The Alchemists' Circle

Inner Circle Guide

Purpose

The Inner Circle consists of entrepreneur volunteers who have come together to build the mastermind of peer mentors, "The LEC ARENA." They do so to enjoy the process of building something of value together and, in the process, internalise LEC concepts by doing various activities.

Purpose of the Gathering:

The Alchemists' Circle gathering is the primary catalyst for building and sustaining our peer-mentoring mastermind, the 'LEC ARENA'. The evening's focus is to elevate entrepreneurs beyond mere problem-solving towards masterpiece-building. Each person shares their unique wisdom and gains profound insights that reshape their perspective. The goal is for every attendee to leave with a renewed vision of their enterprise as their 'Great Work'—a source of profound challenge, learning, and fulfilment.

Key Roles & Guidelines

This is the foundation for setting the right expectations with guests.

  • Insight Over Sales: This is not a gathering to sell, promote, or seek referrals. The focus is exclusively on exchanging practical insights to solve real business challenges.
  • A Curated Circle: The event is for ARENA Players and their personally invited guests. While ARENA Players are always welcome, guests must be invited for each specific gathering to maintain the integrity of the circle.
  • A Safe Space: The purpose is to create a trusted, confidential environment where entrepreneurs can discuss challenges openly and honestly. What's shared in the circle, stays in the circle.
  • Update the Website, WhatsApp messages, and the Nudge App with the latest venue details and speakers.
  • Create a broadcast group of all the participants for event communications.
  • Link to Broadcast Messages Templates >

Welcome Station:

Set up a clearly marked welcome desk near the entrance with a sign-in sheet, UPI payment barcode, blank name tags, markers, and small standees.

Seating Layout:

Arrange seating in distinct "huddles" of 6 chairs each to create an intimate setting for the `Unlocking Huddle`.

Strategic Seating Allocation:

Pre-assign one trained Facilitator to each huddle. Have a tent card made for each table with the Facilitator's name and the names of the people in the huddle. Ensure each group of 6 has a mix of ARENA Players and new guests. Place guests ideally with the person who invited them.

On Table:

Place a branded writing pad, a pen, and a glass of water at each seat.

Food:

  • 6:00 PM - 6:30 PM: Tea / Coffee and light snacks available.
  • 8:00 PM: Dinner (Veg and Non-Veg options).
Venue Arrangement Checklist

Your Mission:

As a Conversation Initiator during the arrival time, your role is to be a warm host, making every attendee feel welcomed and gently guiding them into the unique mindset of the Circle.

The Process:

  1. Welcome & Guide: Greet attendees and guide them to their huddle tables, ensuring a good mix of new and experienced members.
  2. Spark Conversation: Your main goal is to spark purposeful conversations. You can start by asking attendees to think about two simple prompts:
    • "What's something that's been working really well in your business lately?"
    • "What's one area where you're seeking a better way to do things?"
  3. Make Purposeful Introductions: Based on the conversations, connect people. For example: "Ramesh, you mentioned you're looking for better ways to run team meetings. Priya was just sharing a daily huddle system that's working for her. You two should chat."

A Crucial Guideline:

Steer conversations towards the principles behind a success, not just the success itself. If someone says "We just landed a big client," a great follow-up is, "That's fantastic! What was the key practice that made it happen?"

Your Mission:

To anchor the formal proceedings with vibrant energy and precision, ensuring a memorable and impactful experience for everyone.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Master the Clock: Exemplary time management is the hallmark of a great meeting. Ensure a smooth flow, keeping each segment within its allotted time and concluding the event punctually.
  • Maintain Focus: Gently guide conversations, ensuring they remain centered on the evening's agenda and purpose.
  • Elevate the Script: Personalize the provided scripts with compelling quotes and anecdotes that amplify the core messages.
  • Leverage Resources: Utilize the provided script templates and flashcards. Customize them to fit your unique style and voice.
  • Innovate, Don't Alter: While the core agenda and key messages should remain intact, enhance the delivery with your personal style to boost energy and engagement.
  • Shine the Spotlight: Your role is to highlight the speakers and participants, keeping the focus on their contributions.
  • Purposeful Introductions: Keep speaker introductions concise and centered on why their specific wisdom is valuable to the circle.
  • Spark LEC Curiosity: Since many guests are new to LEC, mention relevant concepts and tools conversationally to pique their interest. Always provide brief, clear context.
MC Resources

A) Speaker Selection & Briefing:

Select two speakers before the event: one Internal from ARENA who can share an LEC implementation (e.g., Inside-out Strategy or People Practices), and a second who can share an insight on what has worked for them, or a business concept they applied.

It's important to set the expectation with speakers that they need to explain the key principles and insights they implemented in a way that others might be able to apply. They should not promote/sell themselves or their services. The time limit is 10-12 minutes.

Speaker Guide: https://youtube.com/shorts/vj2YGrZdHnI

B) Speaker Introduction:

As the MC for the segment, introduce the speakers briefly, highlighting the specific reason why they were invited to share their wisdom with the circle.

C) Combined Audience Q&A (8 Min):

Have both speakers stand with you and have a ready question handy to start. Keep the session fast-paced and get the audience to be crisp in their ask.

Your Mission & Core Responsibilities:

Your role is to create a safe, focused, and high-value experience. This involves being the timekeeper, ensuring equitable participation, guiding the conversation, and facilitating the commitment capture at the end.

