How to Create a Joy-Centric Culture with Bill Capodagli

0:02John Lee Dumas:Who's ready to rock today, Fire Nation? JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire, brought to you by High Level, the all-in-one sales and marketing platform. Today we'll be breaking down how to create a joy-centric culture. To drop these value bombs, I brought Bill Capodagli in the EO Fire studios. Bill is a culture change expert who guides leaders to adopt the principles of his best-selling management book, The Disney Way, and his recent book, Creating a Joy-Centric culture. And today we'll talk about joy as a strategy, losing the spark, the misdiagnosis problem, rediscovering purpose, and oh, so much more.

0:38John Lee Dumas:And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Bill and our sponsors. Stop duct taping your business together. High Level runs your website, your funnels, email, automation, scheduling, payments, and memberships all in one place. And when you sign up at highlevelfire.com, you get a 30-day free trial plus my exclusive bonus stack that includes weekly office hours with me and much more. Visit highlevelfire.com. Highlevelfire.com. Fire Nation, are you ready to build something special in the next 50 days? Check out my free YouTube series, 50 Days to Something. Short and strategic step-by-step videos by me, JLD.

1:18John Lee Dumas:On day 50, you'll have a valuable asset. And the best part is it's completely free. Visit eofire.com slash YouTube and start day one today. Bill, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. Greetings, Fire Nation. Here's what I believe that others often disagree with. You need to celebrate failure. You know, success is not built on avoiding failure. It's built on using failure quickly, visibly, and intellectually. Many leaders are taught that success is being right all the time, having all the answers, protecting the plan, minimizing mistakes.

2:00But that belief creates something that's far more dangerous than failure. It creates hesitation and it creates fear. It creates organizations where people spend more time protecting themselves than improving the work. In that environment, failure really doesn't disappear. It just goes underground. and that hidden failure is the most expensive kind. I believe just the opposite. Failure should be expected, designed for, and even celebrated when it teaches. Celebrating failure isn't about applauding the mistake. It's about recognizing a learning opportunity. What did we learn? What can we do differently?

2:36How did this move us closer to telling our story or accomplishing our purpose? When leaders respond this way, they send a clear signal. We are not here to be perfect. We're here to get better. In a joy-centric culture, this matters even more because joy doesn't come from getting everything right. It comes from growth, contribution, and the feeling that your efforts really matter.

3:00John Lee Dumas:Fire Nation, we have a lot to talk about today all around creating a joy-centric culture. And Bill, I want to talk about joy. I want to talk about joy as a strategy because if we're being honest, joy isn't something that most people associate with business success. It's just not. So why do you say it's actually a strategic advantage? Sure, John. According to the 2026 Gallup poll, employee engagement has dropped for the second consecutive year. Only one in five employees today are fully engaged. That means nearly 80 % are either checked out or actively disengaged. Now think about this for a minute.

3:41If you purchased a piece of equipment that only operated at 20 % quality, you wouldn't tolerate it. If the manufacturer told you it needed the right environment to perform, you would protect it, you would invest in it, you would design conditions for it to thrive. Yet every day, organizations experience this exact condition with their people. Leaders say that their people are their greatest asset, yet we place them in environments that produce only a fraction of their potential. And what makes this even more striking is that most founders can remember a very different beginning. You know, at most startups, there's energy, there's belief, there's a spark, there's joy.

4:18People weren't just working, they were building something that mattered. So joy isn't a soft idea. It's the difference between showing up and coming alive, between compliance and commitment, between 20 % performance and the full expression of human potential.

4:33John Lee Dumas:Fire Nation, strategy can, and probably in this case, should be a strategy. as Bill just broke down. And this kind of moves us into losing the spark. I mean, you've seen this, Bill, over and over again. A lot of people haven't, but it's just a reality that so many companies, they lose that original energy, that original excitement that they had when they first launched, when they first started. It just seems to dissipate over time. Why do you find this to be the case? John, I call this the drift. You know, as organizations grow, the pressure begins, and payroll increases, supply chains get complicated, cash flow tightens, processes multiply, and slowly, almost invisibly, that original spark gets buried, not extinguished, but just covered.

5:20And here's where most organizations get it wrong. They assume that this disengagement is a people problem, and they respond the only way they know how. More training, more rules, more oversight. They teach people how to smile, how to say the right words, how to behave according to the model. but training only works in the right environment. I just love what the late CEO of Zappos and the architect of their fantastic happiness culture, Tony Hesch said, get the culture right and most of the other stuff will take care of itself. When people pile on control, we send a quiet message to our people, you're the problem.

