The rise of Indiana football over the last two years would have sounded impossible not long ago. A program long dismissed as a doormat ends up with a 2025 National Championship. People call it miraculous. I do not think it is. I think it is the result of process, discipline, and leadership done correctly over time.
I have always drawn leadership inspiration from coaches. John Cook. Nick Saban. And now Curt Cignetti, who comes from that same Saban lineage. Two short clips of Cignetti recently stood out to me. One focused on process. The other focused on the people you surround yourself with.
Here are those clips:
https://x.com/ValaAfshar/status/2010015632859988429?s=20
https://x.com/jamespruch/status/2007494886346625337?s=2
These clips stuck with me because while running a marketing agency is not the same as coaching a college football team, the parallels are real. No one is tackling anyone in an agency, but the stakes are still high, the pressure is constant, and performance is very visible. Experiential marketing in particular leaves nowhere to hide. You either execute or you do not.
Cignetti talks a lot about standards. About discipline. About not wasting time. About stacking great days. That mindset applies directly to how we try to operate at Moment.
It starts with people. Cignetti does not micromanage his staff. Practices start on time. They are efficient. Everyone knows what is expected of them. In agency life, that matters more than most leaders want to admit. I have seen too many shops where leadership hovers, second-guesses, and inserts themselves into everything. It kills ownership and eventually kills creativity.
Our philosophy is simple. Hire smart, motivated people. Set clear expectations. Then trust them. Autonomy creates accountability. When people feel ownership over the work, they take pride in the outcome. That only works if you have the right team. Without shared standards and mutual respect, autonomy turns into chaos. With the right people, it becomes a force multiplier.
Time is the next pillar. One of the most practical things Cignetti talks about is efficiency. He does not believe in grinding for the sake of grinding. Short, focused practices beat long, sloppy ones. That applies directly to how we think about work hours. Burnout does not produce great ideas. Clarity does.
Yes, there are crunch moments. Pitches, launches, live events. That comes with the territory. But effort should be balanced. If you push hard during a sprint, you need recovery on the other side. We encourage people to step away when they can. We cut unnecessary meetings. We respect focus. The goal is not to be busy. The goal is to be effective.