Playbook for Success: A Hall of Famer's Business Tactics for Teamwork and Leadership

Chapter 4. Never Fear Success

Courage is knowing what not to fear.

—Plato

Casey Coffman is the executive vice president of business development and operations for Madison Square Garden Sports, and formerly chief operating officer of Hicks Sports Group, which sold its ownership of the Texas Rangers baseball team in 2010. It still owns the Dallas Stars hockey team and half of the Liverpool Football Club (soccer), among other sports concerns, as well as entertainment and real estate holdings. As one of the few top female executives in sports, I have tremendous respect and admiration for Casey. She has always worked in male-dominated arenas, starting her career as an attorney with Coca-Cola in Asia. I remember asking her years ago how she got involved in this business, and to my surprise, she said it was because of me. She had heard me make a speech back in the 1980s about the importance of women being involved in sports. She figured if she couldn't play, she could make an impact on the business side. And she certainly has!

Casey faced her fears of success in what is, to this day, still a male-dominated world. She created a game plan—her own Playbook for Success, if you will—of how she would work her way up the ladder to get to where she is today. She used many of the same plays I am teaching you throughout this book, including dedication, concentration, goal-setting, communication, and understanding the bigger picture. But the focus of this chapter is that first step she took: facing ...