What is a Masons Lead Better Master Builder Group?

In 1727, our Brother Benjamin Franklin, created the Junto, a club for mutual improvement.Also known as the Leather Apron Club, its purpose was to debate questions of morals, politics, and natural philosophy, and to exchange knowledge of business affairs. They also were a charitable organization who made a subscription public library of their own books.

Napoleon Hill, in his book Think and Grow Rich, called this type of group a mastermind group, and defined its purpose as “the coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.”

What would be a Master Builder Group’s purpose?

For the Masons Lead Better program to be effective in improving ourselves and Masonry, there must be a process that continues the study of the material, and encourages the practice of the principles and lessons presented in the workshop. A group, like Brother Franklin’s, can accomplish this.

Here are some of the benefits:

1.      Mutual support – those Brothers who have taken part in the workshop have an understanding of the purpose and goals of the program and therefore can offer support and encouragement when needed.

2.      Differing perspectives – we each are unique and look at issues and problems differently. Being around Brothers who also are committed to self-improvement and improving Masonry, will allow each Brother to learn various approaches to personal and leadership development, and receive honest assessments that will improve their performance.

3.      Resources – everyone will have access to different information and a network of people. The sharing of these resources will allow each Brother to progress in ways they never could by themselves.

4.      Accountability – the Brothers in the group will hold each accountable to goals set. Just knowing there is a regularly scheduled meeting drives each Brother to make progress – because none of them want to be the only one reporting they have not made progress.

5.      Creates a group Lodges in your area can turn to for support – The Master Builders Group can become a source of advice, a Masonic “think tank,” that is willing to offer suggestions to solve lodge problems or help improve individual lodges.

How do you run a Master Builder Group? 

1.      Meet regularly and precisely – keep to a regular time, begin and end on time. The ideal timing is once a week for an hour. If this is not practical, then determine what frequency would be best for the group. The less frequent you meet, the greater the session time should be. However, this is not a workshop, this an ongoing dialogue. So try to meet as frequently as possible.

2.      Give each member equal time – again this is not a presentation by one person. This is an exchange of ideas, thoughts, and the sharing of the content of the material from Masons Lead Better.

3.      Don’t interrupt when a Brother is speaking – remember the purpose of the meeting is to give everyone a chance to speak.

4.      Decide if you need an agenda for more structure – for each gathering you will have a topic decided on by the group at the previous meeting. You may want an agenda if you want to provide accountability for completion of workbook exercises and progress reports.

5.      Decide if you need a facilitator – If you find your group continues to stray off topic or continually runs over time, then a facilitator may be necessary. The group will decide what best works.

Keep a record of what happened – lessons covered, member goals achieved, successes, failures and other items that will keep the group accountable to one another.

For information about a Master Builder Group in your district contact your District Advisor.