Work Doesn't Have to Be an Inside Job

November 1, 2022
57. Work Doesn't Have to Be an Inside Job

Bart Foster is a speaker, facilitator, and entrepreneur with Fortune 1000 companies to get outside of comfort zones, outside of outdated norms, and outside in nature. Foster founded BusinessOutside and is the author of the new book BusinessOutside; Discover Your Path Forward.

Here are some important moments with Bart from the podcast: 

At 3:14 Tell us the problem you have identified and what you are doing to make it better?

 At 7:16 What are the differences you notice in people after they have taken part in your program?

At 12:08 How does your program help with the overall workplace environment? 

Here are some ways to follow or contact Bart:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fosterbart/

Website: www.Bart-Foster.com

Important information from Homeowners Be Aware:

Here are ways you can follow us on-line:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/homeownersbeaware/

Website: https://homeownersbeaware.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-siegal/

If you'd like to reach me for any reason, here's the link to my contact form:

https://homeownersbeaware.com/contact

Here's the link to the trailer for the documentary film I'm making: Built to Last: Buyer Beware.

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Transcript

. Bart Foster: 0:00

Well, what I've realized is those corporate boondoggles of the past, they're going away. People want real connections. They don't wanna just sit at the bar and and drink. And so what we're doing is we're putting together these unique retreats that allow people to get outside of their comfort zone, outside of corporate norms and outside of nature. And we use nature as a backdrop.

George Siegal: 0:23

I'm George Siegal, and this is The Tell Us How to Make It Better podcast. Every week we introduce you to people who are working on real world problems and providing actual solutions. Tell Us. How to Make It Better is partnering with The Readiness Lab, the home for podcasts, webinars, and training in the field of emergency and disaster services. Hi everybody. Thank you so much for joining me on this week's Tell us How to Make It Better podcast. Are you an employee working for a company and you know, maybe you don't love everything about 'em, or maybe you do love your job. How about if you are a CEO or a manager? You think about all the people you have to deal with and how you handle those dynamics on a daily basis. All of that can be extremely challenging. And then you throw in what we experienced with Covid and people working from home. Now they're coming back to work. This whole thing can be very complicated and it would be great if there was a way to make that better for everyone. That's what my guest today does with, uh, bringing his expertise to the table. Bart Foster is the CEO and founder of Business Outside and author of the new book, Business Outside Discover Your Path Forward. He's a speaker, facilitator, and entrepreneur based outta Boulder, Colorado, and works with Fortune 1000 companies to get outside of comfort zones, outside of outdated norms and outside in nature. Hey Bart, thank you so much for joining us today.

Bart Foster: 1:48

Thanks, George. Glad to be here.

George Siegal: 1:50

All right. I'd like to ask my guests a couple questions before we get going so we can learn a little bit about you. Um, tell us something about you that most people do not know.

Bart Foster: 2:01

Oh man. I'm kind of an open book.

George Siegal: 2:03

So they know everything?

Bart Foster: 2:05

No, not everything.

George Siegal: 2:06

Okay, give us one. I started dating my wife when I was in ninth grade, and we've been married 25. Most people don't know that. As a media guy my follow up question would be, what grade was she in?

Bart Foster: 2:19

Oh, that's a good one. Uh, she was in ninth grade also. George Siegal: Okay, good. I should have pre asked that question. Nothing good could come. Nothing good. Could have come from a bad answer there. Okay. Now that's very interesting. So wow. Uh, the love of your life, literally. Yeah. She's, uh, been a life partner. It's great.

George Siegal: 2:38

That's fantastic. I love to hear stuff like that. Now, if you could get a meeting today with anybody in the world, you could meet with them. They have to be alive, obviously. Who are you sitting down with?

Bart Foster: 2:47

Richard Branson. We're gonna go to Necker Island and we're gonna talk about business outside and how he can help support. He's already a brand ambassador, indirectly. He just doesn't know it yet, so he's, he's living the life that I want a lot of other CEOs to live and I think he can help.

