Last time, I wrote about the “mother ship” as the metaphorical rival or competition that keeps you on your toes, motivates you to get better and do your best, and provides a basis for evaluating your work. Today, I want to present a different perspective for answering this question.
By definition, a “mother ship” is a vessel or craft that services others operating far from a home port or center. This mother ship ensures that other ships can survive, operate effectively, and achieve their mission. Thus, it plays a huge supportive role as partner for success!
This is no small role in uncertain and turbulent times. In fact, the role of mother ship is critical in uncertain and turbulent times. It provides certainty and stability in uncertain and turbulent times!
Right now, there is a great example of the importance of the mother ship in the business side of sports. Over the last several days, weeks, and months, we have seen college sports programs re-evaluate their affiliation with conferences during these uncertain and turbulent times.
It began last summer when the Big Ten Conference explored adding teams to their conference affiliation in order to help the current conference members survive, operate effectively, achieve their mission, and thrive in the future. Ultimately, the Big Ten Conference added just one new member in the University of Nebraska.
However, this initial move led to a few other major colleges switching their affiliations with mother ships last year. The University of Colorado, the University of Utah, Boise State University, and Texas Christian University all made commitments last year to change affiliations.
Over the last several weeks, stories about other major colleges exploring different affiliations have surfaced. We have heard stories about the University of Texas, Oklahoma University, Oklahoma State University, Texas Tech, Baylor, and Iowa State all exploring options.
Suddenly in the last week, we heard about Syracuse University and the University of Pittsburgh exploring the ACC and then received confirmation that both schools were accepted and will be joining the ACC in the near future.
It appears that college leaders believe being associated with the right mother ship is critical for the future success of their major college sports programs! Ivan Maisel at ESPN believes that college leaders are panicking in their search for stability.
You will have to judge for yourself whether or not college leaders are panicking. However, you might also want to follow their lead and evaluate your affiliations with any mother ships.
The right association with the right mother ship can make a critical difference in future success. It can help you create more certainty and stability in uncertain and turbulent times!
I don’t recommend you panic in your evaluation and search. But, you should evaluate your mother ship affiliations. Your current affiliations might have strong ties to tradition but do they provide the right stuff for future success?
The Grow Smart Group might be the “mother ship” you are looking for to help you create success and stability in these uncertain and turbulent times!
© Copyright 2011 Jon L. Iveson, Ph.D.
Jon L. Iveson, Ph.D. is a Gazelles Certified Business Coach who specializes in helping companies and executives thrive. To learn more about him, please visit his website at www.learningtobeachampion.com or contact Jon at (877)342-4267 or jiveson@learningtobeachampion.com .
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[...] keep you in the race but it will not allow you be a winner in the race to the top. You now need a different kind of support team around you to help make you a winner on that [...]
[...] keep you in the race but it will not allow you be a winner in the race to the top. You now need a different kind of support team around you to help make you a winner on that [...]