Ep9 Lessons From A 7-Figure Mastermind

00;00;00;03 - 00;00;17;24
Joe Blackburn
I'm watching them, how they're interacting, how engaged they are. It's what we teach people paying for how they feel. If this isn't something they look forward to and enjoy, then we failed. And I want to provide something, an environment, the lion that people love to be in and want others to be in and full circle. We grew it through word of mouth.

00;00;17;24 - 00;00;20;16
Joe Blackburn
Every person in there, there's from someone else.

00;00;20;18 - 00;00;26;10
Jason Croft
Welcome to Sales Assassins, the podcast that unveils the lost art of word of mouth marketing.

00;00;26;10 - 00;00;26;14
Joe Blackburn
For.

00;00;26;14 - 00;00;52;23
Jason Croft
Professionals just like you. We cover everything from building relationships and nurturing connections to overcoming the challenges of modern marketing. You'll learn how to stand out in a crowded market. Charge confidently for your services and create an army of people recommending you without hesitation. Now let's dive in and make you deadly effective at sales.

00;00;52;26 - 00;00;58;26
Jason Croft
Hey, are you the assassins and would be assassins out there? Welcome to the show, Joe. How is it, sir?

00;00;58;28 - 00;01;17;28
Joe Blackburn
Man, I am on fire. We just came back from our in person in Scottsdale and tons and tons of takeaways. Group was, you know, just ready to get after it even in November, just like we talked about. They're ready to make the spread. So it was great event. That's one we've had. That's people. I just I love it.

00;01;18;00 - 00;01;40;04
Jason Croft
That's so much fun. And and and I thought it'd just be perfect to dig in and kind of do a recap of that. And a lot of what you dove into during this past week with them will be so great for the audience, because, I mean, this is your life in your inner circle. These are the folks. So this is that in-person mastermind you're doing these three times a year, right?

00;01;40;05 - 00;01;47;18
Joe Blackburn
Correct. Every four months. So our next one will be in March. We're going to do it down here in the Orange Beach, Alabama. Home turf.

00;01;47;20 - 00;01;56;24
Jason Croft
So nice. Yeah. Make it a little easier on Joe. No. You're like, what? No, no, no, no.

00;01;56;26 - 00;01;58;24
Joe Blackburn
I got a little homesick.

00;01;58;26 - 00;02;20;14
Jason Croft
But I can imagine, I would as well. But. Yeah. So. So what are some of the highlights? What's, I guess, really? Let's zoom out to and make sure that people understand. Give them a little recap of of this inner circle, what's sure what its purpose is in. And then why even do these in-person masterminds like that?

00;02;20;15 - 00;02;21;27
Jason Croft
Why is that structure like that?

00;02;22;00 - 00;02;45;07
Joe Blackburn
Well, the in part, the in-person event is to bring everyone together and camaraderie, accountability. And and it's I mean, it sounds trite. It's a vibe. Like you can feel it when they arrive, when we get down to business, when we go have fun. I mean, it just it just brings, you know, we're all across the country. We bring everyone together in person three times a year.

00;02;45;08 - 00;03;04;03
Joe Blackburn
We see each other on zoom. You know, we do one on one and we have a biweekly mastermind. But there's nothing like being together. There's just you can't replace. That's why I always say chemistry can't be commoditized. There's a special feel to a lot of, you know, if I would call it the cartilage, a lot of it's happening in between sessions, at dinner, at cocktails.

00;03;04;03 - 00;03;22;09
Joe Blackburn
I mean, it's just, you know, we talk about private client events. It's my essentially my private client event, and I love doing them. It's my favorite thing other than the podcast, Jason, other than the podcast, it's you know, I assume that. Yeah. Yeah. And it's cool. I mean, it gives you something to look forward to. You get to meet people you just never would have met.

00;03;22;09 - 00;03;48;12
Joe Blackburn
And there's a, you know, I'll kind of go into the mechanics a little bit, but why? An inner circle is really focused on maximizing your existing business. So it's really maximizing your revenue, your team and getting the most that you can for yourself, your clients, your teammates and everything. And then we talk about how to multiply wealth, because when if you came out of assassins, you may have gotten to where you are with you and maybe 1 or 2 other people.

00;03;48;18 - 00;04;09;01
Joe Blackburn
These people have teams, they have big businesses. They they're really trying to create, you know, equity, value in their business, multiply their wealth through business acquisition, real estate, strategic partnerships. They're just doing that at a higher level. And a lot of our inner circle have their salespeople or their, you know, marketing in our assassins group now and then.

