Family.
It was the essence of former Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive, who died Wednesday at age 77 after a lengthy illness.
As a husband who adored his wife Liz, a father who beamed about daughter Anna, a grandfather who doted on granddaughter Abigail and as the 13-year patriarch for this nation's most competitive college athletic league, Slive's ability to intimately connect was second to none.
The SEC's astounding run under Slive with schools winning 81 national championships and revenue sharing skyrocketing from $95.8 million when he became commissioner in July 2002 to $455.8 million when he retired in July 2015 wasn't happenstance.