Photo by Tech. Sgt. Anthony Hetlage, via Wikimedia Commons
One of my favorite lines with audiences is to stress that I am not one of those ex-jocks who thinks every life and business lesson can be explained with a
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Then I, of course, immediately make a sports analogy. But to be fair,
I watched the recent NCAA football playoffs and championship game without any real horse in the race. My alma mater, Nicholls State, is more widely known for its culinary school than for its football program.
But to be honest, the more I learned about the Indiana University story, the more I found myself rooting for them. We all love a Cinderella story, and this one was so Cinderella-like, I kept waiting for someone to lose a glass cleat at midfield.
The personal journey of Indiana’s quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, reads like a movie “based on a true story.” You know the kind. The ones that are almost entirely fiction.
A young man goes unrecruited out of high school, gets turned down by more than 100 universities, including those in his hometown, and eventually winds up as a third string quarterback at a school on the other side of the country.
He sees the field only because others get injured, then does enough with his opportunity to catch the eye of a determined coach from a program many had already dismissed as a one-year fluke.
That same player ends up winning the Heisman Trophy and leading his team to an undefeated season and a national championship, played in his hometown against the very college he once dreamed of playing for.
If this showed up in a script, it would be rejected as far too unrealistic.
And whenever a reporter sticks a microphone in his face, he responds by praising everyone else. In the “look at me” world of athletics, a star who constantly shares the spotlight is refreshing.
And while his is a sports story, I believe Mendoza’s saga can be motivating for most people, both personally and professionally. Few fields are analyzed and assessed as relentlessly as
But the things that cannot be easily measured by an outsider are often more important than those that can be. Work ethic. Resilience. A commitment to improvement.
These qualities are rarely proven in a snapshot, but over time, they reveal themselves.
They are traits available to anyone willing to develop them, from the most naturally talented to those with a longer row to hoe.
And as powerful as Mendoza’s story is, it would almost definitely not have been possible without the vision and leadership of another Cinderella story: Coach Curt Cignetti.
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To be honest, the only reason I had any idea who he was before this season was a comment he made at his introductory press conference last year.
The line, “I win. Google me,” may be the most memorable interview clip of the decade.
After a surprising first season in which Indiana football, a perennial loser, earned a playoff spot, most “experts” assumed it was a cute story that had run its course. They would not be sneaking up on anyone the following year.
And, according to those same experts, Indiana entered this season with the 72nd most talented roster in the country.
In other words, in the modern world of college football, where players can transfer freely, often with financial motivations, Indiana was expected to field a team that was mediocre at best.
What those rankings did not, or could not, measure was the culture of the operation, the quality of leadership, or the level of buy in from team members who apparently were not “star material.”
But Cignetti and his assistants set out to find players who were the right fit for what their team needed, both physically and mentally, and then coached them relentlessly. They found good people and put them in positions to succeed.
The team seldom made mistakes or missed tackles. Players were almost never out of position. They knew their jobs and did them. They did not lose the turnover battle in a single game all season.
Every team has plans. Far fewer have the leadership willing to put in the work to develop and defend the culture required to execute them.
Therein lies one of the “secrets” of organizational success hiding in plain sight. It is not about being the smartest, the most talented, or even having the most resources. Sure, it helps to have any of those.
But success is far more often found when a group of good people stay aligned, hold themselves and one another accountable, and work to spread recognition rather than blame.
Experts will always rank talent and past outcomes.
But results still belong to leaders who invest in people, set clear standards and create cultures where good people can succeed.