The Secret To Success with CJ, Karl, Jemal & Eric Thomas

Is your team really the problem, or are you?
This is the last S2S before We Is Greater Than Me drops, and CJ opens with a line ET preached the day before: if the we ain't strong, it's the me's fault.
CJ reads the Nick Saban story from page 97 of the book. Down late in a game, young Saban asked his head coach what play to call and got told: don't think of plays, think of players. CJ explains why he stopped caring about being a famous speaker and started building himself for the we instead, down to dropping 120 pounds, because a right hand man has to look like the message.
ET takes it back to Adam. God said it was not good for man to be alone, but only after Adam spent real time alone with Him. Jesus did not start his ministry until 30. Everybody wants to jump into a we before the me is straight. ET also shares the conversation with his daughter Jada that changed how he leads: stop being outcome driven and start trusting the process.
Then the playbook. Chick-fil-A has one and Taco Bell does not. Jesus had a tax man, a doctor and a fisherman, not twelve carpenters. And the big one from the book: the lion has a 20 percent kill rate, the African wild dog hits 80 to 90 percent, because the dogs run a system together.
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CHAPTERS
00:00:00 Cold Open: The Lion vs the African Wild Dog
00:01:41 Welcome: The Last Episode Before the Book
00:03:21 If the We Ain't Strong, It's the Me's Fault
00:04:16 The Nick Saban Lesson on Page 97
00:05:51 There's No Such Thing as a Good Idea
00:06:47 Why CJ Built Himself for the We
00:10:03 You Blame the We When the Me Is Broken
00:11:18 Why God Let Adam Be Alone First
00:13:46 You Can Hide on a Great Team
00:14:47 Jesus Developed for 18 More Years
00:16:24 How to Spot Potential Before It's Ready
00:18:37 Jada's Lesson: Process Over Outcome
00:20:50 First, Get a Playbook
00:22:47 Figure Out Who You're Not
00:25:30 We Is Greater Summit, November 16 to 18
00:26:52 Why This Book Feels Different
00:30:08 Faith Without a Framework
00:32:40 Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally
00:34:20 The Lion vs the African Wild Dog
00:37:03 Talent to Win, No System to Scale
00:39:35 Recognize, Release, Reorganize
00:41:16 Baylor, the Family and the Incredibles
00:43:16 Get the Book, Join the Summit
00:44:36 Outro
PRE-ORDER WE IS GREATER THAN ME
The new book from Eric Thomas and CJ Quinney. Pre-order now and get $346 in free bonuses. Get one for you and one for your team.
https://www.weisgreater.com
WE IS GREATER SUMMIT
Three nights, live and virtual, with Eric Thomas and CJ Quinney, November 16, 17 and 18. Yourself, your home and your teams, plus the book launch party.
https://www.weisgreater.com/summit
WATCH THE VIDEO VERSION
https://www.youtube.com/@S2SPodcastChannel
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If this one hit home, leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps more people find the show.
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What do you do when the dream is real, but the rent is due?

Fresh off the Forever Forward weekend, with a couple of weeks left before their new book We Is Greater Than Me drops, CJ and Eric Thomas go back to the one season CJ almost folded.

Money was so tight that CJ, the first in his family to get a degree, master's in hand, was calling his blue collar parents to borrow five hundred dollars. So he started substitute teaching on the side. By the end of his first day he had a struggling classroom singing, the principal asked him to come back every day, and the district wanted to offer him a role worth close to six figures. Then ET found out, and told him to quit.

ET explains why. CJ had already turned down Western Michigan. ET had already watched people from Detroit make enough to survive but never enough to thrive. And the calls coming into their office at Michigan State, from Reggie Bush to Puff, told him the needle was moving. You can't half do this. Then the real reason CJ took the job comes out, and it involves the Cheesecake Factory.

They go back even further. ET had one rule for the team, no dating, and Candis of Detroit broke right through it. CJ remembers ET calling with his wife Dede in the background, asking how long this was going to last, and the Michigan State staff meetings where ET stared out a tiny window like he was in prison. ET shares what God told him to do with Dede's need for stability.

It all lands on the story ET preached this weekend: why God let David lose everything right after he beat Goliath. You can't stay a champion off the last battle you won.

