#55: Winning Words: How to Lead When the Culture is Broken
The StoryBrand Podcast
StoryBrand.com
4.7 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 19 January 2026
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Get free marketing videos from Donald Miller every week at: WeeklySoundbite.com
Leaders often inherit a culture. The problem is, some of those cultures are toxic, broken, and built on a belief system of losing. When you walk into a room where failure has been normalized, where low standards are expected and defeat is baked into the identity, it's not just about improving performance. You have to rewrite the entire story people believe about themselves. That's where many leaders fail. They try to motivate or strategize their way through it without changing the narrative. But what if turning a culture around starts with something as simple and powerful as the words you repeat?
In this episode, Donald Miller breaks down how Curt Cignetti, the new head coach at Indiana, didn't just win football games—he rewired an entire organization's identity. From powerful soundbites to obsessive attention to detail, Don explores the leadership and messaging strategies that transformed Indiana from a historic underdog into a national powerhouse. If you're leading any kind of turnaround, this episode is your playbook.
--
Click HERE to get in-person help creating your marketing at the next available StoryBrand Your Business LIVE event!
Click HERE to find a StoryBrand certified marketing coach to help you grow your business!
Learn how to make your marketing and messaging work using a proven framework in the updated book, Building a StoryBrand 2.0. Order it now on Amazon or wherever you buy books!
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You're listening to the Story Brand podcast based on Donald Miller's best-selling book, |
| 0:06.0 | Building a Story Brand. |
| 0:07.6 | The Story Brand framework is made up of seven key elements. |
| 0:11.8 | All of them anchored in one powerful idea. |
| 0:14.5 | Your customer is the hero, and you are their guide. |
| 0:18.1 | Each week on the podcast, you'll get exactly what you need to craft clear messaging that connects with more customers and grows your business. |
| 0:25.5 | Now let's dive in with your hosts, Donald Miller and Kyle Reed. |
| 0:34.2 | Today's episode, we're going to talk about my nemesis, Kurt Signetti, and how he turned around Indiana football. |
| 0:39.8 | I say my nemesis, I mean, I don't know that I've been more inspired by a leader other than, you know, Winston Churchill or, you know, some of those famous, famous, famous guys throughout world history. |
| 0:57.4 | I call it my nemesis, though, because I'm an Oregon Ducks fan. |
| 1:01.2 | And Oregon had two losses this year, and both of them were two Indiana football. |
| 1:05.5 | And not only that, but I mean, in the playoff, college football playoff, Indiana just destroyed my ducks and made us look like children. |
| 1:16.1 | This guy is a heck of a leader. |
| 1:18.4 | And I thought we'd do a whole podcast talking about the sound bites that he used to turn around Indiana football. |
| 1:25.4 | It was a messaging campaign. |
| 1:29.2 | Secondary, it was a messaging campaign. |
| 1:34.9 | Primary, it was actually a philosophical way of running a football team that he probably got from Nick Saban in his few years at Alabama and then took to a bunch of other schools, turned around |
| 1:41.4 | their football programs. You know, there's a way that a winner like Kurt Signetti is wired, and they fascinate me. |
| 1:49.5 | These people who can just go in, every football coach at the college football level, certainly |
| 1:55.0 | Division I level, is extremely competitive. |
| 1:59.3 | They're aggressive. |
| 2:00.7 | They are, but there's a difference between Nick Saban and |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from StoryBrand.com, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of StoryBrand.com and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

