What happens when you take a group of rival institutions, each with their own staffs of hundreds of employees and operating on budgets in excess of $100 million, and convince them to work together as one cohesive unit? You create what is arguably the single most successful collegiate sports organization of all time ā the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
During more than a century of organized collegiate athletics competition, no conference has had a more dominating run against its competitors than the SEC during the last decade. Winners of 7 straight Bowl Championship Series (BCS) national titles in football and accumulating a total of 86 NCAA national championships in 21 different sports from 2003-2013, the SEC has been astonishingly successful in almost every sport it sponsors. The conference has also attracted a record number of fans, with almost 7.5 million attending member football games during the most recent season.
It is no coincidence that the SECās renaissance can be linked back to 2002, when its current commissioner, Mike Slive, was hired. A veteran college administrator and attorney, Slive brought what is referred to as ātipping point leadershipā to the SEC; he strategically unified a conference that lacked the level of cooperation necessary to achieve its full potential. That is not to say that the SEC was dysfunctional by any means, but rather that because of the intense competitive dynamic that exists amongst its members, the league needed a leader who was capable of transforming it to function symbiotically in order for it to go from merely good to truly great.
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During more than a century of organized collegiate athletics competition, no conference has had a more dominating run against its competitors than the SEC during the last decade. Winners of 7 straight Bowl Championship Series (BCS) national titles in football and accumulating a total of 86 NCAA national championships in 21 different sports from 2003-2013, the SEC has been astonishingly successful in almost every sport it sponsors. The conference has also attracted a record number of fans, with almost 7.5 million attending member football games during the most recent season.
It is no coincidence that the SECās renaissance can be linked back to 2002, when its current commissioner, Mike Slive, was hired. A veteran college administrator and attorney, Slive brought what is referred to as ātipping point leadershipā to the SEC; he strategically unified a conference that lacked the level of cooperation necessary to achieve its full potential. That is not to say that the SEC was dysfunctional by any means, but rather that because of the intense competitive dynamic that exists amongst its members, the league needed a leader who was capable of transforming it to function symbiotically in order for it to go from merely good to truly great.
Read the rest of the article here...