  1. State the purpose: "We are here to get fresh ideas for a situation where two or three of us are seeking a better way in our business."
  2. Encourage introspection: "Though we'll be helping the focus person, remember that the points discussed might be useful to you as well."
  3. Set expectations: "Our role is not to give a final solution but to trigger new ideas. Feel free to share whatever comes to mind."
  4. Advise the focus person: "The best way to get value is to be open to possibilities. Most suggestions may not be relevant, but they can be food for thought."
  5. Prompt for reflection: "Let's all take a minute to reflect on what could be better in our business."
  6. Select a scribe to take notes for the focus person.
  7. Select a focus person randomly (e.g., spin a pen on the table).

Huddle Agenda & Guidelines:

Click on each step below to see your specific guideline for that part of the process.

Your Role: Invite the Focus Person to share their challenge. Keep it concise and focused on a single, specific issue.
Your Role: This is a critical step. Ask the Focus Person, "What's the outcome you really want?" After they answer, probe deeper with, "Is that really the outcome you want?" to get to the core desire.
Your Role: Go around the huddle and ask each person to share a relevant insight or experience—in the context of the focus person's topic—that they have seen work for them or elsewhere.
Your Role: Give the Focus Person a moment of silence to absorb the input. Then, invite them to share one brief thought or feeling, reminding them to avoid defending their current approach.
Your Role: Now, open the floor for brainstorming. Encourage creative, out-of-the-box ideas. Ask the group, "What's a completely different way to look at this?" or "What's a crazy idea that might just work?"
Your Role: Ask the group, "Are there any LEC concepts that apply here?" This helps connect the practical discussion back to the core principles.
Your Role: Ask the focus person "That was interesting and useful?" Suggest they could connect with whomever they want to have a deeper discussion with during dinner or later. Get the scribe to hand over the notes to the focus person.

The Inner Circle is the dedicated team of organisers and volunteers at the heart of The Alchemists' Circle. The Galvaniser's role is to energise this team, ensuring everyone is enthusiastically contributing to create not just an awesome gathering, but a sustained, valuable journey for all.

Core Principle:

We are a collective of peer mentors, coming together to mutually benefit from shared insights. The focus is on the joy of co-creating something spectacular while embracing self-organising practices.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Role Clarity & Fluidity: Ensure all roles are clearly defined and filled. We follow a key LEC principle: assign tasks to people, not people to tasks. There are no rigid designations; individuals are encouraged to take on tasks that align with their passions and skills, fostering self-actualisation. Use the task spreadsheet to ensure all responsibilities are covered.
  • Seamless Communication: Maintain clear and open lines of communication so everyone understands what needs to be done.
  • Adaptable Roles: Team members can exchange tasks through mutual discussion. It's crucial to keep the Galvaniser informed of any changes to prevent anything from slipping through the cracks.
  • Joy in Creation: Our primary motivation is the joy of creating and collaborating. This intrinsic drive is the fuel for our success.
  • Sustainable Contribution: To prevent burnout and maintain enthusiasm, ensure no volunteer spends more than two hours per week on Circle-related activities.
  • Learn to Replicate: The ARENA must grow organically, like an amoeba, using self-organising principles. By design, each Alchemists' Circle gathering is limited to 42 attendees, and the Circle itself should have 15 to 40 ARENA Players. The goal is to split the Circle into two once it reaches 40 players, allowing for replication and scale.
  • Learn to Handover: Developing others is a critical skill. Are you actively mentoring someone to take over your galvanising role? Aim to complete this handover within six months.
Galvaniser Resources

Event Timeline & Guide

6:00 PM

Objective:

Facilitate immediate, purposeful interaction.

Activity Guide:

Conversation Initiators welcome attendees, guide them to huddles, and spark conversations around "What's Working" and "Seeking a Better Way."

6:30 PM

Objective:

Set an aspirational tone aligned with the vision of "work itself as fulfilment".

Activity Guide:

The host gathers attention, extends a high-energy welcome, states the mission for the evening (to gain a new advantage and transmute challenges), and briefly walks through the interactive agenda.

6:35 PM

Objective:

Provide tangible "A-Ha moments" and inspiration through two distinct but complementary expert talks.

Activity:

  • Introduction (3 Mins): The MC introduces the segment's "dual-lens" approach and both speakers.
  • Speaker 1: The 'Internal' Lens (12 Mins): A speaker shares a breakthrough related to a shift in mindset or approach.
  • Speaker 2: The 'External' Lens (12 Mins): A guest or ARENA player shares insights on a cutting-edge trend or novel business approach.
  • Combined Audience Q&A (8 Mins): The MC brings both speakers on stage for a moderated Q&A with the audience.

7:10 PM

Objective:

Facilitate deep, valuable conversations where participants receive actionable insights.

Activity Guide:

Facilitators guide their groups through two (or three, if time permits) 15-minute "Focus Person" rounds using the interactive agenda. See the Facilitator Guidelines for the full process.

7:45 PM

Objective:

Consolidate learnings from the huddles and showcase the event's value.

Activity Guide:

The host invites 1-2 people to share a specific, powerful insight they received during their huddle. The host then provides a brief closing thought and an inviting call to action for guests to learn more.

7:50 PM

Objective:

Foster a sense of active collaboration and showcase ongoing projects within the group.

Activity Guide:

The host invites 1-2 members leading ARENA group projects or LEAGS to the stage. Each gives a 2-minute update on progress, learnings, and how others can get involved.

7:55 PM

Objective:

Inform attendees about future opportunities for learning and connection.

Activity Guide:

The host takes the stage to concisely announce upcoming events, such as the date for the next Alchemists' Circle and an upcoming workshop. A link to the announcement template is below:

Template for Announcements

8:00 PM

Objective:

Continue the valuable conversations started during the huddles in an informal setting.

Activity Guide:

As the formal agenda concludes, the host encourages everyone to continue their discussions over dinner, framing it as an essential part of the evening's exchange.