Women's Leadership & Community
The word 'mastermind' has been attached to so many things in the online business world that it has almost lost its meaning.
There are masterminds that are essentially courses with a Facebook group. Masterminds that are paid communities with occasional live calls. Masterminds that are one person's personal brand wrapped in group packaging. Some of these are valuable. Some are not. And the proliferation of the term makes it genuinely difficult for a woman trying to work out whether joining one is a good use of her time and money.
I run a mastermind. I have a clear perspective on what makes one worth the investment and what does not. This is my honest attempt to give you the information you need to make a good decision, about the LeadHer Circle or about anything else.
The concept was originally articulated by Napoleon Hill in the 1930s: a small group of people with a shared purpose who meet regularly to think together, challenge each other and hold each other accountable. The group itself is the resource, not just the facilitator.
A genuine mastermind has a few defining characteristics. It is small. The intimacy and trust that make the format work cannot survive in a group of fifty. It is curated, meaning the people in the room have been selected with care rather than simply enrolled. It is consistent, because the value compounds over time as the group develops genuine knowledge of each other's situations. And it is facilitated with skill, because a group of capable women without good facilitation tends to default to advice-giving rather than the deeper thinking that actually moves things.
"I had been in a large online programme before. Lots of content, lots of people, very little of it landed. The LeadHer Circle is the opposite. Small enough that I am actually known. That changes everything."
LeadHer Circle member
This is where the terminology gets genuinely confusing, because the two are often used interchangeably. They are not the same thing.
In group coaching, the coach is the primary source of insight and direction. The format is typically: coach teaches or facilitates, participants receive. The value flows from the coach's expertise downward.
In a mastermind, the collective intelligence of the group is the resource. The facilitator creates the conditions and holds the structure, but the breakthroughs often come from the women in the room, from hearing someone else articulate something you had not been able to name, or from being challenged by a peer who has seen your situation more clearly than you have.
The distinction matters because it changes what you are paying for. In group coaching, you are paying for the coach's expertise. In a mastermind, you are paying for access to a carefully selected group of people and the facilitation that makes that group productive.
Factor 01
Curation above everything
The single most important factor in a mastermind's value is who is in the room. A well-facilitated group of the wrong people will underperform every time. A lightly facilitated group of the right people will still produce something.
What makes people 'right' is not that they are all at the same stage or in the same industry. It is that they bring genuine experience, genuine self-awareness and genuine willingness to engage honestly. A woman who shows up with a polished version of her situation rather than the real one is not just wasting her own time. She is taking something from the group.
This is why I have a conversation with every woman before she joins the LeadHer Circle. Not as a sales process. As a curation process. The group depends on it.
What members say
"The most meaningful part for me has been meeting the other women and hearing their stories. The small group aspect makes it feel really special." — Carolyn, LeadHer Circle member
Factor 02
Spacing that allows for integration
One of the most consistent patterns I observe is that the real shift rarely happens in the session itself. It happens in the days after, when the thinking has settled and something clicks. A format that meets too frequently does not give that process space to work.
The LeadHer Circle meets every three weeks deliberately. Three weeks gives you time to sit with what emerged, try something, notice what shifted, and come back ready to go deeper. It is not a shortcut. It is a rhythm that respects how real change actually works.
What members say
"The group helped me stay accountable and recognise that I had made progress, even when it did not feel obvious. Preparing for each session made me realise how much I had actually evolved." — Nathalie, LeadHer Circle member
Factor 03
Facilitation that goes beyond administration
A mastermind facilitator does more than manage time and keep people on topic. She holds the group's thinking, notices what is not being said, asks the question that cuts through the surface version of the problem, and creates the conditions in which honest conversation is possible.
This is a specific skill. It is different from being a good coach one-to-one, and it is different from being an engaging presenter. The best group facilitation is almost invisible: the group feels like it is doing the work, and it is, with someone skilled enough to know when to stay back and when to intervene.
What members say
"The value has been the nuggets of wisdom from a well curated group and the validation that comes from mutual respect and lived experience. Hearing different perspectives has helped me see where my own thinking was limited." — Judi, LeadHer Circle member
Factor 04
A group small enough to matter
Trust does not scale. The particular kind of conversation that a mastermind makes possible, where a woman puts the real thing on the table rather than the acceptable version of it, requires a group small enough for genuine relationships to form.
I have sat in large group programmes and I have sat in small circles. They are not the same experience. In the LeadHer Circle, every woman is known. That is not a feature. It is the point.
What members say
"Knowing there is a group of trusted women behind me gives me such a greater sense of peace and confidence. It impacts my business, yes, but more importantly it impacts my overall wellbeing. I know in my bones that I am not alone." — Julia, LeadHer Circle member
The question is not whether masterminds work.
The question is whether the specific one you are considering is run well enough to be worth it.
In their own words
"The connections in the group, the positive and uplifting energy, and the sharing of ideas and experiences have been incredibly supportive for me."
Mirjam, LeadHer Circle member
"I love the connections, the similarities and the differences. It has been the most meaningful part for me."
Carolyn, LeadHer Circle member
"It impacts my business, yes, but more importantly it impacts my overall wellbeing. I know in my bones that I am not alone."
Julia, LeadHer Circle member
"Hearing different perspectives has helped me see where my own thinking was limited."
Judi, LeadHer Circle member
The LeadHer Circle is a small, carefully held mastermind for capable women who are navigating something significant, a career transition, a business rebuild, a relocation, a question about what comes next, and who are ready to stop figuring it out alone.
It meets every three weeks via video. The group is small by design. Every member has had a conversation with me before joining, because the experience depends on who is in the room.
It is not a course. It is not a networking group. It is not somewhere to perform a polished version of your situation. It is a place for the real thing, facilitated with structure and care, by someone who has sat with enough women at this particular intersection to know what it usually needs.
If you are wondering whether it is the right fit for you, the most direct way to find out is a conversation.
A short discovery conversation. No pitch, no pressure. An honest discussion about where you are and whether the group is the right fit at this point.
Or read more about Transition Intelligence and signs you are ready for a transition coach.