00;04;09;01 - 00;04;44;07
Joe Blackburn
The one of the biggest things, and it's it's cornerstone to all of us is we want to make our families indestructible. So it's really how do I do those first two things without destroying the family? And we spent, you know, the last part of the meeting really talking about how to do that, how to and we talked about it here before, but it's just really about maximize your business multiplier wealth, make that family the, you know, the most important thing and it it's a commonality to get into the inner circle I mean we that my you know one of my primary roles would be to make sure the gates are kept and that we don't

00;04;44;07 - 00;05;04;27
Joe Blackburn
allow someone in that would hurt the group. And we've had some people come and go and some great friends and but for the majority of them, then they're a long time. We're adding to it. We had a couple new really, really dynamic, great people shout out to Rich bales and to Jay and Jeff live. But bigger shout out to the existing Lions.

00;05;05;00 - 00;05;25;26
Joe Blackburn
They're the ones that, you know, the thing I look for are are there people out there that want to do something they didn't think they could do? You know, when I left, what I was doing five. And it's an attorney. I'll probably stop talking about it. When I left the safety net, safety net of the corporate world, I took a giant leap of faith.

00;05;25;26 - 00;05;43;17
Joe Blackburn
And we talk about, you know, what are you doing that you didn't think you can do? And that's really where we started the meeting is what if, you know, is kind of like if you won the lottery, what would you do if you had six months to live, like start thinking about, you know, don't put things off to tomorrow.

00;05;43;17 - 00;06;03;12
Joe Blackburn
I actually asked him. I said, you know, if you couldn't do anything else, what would you do? And then we went into goals. It was it was kind of like getting refocused on where you you want to put your time and energy, and it just it builds upon itself. It was awesome. Scottsdale was amazing. It was a little chilly.

00;06;03;19 - 00;06;19;20
Joe Blackburn
My blood must have thinned out down here in Alabama because 65 felt cold. I did learn that there's a way to turn the heat on in your, room. That I was a little technically, deficient, but. Yeah, I took it. Took me two days.

00;06;19;20 - 00;06;21;26
Jason Croft
So I was 62.

00;06;21;28 - 00;06;42;10
Joe Blackburn
But no, I just it was it was really about getting ready to springboard. And, you know, I, I basically said 2025 started October 1st. So they got to, you know, we're talking about sprint through the year. And I know we've had that conversation. But now how do I get ready laser focus for 2025. Who do I leverage. What's my major purpose.

00;06;42;12 - 00;07;01;04
Joe Blackburn
And then what am I gonna do for my family? So it was just I don't know, it was it was incredible. And we got great people. I mean, just I, you know, I'm one of those some people, it's all about business. I mean, it's it's not one or the other for us. It's you. You've got to gel with the group and really stretch your limits and your comfort zone.

00;07;01;04 - 00;07;04;21
Joe Blackburn
And everybody stepped up and it was it was phenomenal.

00;07;05;01 - 00;07;39;17
Jason Croft
I love that. And before we get into even a little more nitty gritty in there, I really want to call out for the audience to how powerful this idea is that you describe the folks who are in The lion, you in. They're already heavy hitters. They're they're kicking butt. They've been doing amazing things. And even these folks need help pushing through to that next level to even letting that in.

00;07;39;20 - 00;08;05;12
Jason Croft
And and I hope that that resonates with everyone, whether they're ready to go into assassins or all the way up into the lion that we all need that help sometimes to go, hey, you're pretty amazing. Yes, you've done all these things. Let's let's look at what's possible at a, at a bigger level, because as much as we do or as little as we do, it's incremental, right?

00;08;05;12 - 00;08;24;20
Jason Croft
It's it's day by day. And so we oh yeah, of course I can do that. Of course I can do that. But we see these other maybe milestones way out there, you know, and we don't look back and realize, oh, I'm at somebody else's milestone right now. Oh yeah, I know and and I think that's a that's a powerful lesson.

00;08;24;23 - 00;08;50;23
Joe Blackburn
Well it's, it's easy to stay where you are. I mean that's so you know, you think about if I'm, if I'm going to assassins, there's, heavier need of necessity. So my revenue and if I work for someone hitting those benchmarks when I own my own business, a I'm on an island for the most part. Most business owners are on an island, meaning they really don't have anyone that they can go deep with or be held accountable with.

