s successes and mistakes
- The “owner” of the case sees the situation from several perspectives and identifies ideas to test afterward
The results of our own research into The Mastermind Sessions we have facilitated for clients are encouraging: 83% of participants believe the format contributed to their development as leaders.
Facilitating The Mastermind Sessions
The facilitator plays a critical role in the success of The Mastermind Sessions. At first, this is usually an experienced external facilitator. Over time, members of the group can be trained to take on the role themselves. The facilitator’s responsibilities are complex:
- establish the structure and support the group’s development
- ensure that everyone has an opportunity to speak and be heard
- intervene when the conversation becomes unconstructive or moves away from its purpose
- notice moments when the discussion can go deeper and challenge participants through questions
- prevent experience sharing from turning into hypothetical advice that is not based on real experience
Another important function is to help participants strengthen their everyday observation skills and become more aware of the subtle moments involved in managing people and teams.
What are the benefits of The Mastermind Sessions for leaders and the organization?
- Leadership development. By participating in the program, managers learn from others’ experience, discover different approaches to people and situations, and build new strategies for managing teams effectively. Regular group discussions keep managers in a continuous cycle of learning and development.
- Sharing experience across the organization. In most companies, managers handle difficult cases independently and rarely have an opportunity to exchange practical experience with peers at the same level. Regular meetings often address operational problems, but not cases involving leadership, performance, team conflict, and similar issues. The Mastermind Sessions allow the organization to use individual knowledge and experience for the benefit of all managers, strengthening its internal capacity to handle difficulty.
- Closer collaboration across departments. The Mastermind Sessions build supportive relationships and strengthen connections between managers in different departments and functions. The collaboration can extend beyond the meetings themselves, improving coordination among managers and aligning their actions with shared company goals.
If reading about The Mastermind Sessions makes you think, “I wish we did this in our company,” we can help. We can provide an experienced facilitator and gradually train participants to facilitate the sessions themselves, enabling the organization eventually to run the format independently.
References:
*Tyrstrup (2006). On the Brink of Failure: The Art of Impromptu Action in Everyday Leadership. Lund: Studentlitteratur.
**Hamilton & Bean (2003). “Front Stage 24/7: Leadership Development in Post-Industrial Organizations.” Presented at the Workshop on Leadership Research, Lancaster, December
2003.
***Sandahl, C. & Edenius, J. (2004). “Chefshandledning i grupp.” In J. Lindén, C. Edlund & M. Larsson (Eds.), Handledning – Gestalt med variationer. Lund: Studentlitteratur.
****Karolinska Institutet, Support Groups for Managers—an Intervention for Leader Development, Jan Edenius.
