Pictured: YCR Advisory Committee with Leadership Luncheon Guest Speaker John Schuerholz, President of the Atlanta Braves

Over 170 people attended the Young Council of REALTORS® Annual Leadership Luncheon held at The Cherokee Town Club on Thursday, June 17th. The Young Council was honored to have John Schuerholz, President of the Atlanta Braves, as the Keynote Speaker.

Mr. Schuerholz discussed the toxic environment and apathetic attitudes that were pervasive when he came to the Braves in 1991. He turned the organization around by giving the then current staff the opportunity to share in his vision and make the changes necessary to succeed - to become a World Championship team. He found the leaders that rose the challenge shared a few key characteristics: confidence, passion and drive. We thank Mr. Schuerholz for sharing his success story with us and hope it offered our younger members the encouragement needed to succeed in these troubled economic times. The YCR will support Mr. Schuerholz's dedication to Atlanta by donating the proceeds of this event to Camp Sunshine.

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About

John Schuerholz
President of the Atlanta Braves

Schuerholz served 26 years as a general manager, from October, 1981, to October, 2007, including 17 as the Braves' executive vice president and general manager from 1991 to 2007. Schuerholz came to the Braves from the Kansas City Royals in October of 1990, and before his promotion to president, he had the longest tenure with the same organization among all major league GMs.

Under his leadership and guidance, the Braves achieved unprecedented success, compiling the best record in baseball (1,594-1,092; .593) over those 17 seasons from 1991 to 2007. The Braves established an American professional sports record by winning 14 consecutive division titles from 1991 to 2005 (the 1994 season was not played to completion).

The Braves have won five National League pennants, one World Series, several organization of the year awards and have surpassed the 3,000,000 mark in home attendance six times in the past 18 seasons. By finishing 101-61 in 2003, the Braves reached the century mark in victories for the fifth time in seven seasons and for the sixth time since 1993.

During his career with Baltimore, Kansas City and Atlanta, Schuerholz has been associated with three World Champions (1966, 1985 and 1995), eight pennant winners and 20 division crowns. In 2004, to honor his nearly 40 years of success at the major league level, Baseball America named him the recipient of the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. Atlanta's overall success in 2005 also helped the Braves earn Baseball America's prestigious Organization of the Year award.

Various groups have honored the achievements of Schuerholz and the Braves. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum recognized John as the National League Executive of the Year with its Andrew "Rube" Foster Award in 2001, 2002 and 2005. The Braves 400 Club bestowed its Ivan Allen, Jr. "Mr. Baseball" Award, presented to "the person who has contributed significantly to the promotion of baseball in the Atlanta area" to Schuerholz in February 2000. Baseball America honored the Braves as the most outstanding major league franchise of the past two decades with its 20th Anniversary Award of Excellence in December 2001. As a result of the Braves' 1991 worst-to-first performance, Schuerholz was named the Executive of the Year by UPI, the Boston Writers Association and the Maryland Tops in Sports group, Executive of the Year by the Georgia Securities Association and Georgian of the Year by Georgia Trend Magazine.