00;08;50;25 - 00;09;10;11
Joe Blackburn
But it now it's no longer a necessity to breathe. It becomes a hunger, like when the lions hungry, eats so and the lion's not me or them or the lion's an environment like it's an environment, status quo complacency aren't acceptable. And we adhere to what we call the muscle principle. And I'm if I've talked about this, I'll bore everyone.

00;09;10;11 - 00;09;25;01
Joe Blackburn
But, you know, if you and I went to lunch and I had a big glob of mustard on my chin, and you didn't say anything to me, that's you being selfish, not wanting to tell me something because of how you would feel versus, hey, man, you got mustard on your chin. You need to get that off. You got another meeting.

00;09;25;01 - 00;09;49;11
Joe Blackburn
It's taking care of each other. It's telling the hard truths about what they see. And the power of it is, especially in the mastermind. You're getting different industries, different geographies, different age ranges, all kinds of different things. Looking in on your business and what you're looking to do. So you're getting an unbiased set of questions and curiosity. And it's very helpful because all of us are good at what we do.

00;09;49;15 - 00;10;06;28
Joe Blackburn
You know, if you get through assassins, you've got your gusher dialed in, like, you know what you do well and what to do repeatedly, but you can get in the tunnel and not see the blind spots. I mean, most businesses, when they get to that point, they they fail to catch up because they're so focused. And it's not to take your eye off the ball.

00;10;06;28 - 00;10;26;10
Joe Blackburn
It's for other people to see what you're not doing or to ask the questions you just take for granted. So it's it's one of those environments where they're talking back and forth or worth putting up in front of everyone, stand and deliver and talking about what they're going to do and getting some feedback and again, I, you know, I, I encourage if you're a professional so you have a profession.

00;10;26;10 - 00;10;58;14
Joe Blackburn
It's advisory, real estate coaching, whatever it is, you should be ingrained in a high nickel learning mechanism, meaning a mastermind of coaching that is to your hygiene. However, what we teach needs it to be unbiased because what happens is you get in that groupthink mentality and you hear, say and see all the same stuff. So when you get it from, you know, if you have someone that's training aggressive dogs, talking to someone who's managing millions of dollars, they see the world differently and that that tends to come out and vice versa.

00;10;58;14 - 00;11;16;27
Joe Blackburn
So it's it's the power of the mastermind. And, you know, it's 100 years old. I didn't invent it, but that's creating a superconscious you've got all these people going in the same direction with the same mentality, and those are the similarities. But the differences are what make it special, because everybody has a different reality that they view the world through.

00;11;17;00 - 00;11;35;10
Joe Blackburn
And we get that feedback. And, you know, it's almost like if you're an inner circle, you're getting four levels of accountability. So not only are you accountable to yourself, me, your team, but now you've got a group of people that are vested in your success that are there to help you. So it's it's the probably the thing I'm most proud of professionally.

00;11;35;12 - 00;11;58;13
Joe Blackburn
And more than anything, it's the people I love. You know, I when I and I don't want to make it too much about me because I hope they love it to their in their survey forms. A they did anonymously. They said they loved it, but we'll see. But you know, I mean, I know some people spend time with people, you know, one of the cornerstones of pillars is no, some people force themselves to spend time with that.

00;11;58;26 - 00;12;23;05
Joe Blackburn
I don't I only spend time with people I really, truly care about and want to see succeed. And we like each other. So as you build a bigger business, that becomes a bigger possibility. You don't have to take everyone. You don't have to do everything. Now. You can get really focused on leverage. And we so we really started around getting the goals created because 90% of the population doesn't even know what they want, like they don't write anything down.

00;12;23;05 - 00;12;43;04
Joe Blackburn
And I and some people, I watch the internet and stuff like they shit on goals or whatever. But if you don't have one, I don't. I mean, I don't know where to start. You like if you don't have a target, what are you doing? So we really, you know, and we do that as a practice every year and then check in on we do quarterly big bites where we're okay 90 days and and where are you at.

00;12;43;04 - 00;13;03;00
Joe Blackburn
Because you have to measure to something. But that's the starting point. Just just having a target and what you want. So there's a you know, if you're if you're writing your goals down and you're doing it consistently, you're doing something that almost no one does. That's just a start. And then how do I get what I would call performance leverage or leverage?

00;13;03;03 - 00;13;23;12
Joe Blackburn
How do I maximize my output around that and get laser focus? That's called a major step and a purpose. So I take one of those and I really hone in on that for this year. And we went deep into that. And then who? It's not what it's then who do I spend my time with? Who do I explore relationships with?