George Siegal: 3:04

Awesome. All right. That's, that's, that's a good one. Okay. So explain the problem that you have identified and tell us what you're doing to make it better?

Bart Foster: 3:14

So, corporations and, you know, small and medium size business too, but particularly large companies, they're stuck. They're stuck inside in front of their Zoom calls and their screens. They're stuck on their phone and they're not making these human connections and covid just accelerated all of that, like it was already happening, but Covid made it really apparent and then we weren't going to the office and now people are coming back to the office and they're trying to figure out this remote and this hybrid thing, and no one's really figured it out. Well, what I've realized is those corporate boondoggles of the past, they're going away. People want real connections. They don't wanna just sit at the bar and and drink. And so what we're doing is we're putting together these unique retreats that allow people to get outside of their comfort zone, outside of corporate norms and outside in nature. And we use nature as a backdrop because, Yeah, I'll pause there, but that's kind of what we're doing. And that's the problem we're solving because people are stuck. They're stuck inside.

George Siegal: 4:15

Now, how do you get the commitment from people to do this? Is it like just driving to a, a local park? Is it as simple as that? Or is it an excursion where the whole workplace goes camping or does something outdoors?

Bart Foster: 4:26

So it's really an ethos. It's a, it's a way of thinking. So it could be as simple as Fresh Air Fridays, and you encourage your employees to get outside. You could book the conference room outside. You could book the quick think table. You could do a walkie talkie, which is simply a walking meeting. So there's certain things you can do, right, But it's really, it's bigger than that. It's not just outside in nature. It's thinking differently and doing things unique and challenging the status quo and being more intentional with where we spend our time.

George Siegal: 4:59

How did you discover this? What led you to come up with this? Uh, this method?

Bart Foster: 5:04

So when I first moved to Boulder, Colorado, I was living in Atlanta and I, I didn't really know anybody when my wife and I moved here and I started reaching out to venture capitalists and investors and business owners and trying to just network, right? And lunches and coffees and different things. And this one woman, Elizabeth Kraus, she's like, I don't do coffee or lunch. She's like, Meet me at the Trailhead. We're gonna go for a hike. And I remember telling my wife, This is really weird. I'm going to this hiking meeting. I don't know what to wear. And, but something special happened that day because I felt more authentic. I was more alive and I was more vulnerable. And I probably shared some things with her that I, I hadn't shared in six months. And it turned out that I was just, I felt more alive. So that became my default and I started doing more hiking meetings, and then I started doing it with groups and then one thing led to another and then Covid hit and everyone wanted to be outside and it just took off. And uh, yeah, that was the genesis though.

George Siegal: 6:09

And I imagine that kind of situation could go two ways. One, you find people that are open to, to doing that, or two, maybe you could eliminate people who aren't because it shows that they're not thinking the way you are to do business? I mean, is it, is it one or the other?

Bart Foster: 6:25

It's interesting. I think people, it's hard to talk about and, and read about. I think people have to experience it and when they experience it, so I, like, I do this innovation summit for the optical industry, so eyeglasses and things. And I started this four or five years ago and the first year we had this hike and it was sort of optional and I had some people come, but it was so great that the next year I made it mandatory. And it was just part of what you do because I knew that they were gonna experience it. And then anybody that didn't show up for the hike, they didn't get invited back. So now we've been doing this thing four or five years. People know what they're getting into and they've experienced it. And now that they infect other people in their companies.

George Siegal: 7:07

What are the differences you notice with workers after they do something like this? How does it carry forward from the actual event?

