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Week 3: Curt Cignetti — Building a Championship Program and Championship Mindsets

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Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti has led arguably the biggest turnaround in sports history, taking one of the worst football programs in the country to a National Championship game in just two seasons. He sat down with Adam Breneman to talk about his coaching journey, his formula for creating a championship program, what he looks for in athletes and young coaches, and some of the most valuable lessons he has learned. Change the Way People Think Coach Cignetti said the first thing he had to do when he took over the Indiana football program was to change the way people thought. You can have a blueprint, a plan, and a good process, but people have to think the right way — think like a winner and a champion — if you want to win at a high level. When you change the way people think, you can change the way they work. If you can change the way they work, you can change the way they perform. His Formula When asked about his formula for success, Coach Cignetti said you have to have a bluepr...
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Wisdom Wednesday - Steve Kerr: How Are You Going to Coach Your Team?

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Steve Kerr has had one of the most successful runs in professional sports history. He played with some of the all-time great basketball players, including Michael Jordan and Tim Duncan, and he played for two of the most successful coaches in basketball, Phil Jackson and Greg Popovich. Kerr knows what drives winning. Before he started coaching, Kerr said he had visited several coaches, and NFL coach Pete Carroll had asked him, “How are you going to coach your team?” Carroll told him the kind of culture you want to build, the values you want to have, and how you want to make them come alive is more important than Xs and Os. Carroll asked him, “What is the most important thing in your life? What are the most important values in your life?” and he then said, “They have to feel the authenticity of you.”  When you have genuine, real values and make them come alive, that is when the culture starts to form. Coach Kerr came up with four words that defined him and his approach to life the ...
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Mindset Mondays: Bill Beswick — Defining Sports Psychology

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Bill Beswick is a British applied sports psychologist, educator, and coach known for his work in team performance, elite sport, and coaching development. What is sports psychology? Beswick says a sports psychologist is someone who helps athletes, teams, and coaches improve their performance by helping them overcome mental and emotional barriers. His goal is to make better athletes and better people who are more able to write their own story in a positive and effective way. We all have barriers that we have to remove to become our best selves, and sports psychologists help us remove those barriers. But how? Beswick says he helps athletes change the way they think by giving them another language or framework they can use to talk to and coach themselves.  The Framework Beswick follows a simple 3 question framework: 1 - What do you want? 2 - How badly do you want? 3 - How much are you willing to suffer? Beswick’s three questions work because they cut straight to motivation, commitment...
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What I Learned This Week: It’s Only 1 Point

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  The most valuable lesson I’ve learned this week is the idea of It’s Only 1 Point by tennis great Roger Federer. In his 2024 commencement address at Dartmouth University, Federer said he won 80% of his matches but only won 54% of his points. This means the best tennis players in the world barely win more than half of their points, so they have to learn how to deal with an undesired result or failure almost half of the time. Federer said, “When you lose every second point on average, you learn not to dwell on every shot.” You learn every shot — good and bad — is only one shot and one point. Federer said, “When you are playing a point, it has to be the most important thing in the world. But when it’s behind you, it’s behind you.” He said this mindset is important because it frees you to fully commit to the next point — the most important point — with intensity, clarity, and focus. Federer then said, “The truth is, whatever game you play in life, sometimes you’re going to lose — a ...
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What I Learned This Week: Be an Impact Player

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Source: Impact Players: Dare to Lead Podcast The most valuable lesson I’ve learned this week is the concept of Impact Players from leadership coach Liz Wiseman. In an interview with Brene Brown, Liz Wiseman says Impact Players aren’t just talented, individual contributors — they make the team and the people around them better. Impact Players are superstar performers who everyone wants on the team. They do great work, they do the hard stuff, and they do so with an energy that people want to be around. Here are 5 things you can do to be an Impact Player: 1 - Get Ready and Stay Ready Don’t wait for someone to tell you everything because that takes time. Make yourself useful and valuable by doing things without being asked, and anticipate problems and have plans. 2 - Be a Great Teammate Be easy to work with, low maintenance, no drama, while helping your teammates. Don’t make hard work harder. Look for ways to make work easier for everyone. Bring value and good energy. 3 - Do Extra — Go Ab...
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12.28 Mike Vrabel: Different Personalities, Same Mindset

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“We can have different personalities, but we can’t have different mentalities.” - Mike Vrabel Does everyone on your team have to have the same personality? Mike Vrabel won three Super Bowls as a linebacker for the New England Patriots who he now coaches. In an interview, he was asked what is one of the best pieces of advice he’s received about building culture. Vrabel said, “You can have different personalities, but you can’t have different mentalities.” Everyone is different. We all bring something different to the team. But the mindset and goals have to be similar. The values and principles have to be the same. The vision and direction has to be the same, but how we act, our personalities, and our general beliefs might differ. The key in leadership is making sure everyone knows where we are going, how, and the mindset and mentality needed to get there. Question of the Day: How can you bring your own personality to the team while fully committing to the shared mindset, standards, and...
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12.27 Judith S. Beck: Evaluate Your Thoughts

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“When people learn to evaluate and respond to their thoughts more realistically, they feel better and function more effectively.” - Judith S. Beck Do you have control over your thoughts, or do your thoughts control you? Judith S. Beck is a psychologist and leading expert in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT is a psychological approach that explains how thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are connected, and how changing unhelpful thinking patterns can lead to healthier emotions and more effective behavior. In her book, Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Basics and Beyond , Beck wrote, “When people learn to evaluate and respond to their thoughts more realistically, they feel better and function more effectively.” What you think affects how you feel, and how you feel affects what you do. CBT teaches people to notice negative or inaccurate thoughts, evaluate them, and replace them with more realistic and productive ones — leading to better decisions, performance, and well-being. Learn how to ...
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