00;13;23;20 - 00;13;43;08
Joe Blackburn
Who do I bring on, and why? It was so that there's like different levels of leverage, and that's something that a lot of people don't think about because they, again, go back to the island and it's like, just me. Well, that's not how this works. There's a lot of people, you and I, for example, you know, we're in different industries and I certainly couldn't do this without you.

00;13;43;08 - 00;13;59;18
Joe Blackburn
You might be able to pull it off without me, but I can't. I'm I can barely get the camera turned on. So it's like, how do you build those relationships and leverage for what you're trying to accomplish? Which for us in Assassin's, we want everyone who's a professional in sales to know pillars like know it and then do it.

00;13;59;20 - 00;14;20;09
Joe Blackburn
So that's by the way, I know I'm rambling, by the way, sometimes you don't need new information. One of the takeaways was go back to the 15 and variables for the inner circle and go back through all the modules learnings and everything and get that done by next Monday. And now everyone's want each other accountable. I you know, sometimes we just need remind it like I know pretty much what to do.

00;14;20;09 - 00;14;34;10
Joe Blackburn
So to you. But if I'm not held accountable and I'm not reminded and I'm not in an environment, I'm not going to do it because by nature I'm going to do the least amount that I can to get to where I am. And then if you want to go further now, you'll start doing things you wouldn't have done it.

00;14;34;12 - 00;14;41;19
Jason Croft
Right and not not because we're inherently lazy. We've got no a thousand other things going on. Right?

00;14;41;26 - 00;14;44;10
Joe Blackburn
So I mean like support.

00;14;44;13 - 00;15;19;24
Jason Croft
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And I, I love that idea of going back to basics. I love this approach of really being purposeful with, yes, having your hygiene, being in those coaching training for your industry, for your lean. There's power in that. And then being really purposeful with being outside of that. Yeah, to get that that perspective that's so strong with that qualifier that you have in place of other high performers in their industry.

00;15;19;27 - 00;15;34;26
Jason Croft
Right. That's a it's an important distinction for sure. So walk us through the the structure because this isn't just everyone shows up and like hey what's happening for you know several days. How are you doing. Yeah exactly. So what what is that.

00;15;34;29 - 00;15;52;27
Joe Blackburn
So, this may surprise anyone who knows me. I actually do an agenda, and I say, I want us, so we have it the way it's like a it's like a rhythm. And I've, you know, I came from again. I you somebody out there comment. If you ever wanted to say stop talking about where you came from because I don't give a shit.

00;15;52;29 - 00;16;11;04
Joe Blackburn
But, I mean, all of us have been in meetings where, like, you don't get a piss break, they're trying to ram as much because they're trying to ram as much stuff in as possible, because they're trying to milk the dollar for whatever the venue. And it's like it's not enjoyable, it's crusty, you know, you're you're crammed in. It's a cattle hall.

00;16;11;11 - 00;16;32;13
Joe Blackburn
Like, I, I always start the I mean this is an anti meeting. This is not something like that you've ever attended because I hated those even though I had to do them and probably, you know, done some I mean responsible for all the things I just pointed fingers at. So three back at me. I like it to be more of an interaction, a stand and deliver.

00;16;32;13 - 00;16;53;07
Joe Blackburn
Meaning you're not going to just sit there and listen. This is you can't come here and just be quiet. So the way that we format it is we bring everybody together for a nice reception on a Thursday night, and we did it at the Grand Hyatt in Scottsdale, and there was an amazing wedding going on across the property and new.

00;16;53;08 - 00;17;09;14
Joe Blackburn
I mean, it was a cool bar, and we had our own little private table out by the pool, and there's a little lake there, anything. So it's a nice ambiance. It's a little chilly, but we had those heaters. But I want to bring everyone together. We do a little happy hour, and then we have a nice dinner and we talk, and that kind of gets everybody together and warmed up.

00;17;09;14 - 00;17;24;21
Joe Blackburn
So we do that on a Thursday night. We start bright and early on Friday, have a nice breakfast. I'm big on food. I don't know if anyone can tell. So like it was shout out to the high of best bacon I've had probably in my life. It was amazing. Saturday I may have had three plates of it. It was freaking phenomenal.

00;17;24;24 - 00;17;43;14
Joe Blackburn
So we'll bring it. We'll have a breakfast and then we'll get started. I'll warm them up with, you know, we'll start with a question to kind of get them thinking, let them introduce themselves and then ask, you know, a pertinent question so that they think and they get a little vulnerability and connectivity. And then we dive into some learning.