Bart Foster: 7:16

It's so amazing. I, I've had people tell me like, it's the best event that I had United Healthcare in. They actually put it on LinkedIn so I can talk about it. They said it was the best. The COO said that it was the best meeting she's been to in 30 years, but like she's been at a lot of meetings. She's been with the company more than 20 years. And to get that sort of testimonial tells me we're doing something right and what it is. Is people don't need to be in the four walls of a conference room. They don't need to be looking at PowerPoint slides all day. What they need to do is they need to talk and they need to get to know each other as not human resources, but actually humans, because we all come to work every day as mothers and fathers and caregivers like. It's more than just our job title. And what happens when you're hiking, you're walking, I'm careful with the the H word, right? The hike gets people thinking, Oh shit, we're gonna do something really big. It can be a walk, George. It can be as simple as a walk. But what happens is when you strip away, clothing has a lot to do with it. It doesn't matter what you're wearing. It does. You don't have to have a suit and tie. Everyone has sneakers on and you're walking, and you're not making direct eye contact. You're shoulder to shoulder, you're moving. There's a reason why they tell you, you know, talk to your kids in the car because, one, they're captive, but you're, you don't have direct eye contact. It's the same thing. And there's studies to prove the science is out there. You're more vulnerable and you're willing to share, and vulnerability leads to trust. And if you can build trust, you can build better teams. It's, it's such a simple concept, just no one's doing it.

George Siegal: 8:49

I've always thought one of the most dangerous office, uh, events was the company Christmas party. Cuz you get people there that are drinking and they start sharing too much. Is there any, any, does that happen in this kind of environment where people are going, Wow, they're, so they're all together talking. Does it sometimes turn into a bitch session about the company or are people more aware than that? It's a, it's a different environment.

Bart Foster: 9:11

The important piece is you set the intention on the front end. So the first thing I do in every meeting is we get in a big circle and there could be a hundred people there could be 20, it doesn't matter. But we're in a big circle and I'll, I'll invite them, Hey, close your eyes, or if you're more comfortable, look over the bridge of your nose. And we're gonna take a really deep breath in through our nose at, exhale, take a deep breath in and exhale. And we do that three or four times and I tell them on their inhale, they breathe in. They breathe in energy and optimism, and on their exhale, they're gonna let go of any distractions and anything that came before this, anything came after. It's so simple, but no one does it. We run into meeting, to meeting, and we're on phones and everything and we're not present with each other. And I set the intention and I ground them to start any meeting. And that just sets the stage. And then we talk about, all right, what are we gonna accomplish together? And people realize this is a different meeting. Guys, if you're gonna be on your phone, you gotta, great. Just leave the room. It's not gonna happen in this meeting. And just having the confidence, because I've been a ceo, I've been in their shoes, I can say these things. It really, really helps. And you set the intention. You do the same thing at night, so everyone has a, you know, an opening toast. Hey, let's thank everybody. You know, we're really proud. We're all together. Well, I do one at the end of the night too, and I set the intention. I said, Hey guys, we had an early hike tomorrow. You guys do what you want, but I'm gonna go to bed soon and here's what you got on tap for tomorrow. And it's crazy. Like no one does that. But when you do, when you set the intention, it really helps.

George Siegal: 10:51

Does it help when they're completely disconnected from social media and distractions? Because I find that to be one of the most totally annoying distractions of, of our generation now.

Bart Foster: 11:02

It doesn't, it doesn't happen in our meetings. Um, Because we just don't, we don't allow it. Like I say, Guys, you pay me way too much to come in here and let you just scroll through social media. So if you're gonna do that, that's a different meeting. And I tell 'em way ahead of time. They know. Um, but you come alive, you, you come, you come away from these retreats feeling engaged and inspired and committed to delivering on the priorities of your business. And it's just a very different meeting than people have been a part of.