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CHAPTERS
Chapters

00:00:00 Cold Open: You Can't Stay Champion Off One Win
00:01:34 Welcome: Fresh Off Forever Forward
00:02:58 Countdown to We Is Greater Than Me
00:04:50 Why CJ Struggles to Promote Himself
00:06:02 Why Now Was the Time for This Book
00:11:55 Was There Ever a Time You Doubted?
00:13:39 The Substitute Teaching Story
00:17:58 Why ET Told CJ to Quit
00:20:01 The Evidence: When Reggie Bush and Puff Called
00:22:04 You Can't Be Here One Week and Gone the Next
00:24:18 Western Michigan or the Cheesecake Factory
00:26:53 Candis of Detroit Broke the Rule Book
00:30:53 Five Grand a Speech and Dede's Big Question
00:33:12 Suffocating in the Staff Meeting
00:35:30 Turn Your Dream Into a Job
00:37:05 Want It as Bad as You Want to Breathe
00:39:21 We Is Greater Summit, November 16 to 18
00:40:27 Get the Book, Bring Your Team

PRE-ORDER WE IS GREATER THAN ME
The new book from Eric Thomas and CJ Quinney. Pre-order now and get $346 in free bonuses. Get one for you and one for your team.
https://www.weisgreater.com

WE IS GREATER SUMMIT
Three nights, live and virtual, with Eric Thomas and CJ Quinney, November 16, 17 and 18. Self, family and teams, plus the book launch party.
https://www.weisgreater.com/summit

WATCH THE VIDEO VERSION
https://www.youtube.com/@S2SPodcastChannel

RATE AND REVIEW
If this one hit home, leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps more people find the show.

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What if the person you keep picking is not the problem? What if it is the version of you doing the picking?

With CJ and Jemal out this week, Moose takes the host chair next to Eric Thomas and Karl and drives the whole conversation around one idea from ET and CJ's new book, We Is Greater Than Me.

Moose grew up an only child, born in Egypt and raised in New York after 9/11, and learned early that the only way to get ahead was to look out for yourself. So he asks ET straight up: how does we benefit me? ET flips the question. Me is not real. He has never eaten, played, gambled or made it through a day without somebody else making it possible, and he walks you through his grandmother's projects in Detroit to prove it.

Then it gets uncomfortable. ET says there is no enemy. Nobody outside your marriage is running your marriage, so whatever is tearing it down, you are holding the hammer. And if you leave one bad situation just to find the next one, you will tear that one down too. You might not be in the wrong we. You might be the wrong me.

Karl shares the commandment he wrote this week, and it sounds backwards until it clicks: the most selfish thing you can do is give. Moose opens up about his grandmother's final moments in Egypt. ET explains how CJ and Karl turned an hour of raw ET into the three minutes the world saw, and why he never once did it on a solo.

And a random comment someone sent about his kids, Jalin and Jayda, made ET realize he had been raising them in the zoo. It closes with a text Candis sent about Dede, and ET says no sermon can top what Dede did that day.

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CHAPTERS
Chapters

00:00:00 Cold Open: They Grow From Chasing It Down
00:01:34 Welcome: Moose Takes the Host Chair
00:03:22 Karl's Birthday Shift: Think and Train, Don't Just Do
00:04:59 FOMO Is the Negative Side of We
00:09:12 New York, Boston and Vancouver in 72 Hours
00:11:43 Let Us Create: Why Nothing Gets Built Alone
00:17:29 Moose: Raised to Look Out for Me
00:18:54 Me Is Not Real
00:24:26 What Have You Done for Me Lately
00:25:39 How to Undo It: Stop Group Thinking
00:28:12 When You Worship the Group
00:29:45 There Is No Enemy
00:31:04 The Most Selfish Thing You Can Do Is Give
00:35:04 Coach Scott Drew on Healthy Teams
00:40:11 Study How You're Wired
00:44:09 Moose's Grandmother's Final Words
00:46:13 Roots: No One Greater Than Thee
00:48:26 Wrong We or Wrong Me?
00:49:48 Don't Cut It, Reset It
00:56:33 Out of the Zoo: ET's Kids Go to Work
01:00:41 Distributed Leadership: How ET Really Blew Up
01:06:54 You Can't Make Money Without a Tribe
01:09:02 What Dede Did When Nobody Was Watching
01:13:27 Get the Book, Bring Your We

PRE-ORDER WE IS GREATER THAN ME
The new book from Eric Thomas and CJ Quinney. Pre-order now and get $346 in free bonuses. Get one for you and two for your we.
https://www.weisgreater.com

WATCH THE VIDEO VERSION
https://www.youtube.com/@S2SPodcastChannel

RATE AND REVIEW
If this one hit home, leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps more people find the show.