00;17;43;14 - 00;18;01;21
Joe Blackburn
So we'll spend 30 to 45 minutes learning and do and not just listening. It's them doing some work together at tables and they get some feedback there, although it was pointed out. So shout out we did not adhere to change tables on day two. We'll do that next time. And we had done that in the past that, you know, people, you watch them, they're habitual.

00;18;01;21 - 00;18;17;24
Joe Blackburn
They go to right where they were. I do it in like if someone sits in my seat at church, I'm furious. I should be there to worship. But I'm like, why is that person? Why did they take my seat? So anyway, we we do that and then everyone has an opportunity to get up and share what they're committing to.

00;18;17;24 - 00;18;35;01
Joe Blackburn
So they go through the learning. But here it's a take away. And here's what I'm committing to. And now you've done a few things that you would never do on your own. A you've said out loud to a group, but more so to you. I've just professed in public, to a group of people I trust, that I'm going to do something.

00;18;35;01 - 00;18;58;29
Joe Blackburn
So that's a heavy hitter on accountability. And now everyone knows about it. So it's like I've said this out loud, I've got to follow through. So we'll go through that. We do a long lunch. We have long breaks. Mostly because I'm old and frequent. So we do that will cap the day. We actually did something around stress, and I made a fool of myself and showed them all the exercises and affirmations and how I deal with stress.

00;18;58;29 - 00;19;15;00
Joe Blackburn
But it was it was a topic the last probably five months. I mean, you know, you get to this point year, you've accumulated stress, you've got deadlines. So it was like, how do I, in the moment break those patterns and anchors? Not I don't meditate, I don't talk about stuff I don't do. Now we have someone in the group shout out to Gary.

00;19;15;00 - 00;19;33;16
Joe Blackburn
This is a second time he gets a shout out. He's the one paradigm nuance. You know, he meditates and he swears by it. And I think it does work. I just I personally don't do that. But there's a lot of things that we do that in the moment. We're patterned to become stressed out. So like sometimes we get mad or stressed at a certain time because guess what?

00;19;33;16 - 00;19;53;15
Joe Blackburn
Your body's a clock. So how to break those up? That's how we wrap up the day. And then we went to Topgolf and had a golf tournament. And that was a blast and really, really good food at Topgolf. Another shout out if there's a pattern here if you notice, but you know, that's and you know the thing for me, I, you know, our clients results are the most important thing.

00;19;53;15 - 00;20;16;06
Joe Blackburn
Like, however, some of those results are intangible. You know, revenue numbers and and things like that are really important. And if you're not hitting them, you're not staying. So that's a given. That's my hygiene. What I'm really noticing and what I'm starting to like, probably be more grateful for is the relationships. And even when we do our client case studies, it's not, hey, I hit my numbers.

00;20;16;06 - 00;20;35;02
Joe Blackburn
They're crushing. I mean, we got people in there that have 4 or 5 backs. Their numbers. It's what does this group mean to me? Our relationship. My I mean, it's like that intangible that I just didn't have before. And you see that when you bring people from all over the country together and they're, you know, hooting and hollering and playing golf together, and there are some pretty good golfers there.

00;20;36;18 - 00;20;58;06
Joe Blackburn
Some. But that was fun. And then on Saturday, we generally culminate it have one more seeing them deliver. We ended up talking about we're going to do something in 2025 called the Lion Cubs. And so Warren and I and are going to put together something for their children. So it's and they're going to get an opportunity to participate.

00;20;58;06 - 00;21;17;25
Joe Blackburn
So they're going to share their life lessons and their business lessons and some challenges to the group for each other's kids. So like, we're, you know, it ended on family really start in that session. We were talking about playing the seeds in your family because you can't, which I think we mentioned this a couple weeks ago when we were talking about what it takes.

00;21;17;25 - 00;21;43;25
Joe Blackburn
But, you know, you can't spend hours upon hours with family members at, well, now you can spend some time with them. But it's probably more important to plant the seeds. Like, what am I actually doing there? So we we have an accountability on that daily on planting seeds, of different things within the family. So that's great. And then we want to bring the kids in because I, you know, I don't want to go on a political tangent, but I'm not.

00;21;43;27 - 00;22;03;18
Joe Blackburn
And this wasn't my original idea. This came from Courtney. Shout out, you know, our kids aren't getting that type of input at school. And it's more this is more real life. And it's, you know, it's kids. So I said keep in mind their attention spans. This long and they relate to stories. So we're not going to lecture them.