George Siegal: 11:34

Years ago I made a video for, uh, this bank in San Antonio that wanted to bring in the guys from the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle. It was called the Fish Philosophy. Yep. Um, and these guys have a philosophy. Um, in their presentation about anybody that comes into your business, it's their first experience and you wanna make it good cause that's what those guys do. You never know if they're gonna come back again. How does this change the philosophy or work with the philosophy of a company to make people feel better about the the place they're working. Maybe it helps retain employees. People seem to be,

Bart Foster: 12:08

It totally does. Retention and recruitment are the two biggest hot topics right now. And the reason people are leaving is cuz they're not engaged and the reason they're not engaged is because they don't know their coworkers. In fact, if you have a best friend at work, it's like 70% more likely you're gonna stay at work. Well, the the challenge is most people don't get to know each other, so. What? What I try to do is help them and provide tools to get to know each other again as humans. So instead of saying, Oh, how are you doing? I'm good, how are you? I'm great. How are you? Like, no, that's like idle chit chat. How about what's bringing you joy? What's giving you energy? What's zapping your energy, What are you most excited about? Like get to the feeling and the emotion because that's where the relationships are built and if we can build stronger relationships. People don't wanna leave.

George Siegal: 13:01

Are you finding people are desperate for this kind of interaction after Covid? I mean, I, I can't imagine. I can't. Younger day working remote. What's that?

Bart Foster: 13:09

No, it's, our business is blown up. You can't keep up with a demand because everybody needs this and everyone wants it. They're craving it. People don't wanna sit and listen to PowerPoint slides and size like 18 font and drink coffee and eat mints. It's, it's different now. It's different. And the, and the speakers that are bringing in, you can see this shit on, on TED Talks and YouTube. People want to experience something and they wanna do it together with each other.

George Siegal: 13:39

Now, do you have any, I knew you had that one example, uh, because they posted the video, but there are other kind of examples where maybe people were resistant or reluctant to to buy in.

Bart Foster: 13:49

Totally.

George Siegal: 13:49

And then afterwards they realized, Wow, this was really, this was really valuable.

Bart Foster: 13:53

Two days ago. Yeah, I had a executive team. They're all CEOs and I, we did a wimhoff session, which is a breathing session at Sunrise, and we're walking through the woods to this amazing lake, and they're, you can hear them, it's snickering like, What is this? This is crazy. Why are we doing this? And we sit down and we breathe for a good 10 minutes, and then we get in the cold water. It was cold. and they loved it and they felt more alive. They realized that if they just trusted the process and just got to know each other a little bit and it was awesome, but that, that stuff happens at every event and that's why the things like whim haw, the things like a sunrise breathing experience, getting people up, doing things differently. We don't do that until like day two or three cuz they have to kind of buy into what we're laying down.

George Siegal: 14:48

Tell me about the book Business Outside, uh, Business Outside, Discover Your Path Forward.

Bart Foster: 14:54

Yeah, it's a lot of what we do in, in a lot of the principles that we teach. Uh, but essentially it's a way to think differently and get outside of your comfort zone outside of corporate norms. Um, the discover your path forward is the journey I tell some of the journey that I went on. Right. And for me, what I realize is that if I could. To have the happiest and healthiest and most productive life, I needed to be aligned with my personal values and my zone genius. And if I could create a life that was happening by me instead of to me, I was gonna be super intentional with it. And I just, I found a way to do that. So a lot of what is in the book, you know, one of the, one of the, the principal tenants is figure out what is your personal value statement. And for me, it became my North star. In fact, it's, um, it's written up in my office and it's my personal values. And whenever I have to make decisions, it's like, is that aligned with my values and is it capitalizing on my zone of genius? And then I just try to share that with others, uh, through the book.

George Siegal: 16:01

Can you share your personal value statement?

Bart Foster: 16:03

Yes. Um, I value personal freedom, which allows me to lead an active and healthy life full of adventure. I will build authentic and loving relationships with friends and family. I will fulfill myself through curiosity, personal growth, and lifelong learning. That's me.

George Siegal: 16:24

Do you look at that every day and see if you're staying true to it, or do you check back every now and then? I mean, how do you keep the course going straight on that?

Bart Foster: 16:33

So, two things. Yes. I have it posted in front of me and behind me, um, in my office. Uh, whenever I face with a big decision, I'll kind of look at it, Hey, is this aligned? And then I do something kind of unique. There's an app called One Second Every Day. Have you ever heard of it?