5:52But the truth is people don't lose their passion. The system squeezes it out.

5:57John Lee Dumas:Fire Nation, don't let it squeeze it out of you for all the obvious reasons. And I think that kind of moves us into the misdiagnosis problem, Bill, because you often talk about leaders who are misdiagnosing the real issue. So first off, what does that even mean? And secondly, how do they get it right? Well, this is the turning point. You know, every leader makes a choice, whether it's consciously or not. You know, they either believe that people just don't care anymore and disengagement becomes the cost of doing business, or they believe that people care exactly as much as the environment allows.

6:31And if that second belief is true, everything changes. You stop trying to fix people and you begin to redesign the culture or the system. Culture is no longer a problem. It becomes a deliberate design.

6:42John Lee Dumas:Fire Nation, you don't want it to be that design as we're talking about here. So what exactly is the result, Bill? Can you give a case study or an example of this in the real world? Sure. You know, every organization needs three anchors. You need a story, values, and codes of conduct. And first, the story. The story reconnects people to why the organization exists in the first place. The leadership team should take some time to reflect on five questions. What first inspired you to be part of this organization? What inspires you today? Why are you proud to work here? How has your work improved the lives of others?

7:16And what becomes possible because people can do because of the work that you do? Then you need to come together and share those answers. The goal is to rediscover meeting and the ultimately craft a story or a purpose that embodies the collective emotions of the leadership team. That's how you move beyond a mission statement and to a story that people can feel. Let me share with you an example that demonstrates the value of this story. One of the teams that I worked with at Bristol Myers Squibb some time ago was an infant formula production line. And they were trained in some process improvement techniques and then given one hour once a week to look at ways to improve the quality and productivity of their process.

7:58But here's the important part. They were trusted to make changes without any evaluation or approval from supervision or management, you know, within some broad limitations, of course. After about six months, they had some very impressive results. They made a presentation to upper management. And at the end of the presentation, one of the managers asked the team how they liked being enabled to make changes on their own. And one woman, her name was Sue, I'll never forget, she jumped up and told everyone that she was always proud to tell everybody she worked for Bristol-Myers Squibb. But when they asked her what she did, she always changed the subject because she used to be embarrassed because her job was to watch the line and to see if any problems happened, if any jam-ups happened or ran out of product.

8:44she was there to correct the problem, which didn't happen very often. So you can imagine how boring that job was. And then she hesitated for a minute and smiled. And she said, but today when people ask me what I do, I tell them I'm a part of a team whose job it is to make the best quality infant formula at the most affordable price for mothers and babies around the world. I mean, you could hear a pin drop in the room. You could sense her pride and her workmanship. and the only thing that changed was one hour once a week, a little trust, a chance to make things better. But she moved from a monotonous task to being part of a team that provides nourishment and care to families and children around the world.

9:26She didn't find empowerment. She found joy and discovered her why. The second point, second anchors is values. And most organizations have a set of values, but let's be honest, they're often just labels on the wall. The typical ones are, you know, honesty, respect, loyalty. They sound right, but they really don't guide behavior. In a joy-centric culture, you know, values are not words. They're commitments to actions. I recently worked with a client who had the typical so-called values, trust, integrity, teamwork, excellence. And after reconnecting to the story, they rewrote them in a value statement.

10:00I'd like to read it to you. We strive to embrace the golden rule when we work with our clients and colleagues. We act with integrity, pursue excellence in everything we do, and empower each other to grow and succeed. Now, that's not something you just read. That's something you can live. Values should be designed to guide decisions, shape behavior, to find what great looks like in action. If they don't, they're no more than fluff or decoration. You know, it's easy to live those values in good time, but the real test comes in troubled times. And here's an example from the Four Seasons Hotel. They have a resort on the island of Kutahara in the Indian Ocean.

10:36And some time ago, that resort was destroyed by a terrific tsunami. And luckily, no one was seriously injured, but it took two years to rebuild the resort. Now, most organizations would have laid off or furloughed those 200 workers. But Isidore Sharp has built his organization, arguably one of the best, if not the best, five-star hotel complex in the world on one value, the golden rule. Treat your people the way you'd like to be treated. So what does Isidore do? He transfers at great expense every one of those 200 workers to locations throughout the world, Tokyo, Houston, D.C., London. And at opening day, all 200 workers are back.