00;22;03;23 - 00;22;19;22
Joe Blackburn
But I'm excited about that. I just think it's another thing we can do. And that's how we ended it up. And then, you know, some people had to go home. But we then that afternoon, Courtney and Chris were gracious. They invited everyone out to their I would call it, ranch. I mean, it's what it spread out.

00;22;19;22 - 00;22;38;14
Joe Blackburn
Adobe. Unbelievable. Bottom of mountain. Awesome. And we relax there and watch some good football. Alabama. Tennessee. Some actual good games. So it was just it's it's almost like a family to me. But for me, it feels like that I would I mean, you'd have to question them, but it's there's a high level of trust, high level of accountability.

00;22;38;22 - 00;22;57;26
Joe Blackburn
And everybody is rooting for the other person. And I look like when I sit in the back when there and I just. And now I'm giving away my secrets, so they're not going to want me to sit in the back. I'm watching them, how they're interacting, how engaged they are, because I want them. You know, I if again, if they don't like this, it's what we teach people paying for how they feel.

00;22;57;29 - 00;23;17;03
Joe Blackburn
If this isn't something they look forward to and enjoy, then we failed. And I want to provide something, an environment, the lion that people love to be in and want others to be in. And you know, it's been full circle. We grew it through word of mouth. Every person in there is from someone else. So that's really cool.

00;23;17;03 - 00;23;36;26
Joe Blackburn
It's, you know, it's my favorite thing. Now I do get I really do get homesick because I'm, I don't know if it's an old or what, but I don't like being away from home for 4 or 5 days, so. But I do it because that's important. So yes, you're all welcome. We're coming to Orange Beach so I can be home a little bit to,

00;23;36;29 - 00;23;57;23
Jason Croft
And let's talk about that a little bit. What is the the language that the attendees are using when they either in those anonymous surveys or you hear in that, that, that conversation with each other, what is that of of the why they attend a do you have some of that?

00;23;57;27 - 00;24;17;21
Joe Blackburn
I do I can start reading the survey surveys. I'm right here. Well, one thing that's in and for those of you that are coaches or because I know we have some assassins and some out there, you know you've done a good job when people start using your acronyms in your language. You know, I hear pillars stand, deliver a cap.

00;24;17;21 - 00;24;34;13
Joe Blackburn
I mean, sap, I mean, you hear the little things that because it's that's how we program into the mind what to do. It's not I mean, it's good. Like they start speaking the language and that they don't go to any company. You all have it. You know, the you had hella Merrill Lynch. We in the acronym book. If they had so many like yeah.

00;24;34;16 - 00;24;53;17
Joe Blackburn
Have you onboarded with a book. So you really start hearing everybody speak that because then they know that the other what the other person is talking about, but the language around what they like is and you can see it in the in the comments is, you know, I enjoy getting up in front of everyone and stand and deliver.

00;24;53;17 - 00;25;19;01
Joe Blackburn
So they're saying, I know what I'm doing here. That's what's most powerful to me. Or, you know, it's the dinner and the breaks. They're not saying this is the greatest content I've ever seen that. No, no one says that. You know, some people ask for a little more, structure or, time because I try to keep it short and I and I've considered it my, my thought on it is you don't want to be there all day.

00;25;19;01 - 00;25;40;02
Joe Blackburn
You want to end mid afternoon. I mean, think just think back to any meeting that ended at 530 how you felt at four. And you look down and said, Holy shit, we got to go another hour and a half. So but the way they talk about it, it's the experience, not the numbers. It's what it feels like to be and be there and what they're getting from that.

00;25;40;09 - 00;26;00;13
Joe Blackburn
And I that's, that's when I know we have something special. And I, you know, I started this I think that was our sixth in person and I actually was in and I was well I, I'm in two master right now, but I was in a different mastermind. And part of it was how to build a mastermind. And there was like 230 some people in that.

00;26;00;15 - 00;26;22;12
Joe Blackburn
And I it's still kind of loosely online. I think there's like two of us that are still doing it, like still going. It's not it's not easy. It's it is not an easy thing to do. I mean, I tell myself it's easy and effortless so that it feels easy and effortless. But at the end of the day, and I act like I do a lot, I mean, behind the scenes, you know, Lauren is working her tail off.

00;26;22;12 - 00;26;48;23
Joe Blackburn
She's there. She's dealing with the hotel and and the all the, you know, backend administrative stuff. That's where it gets choppy is you're you have to be there and be, you know, be on. And if you don't have someone that has that thing A to Z plus three, you'll be a nervous wreck. So I, I have the, you know, the benefit and the luxury of having someone who is great at that and enjoys it and they love her.