George Siegal: 16:47

I have not.

Bart Foster: 16:48

So one second every day is you take a one second video every day. And at the end of a year, you have a six minute video, right? 365 seconds. And I first heard about it, I was down in Ecuador and somebody had told me they've been doing this. And, and that was six years ago. And I literally have been doing it for six years. And what's so cool is that you capture the second that, that means a lot to you, like that day. Like it could be a sporting event, it could be somebody's birthday, it might be on hiking a mountain. There's all different seconds. But what I realized recently is I can look back and I can play like the last month, say in 30 seconds, right? And I can see the feeling, the emotion, who I was with, and I can then look at my personal values and, and look at that video and say, Am I aligned? Am I living into what I say is important? And it's a, it's a nice way to kind of calibrate for me.

George Siegal: 17:43

Sounds like a much better use of selfies doing something like that.

Bart Foster: 17:47

Well, I'm not usually in them, so it's, it's through my eyes, so I take Okay,

George Siegal: 17:51

so you don't, it's not of you're, It's wherever you are, whatever you're doing, you capture that what I'm seeing. Yeah. Okay. That's interesting. So may that's turning the camera away from you, That's probably much better.

Bart Foster: 18:02

Yeah. So this, Yeah. So I'll, I'll tell you. So this picture right here was taken. There's a buddy of mine, he was in Denver, and he's like, Hey, do you wanna go for a hike in the morning? Whatever. I only have the short window.

I can be there at 5: 18:13

00 AM. It's like, okay, you know, I'll go at five. Well, I wake up and it just looks completely shitty outside and it's cold, and I'm like, Ah, I didn't really wanna go, but I'm so glad I got out because we start walking up the hill and I just had this funny feeling, just you could see the way the clouds were moving and we popped through the clouds. And this was me, like literally like 500 yards from where that first picture was taken. And then it just, it just got better. And it's called an inversion. It happens like twice a year. But I relate it to business now because often like, we're right in this, huh? It's like this fog and we can't see in front of us, or there's this big challenge in front of us. And oftentimes we just have to have a different perspective. So I think about this often. If you just climb up to the top and you look down, you have a different perspective than everyone else because everyone else down in those clouds, they had no idea that it looked like this.

George Siegal: 19:14

So what, what advice would you have for people who, um, are in that fog or they're, you know, they work at a company where just every day is, feels like you're on a treadmill and not really going anywhere. What would you tell people to, to, to break out of that and make it?

Bart Foster: 19:32

Two things. I think one, I would take a step back and say, what do I really value in life? And what fires me up? Right? And I would sh, I would do a personal values exercise. And whether you use the tools in my book or you go to the website, you, there's a lot of tools out there, but you figure out what do you really, really value and what are your personal values? And then you come up with a personal value statement. And for me, that became my north. Because if, if that, if that's what you value, right? Then the, the second thing is what is your unique ability? Some people call it your zone of genius. And I would say if you think about four quadrants, right? There's things you love and there's things you hate, there's things you're terrible at, and there's things you're great at. That top right hand corner, things you love, you're, you're great at, that's your zone of genius things you love and you're great at. Not you like you love it. And if you figure out that, and most times you can, you can ask a few friends like you, you kind of know like what your zone of genius is. Then you've got your personal values, your zone of genius. Then you say, Okay, how can I create a life that's happening by me instead of to me? And it might mean you might have to change jobs, but maybe not. It might mean you have to, you have to move. It might mean you might have to wake up earlier. It might mean you have to, but if you know your personal values, then I do an assessment and I say, Hey, in the last six months of those six or eight values you just listed in the last six months, how much have you leaned into those? One is never, and five is always right. One is never, Five is always, and you, you list those out and you say, Okay, take an assessment. If anything is less than a five, you have to say, Okay, what do I need to change. And in any group that I do, there's always twos and threes and I say, What is one meaningful thing you can do to take it from a two to a three or a three to a four? Because we only get one life, so we might as well live it in line with our values in our zone of genius.

