If you are not familiar with Curt Cignetti, you soon will be. After 5 years as head football coach of James Madison University where he compiled a 52-9 record with two Sun Belt East championships, Coach Cignetti took over as head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers.
His impact as a leader has been immediate.
The Indiana Hoosiers are 7-0 for the first time since 1967 (57 years!!!) after a dominant 56-7 win over Nebraska. I want to give a quick instant reaction to this game and Coach Cignetti from a leadership perspective.
First, watch his postgame interview by clicking the image below. Afterwards, I will provide six lessons on building a winning culture from his comments.
6 Lessons from Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti on Building a Winning Culture
Culture is WHO you hire.
If you want a winning culture, hire a winning leader. In 2023, the Hoosiers had a 1-8 conference record and 3-9 overall record. In Coach Cignetti’s first year, he has already won as many games as the team did in the two previous seasons combined.
Culture is a Product
Coach Cignetti said, “It’s not about staying undefeated, it’s about getting it done on the field.” He understands culture is defined by what you do. Also, he previously served four years as an assistant on Nick Saban’s Alabama squad. Therefore, he learned by value of the process.
Winning Culture have High Energy
Coach Cignetti added, “We played with great energy.” Energetic teams have a sense of urgency. People are excited and just seem to walk everywhere fast. Meetings are collaborative and ideas seem to flow freely. Slothfulness does not exist in great teams.
Winning Cultures are Never Satisfied
After a career and programming defining moment, you would think Coach Cignetti would be jubilant. Well, he may be internally and in private with his team, but at the moment he said, “It’s a dominant win. It wasn’t perfect, OK but it’s a great win at home.”
Something tells me Coach Cignetti will be working very hard on those imperfections this week.
Winning Cultures have High Expectations
Winning cultures simply have high expectations and Coach Cignetti immediately went to work raising the standards of the program. He admitted, “I didn’t like my first day here how gloomy everything was about football, so I had to set an expectation level…”
Winning Cultures have a Bright Tomorrow
John Maxwell said, “A man can live three days without water; 40 days without food. But only five minutes without hope.”
Coach Cignetti concluded, “and create some excitement.” All great culture builders are dealers of hope and point to a brighter tomorrow. Otherwise, why would anyone follow them?
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