00;26;48;23 - 00;26;56;09
Joe Blackburn
I mean, I would if we polled like who? If we said, who do you like more? Check one of the bosses.

00;26;56;11 - 00;26;59;02
Jason Croft
It's certainly that's why it's not on the form.

00;26;59;02 - 00;27;20;20
Joe Blackburn
I know it certainly isn't me because I would lose that vote. But they, you know, she's done and she has done a fantastic job of making sure that that, you know, when you get there till the time you leave is great and that's it's more valuable than you think. I think a lot of people get wrapped up in these on, well, what are we going to do.

00;27;20;20 - 00;27;41;09
Joe Blackburn
What's the it's that's not what it is. It's what does it feel like to be here and what are my takeaways that I'm actually going to get something from. Not like the mechanics of this, this and this. Those are important. Again we talk about hygiene. That's hygiene has to be good. So it's not crappy. But that's not where the magic happens.

00;27;41;09 - 00;27;49;27
Joe Blackburn
The magic is in being together and knowing, hey, I got someone else out there that's going through what I'm going through. And they want me to win just as bad as I want to win.

00;27;50;00 - 00;28;18;22
Jason Croft
It's great feedback to hear. It also makes complete sense to that that the dominant language is around that experience, the feeling the other people there, because if it wasn't turning into tangible results down the road or in their business throughout the year, it wouldn't they wouldn't stay right. Not for for that long. Like again, back to hygiene like that.

00;28;18;22 - 00;28;22;05
Jason Croft
Better be serving the purpose. Yeah.

00;28;22;07 - 00;28;44;17
Joe Blackburn
But you know what I mean. I like to think I'm a revolutionary at times. However, most ideas are R&D. They're ripped off and duplicated. I mean, I I've yet to see one that was like the original thought maybe creation. That was probably a a. Since then it's just an iteration and part of it for us, you know. So coaches out there, you don't have to be super original.

00;28;44;17 - 00;29;11;22
Joe Blackburn
You need some uniqueness. Like pillars is a unique you know, pillars is there's forms of it, but it's not regimented into a flywheel where you do the things you like with the people you like. You both prosper, and that's your lifestyle. That's pretty unique. So that's a unique. But it's not like rocket science. And again, I'll go back to I think people the more I do this and I, we they asked me my takeaways.

00;29;11;25 - 00;29;32;02
Joe Blackburn
The more that I do this. And with the more people especially across the spectrum of age and where they're at. It's the basics. Like our challenge is back. It's the one on ones people, you know, I, I know everyone can tell this by looking at me. I was a phenomenal college football player. I know this like you look at your like man that did was good.

00;29;32;04 - 00;29;48;22
Joe Blackburn
However you know people and it's I and I hate to make too many sports analogies, but if you can't run through the a gap, if you can't run the dive up the middle, you really can't do anything else because we'll just sit back and, you know, play defense. We'll just sit back on you, you know, if you if you're a threat, we'll just sit back on you.

00;29;48;22 - 00;29;58;16
Joe Blackburn
So I think people want like the spread offense out of the gate and it's like run the run the dive, like get, you know, three yards in a cloud of dust consistently that we have to respect that.

00;29;58;18 - 00;30;00;08
Jason Croft
Then do it again.

00;30;00;10 - 00;30;22;09
Joe Blackburn
Right. Do it again. Do it again. Yeah. You know so I mean it's and that was something that kind of came out I was like sometimes even I assume people know all this because they've had exposure to it. And a reminder is pretty, pretty important. And we it was unanimous like, so let's get back to basics. Let's, you know, walk through those 15 and valuables again.

00;30;22;09 - 00;30;45;00
Joe Blackburn
And it's it's a reminder. It's it's it's just it's repetition is a mother of all skill. The great Tony Robbins says that and he's right. Like it's wraps. So I, I found it to be in that moment to be one of those things where I'm like, okay, sometimes I get too far ahead when we need to get back and make sure this is and that's that's normal.

00;30;45;00 - 00;31;11;02
Joe Blackburn
I mean, part of being the leader is seeing, you know, climbing up the tree and looking out into the jungle and seeing where we're going. But also we got to get the jungle. So that was, it was a good moment. It was a good reminder to me. It was a good moment for me. Most of the time I'm coaching myself like, I think everybody thinks that they're, you know, like most of the things you're when you get into this type of business where you're helping people do more than they ever thought they could, you're reiterating it to you as well.