11:22Wow. I mean, that's the real test. It wasn't about operations. It wasn't about strategy. It was about joy, respect, humanity. If your people really matter, your values show it. I had the opportunity to spend a week with Isidore while I was researching the second edition of our Disney Way and his team. And he told me, he said, you know, Bill, values are just words on paper. The words have significance only if behaved. He said, but the behaviors have significance only if believed. A joy-centric culture does not come from a policy manual or a set of rules. It needs to come from the heart. Our last anchor is codes of conduct.

12:04Policies inform people what not to do. Codes of conduct define how behavior is at every single day. They're typically 10 to 15 behaviors that should support your values. We keep our promises. We admit our mistakes. We support one another, especially under pressure. A culture transformation needs to be thought of as a journey. And here's the way to think about these three anchors. The story is your destination. The values are the compass and the codes of conduct are the map. Together, they turn uncertainty into good judgment.

12:35John Lee Dumas:Fire Nation, this is powerful stuff. I mean, we talked about losing the spark. We talked about the misdiagnosis problem. Case study after case study, Bill's given to us. The light is starting to come on. We're going to be moving into rediscovering purpose, building a joy-centric culture, or I should say expanding upon that because we've been talking about it, when we get back from thanking our sponsors. Fire Nation, ideas are exciting, but systems will allow you to create freedom. That is where High Level comes in. High Level allows you to build and run your entire business from one platform, website builder and hosting, funnel and landing pages, email marketing, automation and workflows, calendar booking, payments and subscriptions, even course and membership hosting.

13:16John Lee Dumas:Everything works together seamlessly. Plus, award-winning 24-7 support so you are never stuck. And when you go through my link at highlevelfire.com, you unlock my full bonus stack, a 30-day free trial of High Level with full access, a private 50-minute coaching call with me, weekly live office hours with me, a digital copy of my book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, my 50 Days to Something execution roadmap, and more. Stop piecing tools together. Start building momentum. Visit highlevelfire.com and start building your something today. Fire Nation, are you ready to create something special in just 50 days?

13:56John Lee Dumas:If you just thought yes, then check out my free YouTube series, 50 Days to Something. Every video is short, clear, and built to move you forward one intentional step at a time. Clarity, offer, validation systems, momentum. By day 50, you are not working on something. You have built something. Something to be proud of. And this is completely free on my YouTube channel right now. If you're done letting weeks just drift on by, visit eofire.com slash YouTube. That's eofire.com slash YouTube and press play on day one. 50 days will pass in the blink of an eye. The only question is whether you'll still be thinking or finally building something special.

14:40Bill, we're back. And we talked before the break about losing the spark.

14:45John Lee Dumas:And you did a great job about that. But now I want to move into rediscovering purpose. And of course, we've touched upon that. But I want to really dive deep on how leaders specifically can reconnect with their story, reconnect with their purpose, and the passion that started it all. Culture doesn't sustain itself through intention alone. You know, it lives through systems that really drive the culture. Over the past 10 or 12 years, I've surveyed thousands of workers, I think it's almost 10 ,000, maybe even a little more, regarding the barriers to joy-centric culture. And the results are surprisingly similar regardless of industry manufacturing or healthcare or hospitality or even government.

15:23It's lack of communication, fear of ridicule, fear of failure, fear of losing your job, unclear expectations, and trust. These forces drain joy, creativity, and commitment, even in the most well-intentioned organizations. Creating a joy-centric culture is not about hundreds of initiatives. In fact, complexity is often the enemy of joy. The organizations that thrive are the ones that have stripped away the clutter and returned to what really matters, clarity, connection, and care. Three simple systems become the power to drive a culture transformation. And when practiced consistently, they begin to dissolve these barriers and form the foundation of a joy-centric culture.

16:05There are weekly one-on-one feedback process evaluation teams and team member development plans. One-on-one feedback conversations. There's a quiet or silence gap in most organizations. Employees feel disconnected or alone. Leaders hesitate to engage deeply. I've seen studies where 50 % of leaders are afraid to talk to their people and 50 % of the people are afraid to talk to their leaders. Weekly one-on-one conversations tends to close that gap. And they're not status updates or performance reviews. They're human conversations and a chance to connect with your team to recognize good performance, to clarify expectations, to support the team.

