During a single week in October I flew through 4 different airports – just to be inspired.

I believe fiercely in the value of curiosity, lifelong learning and bringing a beginner’s mindset (open and eager) even to those topics you think you know well.

Which is why I’ll do things like invest in three back-to-back professional development events within a week even when they’re spread out across the continent.

Last week I shared a few lessons from Michelle Obama from her International Day of the Girl presentation here in Ottawa. Two weeks later at the RBC Women’s Symposium a room of close to 200 people -- mostly high-achieving women in wealth management at RBC -- were treated to an entertaining and enlightening talk from Susan O’Malley.

Yes, that’s today’s Jeopardy Question: Who is Susan O’Malley?

Susan is a former President of Washington Sports and Entertainment; at 29 years old, she was the first female president of an NBA franchise (the Washington Bullets, now known as the Washington Wizards) and one of the first female presidents of a major professional sports team in the US. She has been described as a skilled motivator, able to create the kind of spirited, results-oriented work environment that is becoming common throughout professional sports.

When Susan took on the role of President of the Washington Bullets, who held the WORST record in the NBA, she decided she would instill the values she’d been raised with in her large, Irish Catholic family. Under her leadership, the team saw a 25% increase in attendance, the team's highest average attendance in 13 years, and the most sold-out games in team history during the 1991–1992 season.

Here are the rules Susan credits for her, and her team’s, success.

Rule one: Make your bed every day.

When the small things go well, bigger tasks follow suit. Motion creates motion, so start your day strong by getting up and making your bed. Added benefit: when you’ve had a hard day, there’s a comfortable spot waiting for you to crawl into.

Rule two: Plan your work and work your plan.

In order to know if you’re making progress you need a plan. Set a plan. Then, do something every day to move your plan forward.

When Susan graduated from college her father challenged her to list 10 things she wanted to accomplish in her 20s. Then she took regular, consistent action. By the time she was 30, she’d accomplished 8 of the 10. She brought that lesson in productivity and achievement into the workplace: she challenged her direct reports to take consistent action towards 3 goals so they always had something they were striving towards.

Rule three: Keep working on your craft.

Stay focussed on outworking everyone else. Not because you always need to, but because you’re passionate enough to want to. Susan watched as Larry Byrd seemed to magically appear in the right spot in every game to win points. But it wasn’t magic or luck. He was the first on the floor for warm up and the last to leave the floor before the game. He’d add 50 practice throws to every practice to solidify the muscle memory. Already a star, Byrd outworked everyone on the court displaying passion and commitment.

Rule four: Set clear expectations.

Have you ever been frustrated by a colleague or team member who let you down? Don’t blame those around you if they don’t meet an expectation you failed to communicate. Susan founded the first Washington Bullets internship program in 1991. After watching an intern cheer for an opposing (winning) team, she chewed him out. He defended himself, though, explaining that he hadn’t been instructed to cheer for the Bullets and Susan apologized, realizing he wasn’t at fault. Be explicit about what you expect from yourself and those around you – only then can you justifiably hold yourself and anyone else accountable.

Rule five: When you mess up, make it right.

Susan described her experiences with focus groups as “horrible and helpful”.

She listened to patrons complain that they only heard from the team when their invoice was due, and they didn’t appreciate the constantly rising beer and concession prices. (Sounds a bit like our Ottawa Senators in the last year or two.)

So Susan implemented a strategy to get regular feedback and connect more closely with fans. Each day members of the executive team would receive an index card with the name and phone number of a season ticket holder. They called the fan to say hi, thank you and ask explicitly, ‘What can we do differently?’

In one of her feedback calls a patron grumbled that he left every game with a mark on his pant leg. “There’s a piece of gum under my seat and it marks my pants.” “Have you told anyone?” “No. No one ever asked me.” Susan promised to rectify the situation, and proceeded to that exact seat, and peeled away the gum herself.

With this new strategy of reaching out, listening and making things right, season ticket renewal rates increased to 90%, even while the team continued its losing streak!

Rule six: Do the right thing even when nobody is looking.

Susan’s example involved a story about her family travelling. Her dad gave her brother $0.10 to buy a newspaper. Her brother was only gone for a minute when he returned with a paper, and the $0.10. Dad grilled him on how he acquired a free paper. “Oh, I just grabbed a paper that was on the floor outside a room down the hall. They’ll never know.” Dad disapproved and made her brother return the paper and buy a proper copy.

The lesson stuck with Susan. At one point she visited a Rotary club to drum up support and hope for the Bullets’ remaining season. A club member suggested they should strive to lose all their remaining games to position themselves better in the upcoming draft lottery. The member insisted no one would ever know. But Susan said no, that compromised the values of the team regardless of who knew what. That season racked up a lot, but not all, losses.

Rule seven: Have fun.

If you enjoy something, you will be better at it. It’s that simple. Susan joined the Washington Bullets at the height of their losing streak. She was quick to remind us of this fact throughout her keynote.

Susan reminisced about the time her coach reacted to a particularly challenging losing streak on the road. Instead of dropping the team at the stadium upon their return home, the coach ordered a detour which landed them a bowling alley for an afternoon of bowling and beers. It rejuvenated their kinship and camaraderie. They won their next game. In fact, they went on to a small winning streak that put them into the playoffs that year.

Rule eight: The people make the difference.

It makes a difference who you surround yourself with. Positivity will boost your positivity; negativity begets more negativity. The best way to grow and challenge yourself is to put yourself in a room with people smarter than yourself. Surround yourself with high achievers. As the saying goes - you are the sum of your closest connections. There’s always an opportunity for you to up your average!

We all have rules that we live by – whether they’ve been formalized or not. Like the rules of a game, you know which rules you personally need to play by to keep the game from falling apart. I was fascinated to hear the rules that empowered Susan O’Malley to have such a huge impact in her ground-breaking role.

What are your rules? As always, I’d love to hear from you. You can get in touch with me via email here.

Or, if you’re looking for a few new rules around saving, spending and sharing your wealth, visit colleenoconnellcampbell.com – specifically the Real Riches Roadmap tab to apply for your Prosperity Discovery Session.