How to Host a High-Impact Hot Seat Mastermind (4 Min Read) | Vol. 148

April 25, 2025

“No two minds ever come together without, thereby, creating a third, invisible, intangible force which may be likened to a third mind.” – Napoleon Hill

How to Host a High-Impact Hot Seat Mastermind

In May of 1968, the nuclear submarine USS Scorpion disappeared. It was declared lost at sea about two weeks after last contact. This was the height of the Cold War, and the race was on to find the lost sub before the Soviet Union. When the search operation began, the Navy faced the daunting task of finding a 251-foot-long submarine in a 20-mile circle, thousands of feet deep. They only had the sub’s last reported location to go on. That’s over 1,200 square miles before you figure in the ocean depths. I’m sure more than one petty officer muttered “needle in a haystack” that week.

John Craven, a scientist from the Navy’s Special Projects Division, led the search. He invited a broad group of experts to wager on what happened to the submarine and where it might have come to rest.  He recruited other submariners, salvage experts, mathematicians, and others to place bets with a bottle of Chivas Regal as the prize. He plotted all their locations using a formula called Bayes’ Theorem. He wasn’t trying to see if any person guessed correctly. No one did. He wanted to see if collectively they had the answer. 

The submarine was recovered just 220 yards from their collective guess. 

I first read about this in Blind Man’s Bluff by Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew. I remember thinking, “That’s a mastermind at work!”

I’ve probably attended or hosted over 150 masterminds in my career.  Why? Because they’ve consistently proven to be one of the most powerful tools for gaining clarity, solving complex problems, and making better decisions – often in a fraction of the time it would take me alone. 

My favorite variation is the “hot seat” mastermind. Hot seats allow everyone to present their biggest challenge and benefit from the wisdom of the group in a relatively short amount of time. 

Whether you’re leading a team that needs fresh thinking or simply want to accelerate your own growth, hosting a “hot seat” can transform how you overcome challenges and turn them into breakthroughs. 

Ready to host your own? Here is how to host one in four steps.

1. Set the Table

When my friends Mo Bunnell and Shawn Blanc host masterminds, they invite all the attendees to form a circle. Everyone takes one minute to share who they are, their “superpowers,” and the challenge they hope to solve at the event.

In the first twenty minutes, you get both a great sense of the diversity of talents AND how everyone, no matter how successful, is dealing with something.

2. Divide into Small Groups
Next, everyone is assigned to small groups of 4 or 3. Four is the goal, but if you have 27 attendees, you’ll get 6 groups of 4 and one of 3. Shawn will remove suits from a deck of cards to get the right number of groups. Then he’ll shuffle and ask everyone to pick a card.This randomly groups people together. You’ll have a table of aces, another of queens, etc. 

3. Mastermind Challenges

Attendees then separate into masterminds. One member keeps time, and they take turns sharing their challenge and asking for advice. For groups of four, each member gets 15 minutes. Groups of three get 20 minutes each in the hot seat. In about an hour, everyone gets specific help for their challenges.

Last year, I brought a very specific challenge to my hot seat. No one at my small table had the answer. Yet they asked questions I hadn’t considered and offered perspectives I couldn’t see on my own.  They also pointed me to others they knew who could help. I walked away feeling lighter, with a clear path forward. 

4. Share Ahas

Finally, the host(s) can clear the exercise. My favorite question is: “Who heard something worth sharing?” There is something about that question that leads attendees to brag on each other instead of spotlighting themselves. The learning expands. 

I love masterminds in general and hot seats in particular. The intimacy of small groups leads to a level of vulnerability that doesn’t often happen in big rooms. And vulnerability leads to connection. Connection builds community. 

Most importantly, it yields breakthroughs for challenges that might have held you back for months or even years. 

One question to ponder in your thinking time: How can you leverage hot seats to build community in your organization? 

Make an Impact!
Jay Papasan
Co-author of The ONE Thing & The Millionaire Real Estate Agent