00;31;11;02 - 00;31;27;25
Joe Blackburn
You get better any I mean, any teacher, any coach, anyone out there, they get better when they do it more the more they work with people. So it's like a you know, that as a perpetuity of self-improvement. And I know it's crazy, but I make mistakes sometimes.

00;31;27;28 - 00;31;58;25
Jason Croft
I don't I don't believe it. You say you ain't so. Yeah, I know that. It's there's so many lessons in here for folks both in. Yes aspiring to to get to that place to to be able to jump in and join the lion, but also all along the way, as you're leading your one person in your organization, you know, keeping these things in mind, revisit hitting the basics, going back through while charting that course ahead.

00;31;58;25 - 00;32;02;22
Jason Croft
And again, like you said, doing it for yourself as well.

00;32;02;24 - 00;32;21;02
Joe Blackburn
So assassins is a derivative of the island and and we have our newest thing is called Leadership Academy, the Lion Leadership Academy. And it's for that reason because I'm on the island trying to do it all myself. I need other people that get it, understand it, and we're all moving in the same direction. So we have other schools where we'll come in and and help.

00;32;21;05 - 00;32;39;16
Joe Blackburn
And you know, you got a leader that's aspiring will help. And you know, we've got a great facilitator in there that's done it at a high level for a long time. Shout out Alpha honor. And I mean, you know, that dude, he's been doing it a long time. That big responsibility. And he's great with leaders. So we're built.

00;32;39;22 - 00;32;59;03
Joe Blackburn
The environment in itself is not single environments. It's really the way I'm seeing it is you need to get started in assassins and get in. Get the muscle memory and the results there. Ascend to the inner circle and we have our immersion, where if you want us to do everything for you while I'm on the. Your teams will do that.

00;32;59;03 - 00;33;19;28
Joe Blackburn
I had a meeting out there with a big business on Tuesday. I went out a day early and we can do that as well, but it's just creating this place to bring everybody to and to win together. That's the way I when I look at it, it's like this is something people will want to be a part of and and do, and it's just going to get better.

00;33;20;01 - 00;33;28;11
Joe Blackburn
So I'm, you know, I'm tickled. I don't know, it sounds like old man saying that, but I am. Exactly.

00;33;28;11 - 00;33;30;15
Jason Croft
You're really leaning into this old man aspect. And you.

00;33;30;19 - 00;33;31;26
Joe Blackburn
I, you know.

00;33;32;02 - 00;33;33;06
Jason Croft
Golly, jeez. Let.

00;33;33;06 - 00;33;34;01
Joe Blackburn
Me let me tell you why.

00;33;34;06 - 00;33;35;20
Jason Croft
I'm tickled. Well.

00;33;35;23 - 00;33;54;17
Joe Blackburn
Let me tell you that. Why I was tired on Monday and it caught me off. I was like, the hell, why am I tired today? So that that is tough. I mean, we put a lot of energy into it, and travel, but I don't remember being that tired the Monday after. But, you know, that's a sign of I gave it what I had.

00;33;54;19 - 00;34;03;13
Joe Blackburn
So I, I can take one day of being tired. Hell, I have five kids like pretty much live my entire adult life tired.

00;34;03;16 - 00;34;28;19
Jason Croft
Fantastic. Well, I'm ecstatic that it went well. I had no doubt that it that it was going to, but, I really wanted to bring these lessons over, you know, some tangible stuff from the, the mastermind of in itself, but also this idea going through it, whether you want to run a version like this yourself or it, just look for these to to be a part of them.

00;34;28;19 - 00;34;51;05
Jason Croft
And they are so important and keep keep that leveling up aspect so awesome. And we will see you all on the next one please. In a sea of endless digital noise, your ability to connect and generate authentic word of mouth is your deadliest weapon. Whether you're just starting out or you're looking to break through to the next level.

00;34;51;12 - 00;35;22;14
Jason Croft
The principles we discuss here are your blueprint for success. It's all about being the most trusted and valued in your network to maximize what you've learned today. Visit Join Sales assassins.com to see how you can become a true sales assassin in your industry. Until next time, keep sharpening your skills, expanding your network and remember, in the world of sales, the true assassins strike silently but effectively by doing what nobody sees coming, building genuine connections and powerful relationships.

00;35;22;17 - 00;35;36;02
Jason Croft
Stay deadly. Stay authentic, and we'll see you on the next episode of Sales Assassins.

00;35;36;04 - 00;35;43;08
Joe Blackburn
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