George Siegal: 21:44

All right, so how do people follow you? How can they get your book? How can they follow you on social media? I'll put it all in the show notes, but what's the best way?

Bart Foster: 21:53

So bart- foster.com. They can go and get some tools and speaking and different things like that. Uh, it also has links to the book. You can go Amazon, Barnes and Noble, really anywhere. The books are sold online. Uh, you can order business outside, Discover your Path Forward. It's also on Audible, uh, so if you want me to read it to you, I've, I've read it. Um, I did the, the audio and it's, um, Yeah, I hope people like it. Some of the tools and the exercises are both in the book. They also can be found on business outside.com and that is where a lot of the tools exist. And you can download those worksheets and yeah, you can follow me on Instagram, Uh, both business outside and BART underscore Foster.

George Siegal: 22:37

Very good. Bart, thank you so much for your time. Interesting stuff. I appreciate you coming on.

Bart Foster: 22:42

Are we gonna have a challenge for your team, George?

George Siegal: 22:45

I don't, I have a team of freelance people in they,

Bart Foster: 22:47

No, no. I met your listeners. Sorry. Can we give 'em a challenge?

George Siegal: 22:50

Absolutely. You can give them a challenge. Sure.

Bart Foster: 22:52

Awesome. I love it. So one of the things I love to do with groups is we go for a walk or a hike, right? And I'll tell them, I'll, I'll have different discussion prompts and here's what I like to use, that I would love to think about, and maybe I'll ask you. Think about your life, like branches of a tree and you had different forks in the road along the way. Who is a person who made a big impact on you at one of those forks in the road? What do they say? How'd they make you feel? And how'd they changed the trajectory of your life. Right? You think about that, it's, it's who you're really grateful for. And the reality is a lot of people don't know. And here's what I like to do with groups is once they think about that, I tell'em to, to send a short selfie video. Okay? And you can even blame it on, On you or me. And this podcast, people are listening. Say, Hey, I heard this thing. I wanna try this. And literally you whip out your phone and record a 30 second video for that person and tell 'em what they meant to you and why, and send it. It's easy. Nobody does it, but once they start doing it, it creates its gratitude loop and it's amazing. And the reality is a lot of people don't know the impact that they made on us, but words matter and actions matter. And if we can do that, I think it'll be a better world. I think that would be a cool challenge and, and you could say to your listeners, like, go out and do this. Like send a video to somebody.

George Siegal: 24:19

Interesting. Now you have my wheels turning. Trying to think who I would peg as somebody that did that. And just sitting here, you know, with the pressure of you and I talking, nothing's popping into mind. I'd probably have to sit there and really think about it a little more.

Bart Foster: 24:32

One way to think about it is, is the top five highs of your life and the top five lows. My guess is there were some intersections there. You didn't do it alone. There were some people that influenced and gave you some advice and guidance and pushed you in a way, or gave you a book to read and it changed your life. And those are the people that we wanna thank and have gratitude.

George Siegal: 24:57

Yeah, I think part of that exercise too is maybe thinking about those things and, and, and remembering them. Cuz like I say, if it's not forefront in my mind, I bet if I sat down, they would start coming back to me, so then maybe you appreciate it more once you bring that memory back up.

Bart Foster: 25:13

Yeah.

George Siegal: 25:14

Thank you so much for listening to today's Tell, Us How to Make It Better podcast. All the information to get in touch with Bart is in the show notes, and if you'd like to reach out to me, all of my social media contacts are there, as well as a contact form. If you have any ideas for future guests or thoughts about something you've seen or something you'd like to see I certainly would love to hear from you, and also if you enjoyed listening, please share the link with other people and if you leave a review, I'll consider that a huge bonus, and I appreciate you doing it. Thanks again for listening. See you next time.