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How many times are you going to let somebody overdraft your life before you close the account?
Eric Thomas and CJ go deep on relationships, boundaries and building the right team. E says it plain: God never told you to stay in a relationship that only takes. If people keep withdrawing more than they deposit, at some point you have to be strong enough to say, I have to let you go.
It starts with CJ asking E how you know you are building on bedrock and not in vain. E gives three rules. Repeat the behaviors that get your best results, the same way a 24 hour fast finally moved his scale. Reproduce your best, even if it is the in your face voice Dede is tired of hearing. And select people who share your values, because access is not the same thing as love.
Then CJ asks if there is ever a "me season." E tells the story of Dede asking the family for 18 months so she could get her master's, and why that was me for the sake of we. He explains why so many people quit on we after a bad partnership: they never prayed about it, they came for the money.
The back half is a live Q&A with the S2S Patreon fam. E answers when the we is worth the sacrifice of me, why some of your me is sick and only spends in your own house, how to get volunteers to join what you are building, and why you can win a lot by yourself but you cannot win the big one alone. He also tells the story of how God gave him the title We Is Greater Than Me in prayer.
JOIN US LIVE ON PATREON
Hear every episode first and ask your questions live. New audio every Tuesday, video every Wednesday.
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PRE-ORDER WE IS GREATER THAN ME
The new book from Eric Thomas and CJ Quinney. Help us hit the New York Times Best Seller list.
https://www.weisgreater.com
EXTREME EXECUTION CERTIFICATION
Live, October 24 and 25. Only happens once a year.
https://www.extremeexecution.com
CHAPTERS
00:00:00 Cold Open: I Need You to Produce Something
00:01:28 Welcome: We Costs More Up Front
00:02:43 NBA Coaches, Receipts and the Power of We
00:05:28 Who This Podcast Is Really For
00:07:46 How Do You Know You're Building on Bedrock?
00:08:31 Rule 1: Repeat What Gets You Results
00:13:21 Rule 2: Reproduce Your Best
00:15:46 Rule 3: Pick People Who Share Your Values
00:18:40 Is There Ever a Me Season?
00:19:05 Dede's 18 Months
00:21:32 Why Your Last We Failed
00:25:48 Why We Need You at WeIsGreater.com
00:27:12 Patreon Live Q&A: What E Is Most Excited About
00:30:06 When Is the We Worth the Sacrifice of Me?
00:31:17 Deposits, Withdrawals and Overdrafts
00:35:00 Why the Book Is Called We Is Greater Than Me
00:37:33 Does We Cost You Part of Me? Your Me Might Be Sick
00:41:45 How to Get People to Join Your We
00:43:07 You Can't Win the Big One Alone
00:46:16 How God Gave E the Title
00:47:34 Do You Stay With People Who Won't Grow?
00:49:53 Closing
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Eric Thomas thought he was a people pleaser. Then he looked around his own company and noticed something. Nobody was pleased.

Payroll was astronomical. Every month was a prayer just to cover it. Morale was low. And every time the money ran short, ET had the same answer: get back on the road and go make more.

This conversation starts with one sentence. CJ told someone who wanted in, "I don't trust you in the we right now." Not with his wallet. With the mission. Because CJ had already watched a people pleasing spirit up close. He watched E people please his way into that payroll.

So CJ turns to E and asks him to talk to the people pleasers. What comes next is ET at his most honest: "I lied to you about what we was."

He tells you why he did it, and it goes all the way back to being a kid watching Roots. He tells you what one conversation with TJ about the NFL finally made him see. And he gives you the one question that exposes whether you are really people pleasing or just worried about what people think.

Then it gets personal. ET grew up in the Serengeti, but he raised his kids in the safari, where the meat gets thrown out to you right on schedule. So he made a decision about his son Jalin that most parents will not make. Then Jalin got COVID, missed four days of work, and opened his check. What he said to his dad after that is the whole point of this episode.

Also in this one: why ET says workers don't get paid in this country, what a fourth and inches call has to do with your life, what being "half and half" gave CJ that E never had, and the phone call ET made to the father who raised him to apologize for something that made him mad as a kid.

So be honest. The people you keep taking care of. Are they actually pleased?

JOIN US LIVE ON PATREON

New audio every Tuesday, video every Wednesday, plus live recordings with the S2S fam.

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CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Cold Open: You Can't Say It's Bad When You're Part of What's Making It Bad

00:02:08 Welcome: AI, Water, and the End of the World

00:04:42 Chat GPT Turned E Into a Handyman

00:12:36 The AI Water Crisis: Chat vs Coca-Cola

00:18:06 Pre-Order We Is Greater Than Me

00:19:15 The People Pleasing Problem: When You're Really Self-Pleasing

00:22:08 The Payroll Crisis: When E Created a False World

00:23:39 Fourth and Inches: The Dan Campbell Philosophy

00:25:05 You're Not People Pleasing If They're Not Pleased

00:29:31 TJ and the NFL Reality Check

00:31:49 Workers Don't Get Paid: The Real World vs The Safari

00:34:07 If You Made Me, Make Another One: The Hov Principle

00:40:02 CJ's Half and Half Advantage: The Power of We

00:41:59 The Safari vs The Serengeti: Raising Kids in Reality

00:45:19 The Hidden Coke Story: Why Parents Hide Their Stuff

00:47:07 Jalin's COVID Check: When Reality Hits

00:48:32 Real People Pleasing: Standards That Set People Free

PRE ORDER WE IS GREATER THAN ME

The new book from Eric Thomas and CJ Quinney. Help us hit the New York Times Best Seller list. Buy one for you and one for your squad.

https://www.weisgreater.com

WATCH THE VIDEO VERSION

https://www.youtube.com/@S2SPodcastChannel?sub_confirmation=1

RATE AND REVIEW

If this episode helped you, leave us a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps more people find the show.

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