16:45Ask them, what do they need from you to be more successful? And lastly, to reinforce the story or the purpose and let them know how important their job is to telling the story to their ultimate customers. You know, trust doesn't grow through grand gestures of taking your team to Vegas or having pizza parties or whatever. Long-term trust and mutual respect happens through steady experiences of being acknowledged, respected, trusted, and valued. You know, if leaders would just focus on this one practice alone, they could significantly enhance their workplace culture. The second system is continuous process and evaluation teams.

17:27These teams improve how the work actually happens. And most importantly, they include people who actually live the process every day. That builds ownership, reduces frustration, and aligns systems with reality, not assumptions. And the last system is team member development plans. These plans shift the conversation from performance to growth. There's a belief I've come to trust over the years that people don't rise to the level of their resume. They rise to the level of belief and trust you have in them. You see, in a Joy Center culture, development isn't a form you fill out once a year and don't look at it until year's end.

18:04It's an ongoing experience, a plan that answers three powerful questions. Who is this person becoming because of their work? What's the spark that gives them joy? And how can this spark or passion advance your story? And it may not be in the department that they're currently working in. And what new skills will help them grow? When reviewed monthly, they send a clear signal. You matter, your future matters, not just your output. People stop working for a paycheck and start building a future. And when people see a path for the development, they don't just stay with an organization. They grow with the organization.

18:40John Lee Dumas:Fire Nation, Bill's been dropping value bombs. As we talk about joy as a strategy, losing the spark, the misdiagnosis problem, rediscovering purpose, it's been incredible. So as we start to kind of wrap up here, I want you to do two things, Bill. Give us the biggest takeaway that you really want to leave with Fire Nation. Of all those things I just mentioned that we talked about, what's the biggest takeaway way that you want our audience, our listeners, Fire Nation to walk away with? And how can Fire Nation connect with you? What is your call to action for our listeners today? Fire Nation, I want you to think about someone who works for you or you work with, not your top performer, not your most difficult employee, someone who had potential, but somewhere along the way, they, you know, it just dimmed and they're not just the same.

19:30They still show up, they still do the work, but that spark, it's quieter now. So here's the question. Was it them or was it the system they replaced it? Because if people care exactly as much as the environment allows, then every diagnosed employee that is disengaged is not a problem to fix. They're a signal to listen to, a reflection of a system that has forgotten how to bring people to life. And here's what I've learned over the years. You don't build a great organization by by demanding more from people. You build a great organization by designing a place where people can give more of themselves, not because they have to, but because they want to.

20:10When you get it right, people just don't work. They contribute, they create, they care, and they begin to see work not as a transaction, but as a reflection of who they are. And at that moment, something extraordinary happens. Yes, the organization performs better, but more importantly, people go home at the end of the day was something they didn't have before. A sense of what they did mattered. A sense of who they are matters. And that is the true measure of a joy-centric culture. Not just what people produce, but who they become in the process. So always, dream what others fail to see, believe what others doubt, and dare to do what others fear.

20:51And remember, joy is a journey. Do make it real every day.

20:55John Lee Dumas:And the Fire Nation's going to connect with you, Bill? Yeah, if you're sensing your culture has drifted or even slightly, I'm offering Fire Nation listeners a free 15-minute joy culture clarity session. In that time, we can identify where the friction may be and one simple shift that could begin restoring energy and engagement. No pressure, just clarity. And when leaders see clearly, often for the first time, they discover that their culture really isn't broken, maybe just a little blurred. They don't need to be sold. they're already leaning forward and maybe just need a little redirection. You can contact us at capojack.com.

21:33That's C-A-P-O-J-A-C.com. Just mention Fire Nation in an email and we'll schedule a time to talk.

21:40John Lee Dumas:Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You've been hanging out with BC and JLD today, so keep up that heat. And for links to everything we talked about, visit eofire.com. Just type Bill in the search bar and the show notes page will pop right up. And Bill, one more time, give us that URL. That's capojack.com, C-A-P-O-J-A-C. Bill, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Thank you. It's been my pleasure. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Bill for sponsoring today's episode.

22:18John Lee Dumas:And Fire Nation, are you an entrepreneur on fire who's looking to share your amazing message with the world? If yes, we are now accepting applications for EO Fire. So to learn more about becoming a guest, visit eofire.com slash guest. And I'll catch you there or on the flip side. Stop duct taping your business together. High Level runs your website, your funnels, email, automation, scheduling, payments, and memberships all in one place. And when you sign up at highlevellfire.com, you get a 30-day free trial plus my exclusive bonus stack that includes weekly office hours with me and much more. Visit highlevelfire.com, highlevelfire.com.