Principle 2: Mastermind Alliance

Introduction

The second principle of Napoleon Hill's 17 principles of success is the mastermind alliance. The mastermind principle says that two or more people who work in a perfect harmony for the attainment of definite purpose can achieve impossible tasks. Napoleon Hill states that by applying mastermind alliance we can borrow and use education, influence, experience and the capital of other people. No one can achieve lasting success without applying the master mind alliance. Napoleon Hill explained that master mind is a coordination of effort and knowledge, in a spirit of harmony between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose. Great successful people like Thomas Alva Edison and Henry Ford became successful with the help of engineers, mathematicians, technicians and many other technocrats. They just utilised the principle of master mind alliance and channelised the talent of others. A very simple example of mastermind principle is 2-3 friends going to fitness centre and whenever one feels down then other friend motivate him to consistently visit fitness centre for better health. Napoleon Hill said that the mastermind is the master key to success and we can use it to open the door for the attainment of our definite major purpose of life. Master mind alliance is the best way to achieve very big goals but we often observe that most of the mastermind alliance used to fail. So how to ensure that our mastermind alliance succeed under various adversities? We can make best use of mastermind alliance by developing below mentioned values.

Napoleon Hill's Mastermind Values

Value 1: Sharing Skills
This is the key to success of our mastermind alliance. Each and every participant must be open to share his/her skills. Member can gain more knowledge, money or satisfaction by sharing their skills in the mastermind alliance. But whatever they gain, sharing skills is the best way to make a successful mastermind alliance.
Value 2: Accountability
Accountability is a very important value as each and every member of alliance must be accountable for certain responsibilities. Otherwise everyone will be responsible for the failure of the alliance and remember that everyone’s responsibility is no one's responsibility.
Value 3: Adding Value for others
We must also add value in other's lives as well. When we are a part of the alliance then we must share our skills with others and try our best to impart our skills to others. At the same time we must also try to gain other’s knowledge and skills as well. Whenever our team member approaches us with certain problems then we must help that team member and that’s how we can add value in other's life.

Value 4: The Spiritual Component
Napoleon Hill said that when two or more people come together in a perfect harmony they open themselves up to infinite intelligence. This infinite intelligence is just like a powerful intuition, or a wise advisor. The mastermind principle gives us an absolute protection against failure, provided that our purpose of using this principle must be beneficial to everyone.

Summary

A group of people coordinated in a strong spirit of harmony will provide more thought energy than a single person, it is just like a group of batteries give more power as compared to a single battery. Napoleon Hill talked about this principle in 1940s but it is still relevant and proven sound because it works. This principle has been used effectively by many leaders throughout the history of philosophy, business and politics. Mastermind principle will definitely work for you as well. 
All the best