IAM775- Founder Helps With Business Communications

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[00:00:02.20] – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

[00:00:30.10] – Gresham Harkless
Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcas, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Brian Burkhart of Square Planet Presentations and Strategy. Brian, it's awesome to have you on the show.

[00:00:40.39] – Brian Burkhart

Gresh, it's awesome to be here. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it very much.

[00:00:44.20] – Gresham Harkless

No problem. Super excited to have you on. And before we jump in, I want to read a little bit more about Brian so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. Brian is the founder and CEO of SquarePlanet Presentations & Strategy, a Phoenix, Arizona-based business communications firm that landed a spot on the 2018 Inc. 5000 list. Brian, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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[00:00:45.39] – Brian Burkhart

Let's do it, Gresh. I'm in, man.

[00:00:46.70] – Gresham Harkless

Let's make it happen. So to kick everything off, I wanted to go on the clock a little bit here a little bit more on how you got started. Could you take us through your CEO story? We'll let you get started with your business.

[00:01:16.50] – Brian Burkhart

I am getting old. That's part of the equation. It all really goes back to life.

[00:01:19.70] – Gresham Harkless

It always is. Right? We're always the older. It's true.

[00:01:23.00] – Brian Burkhart

It It really goes back honestly to my grade school time. I was in fifth grade at Oak Ridge Elementary School just outside of Chicago. I ran for student council president and I was tiny little guy. I remember making a speech in front of my entire school. I walked up to the lectern, grabbed the gooseneck mic, pulled it down as far as it could go, squeaks going through the whole auditorium, and made a presentation. And I knew right then and there, Gresha, I knew that I was gonna win the election. I did. But what was more important was the moment in time. It was the first time that really marked to me the power of effective communication. I was never a great athlete. I was never, the smartest kid in class. I was never any of those things, but I was by far the one most sort of, inclined, and then capable of communicating publicly.

And that really was the thing that launched my entire career trajectory. And there are lots of sir serendipity and twists and turns and a circuitous route to where I landed today, but Square Planet's been with us now roughly a decade. I've been really fortunate to work with some incredible people and do amazing things along the way, but really it's about helping people understand that truly lead you to communicate effectively. That means when you speak, people both remember and act on the things you say And that's an art and a science, and it's taken really a lifetime to get us to this point. But that's it in a nutshell.

[00:02:53.40] – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I absolutely love that. And it's so funny because when I was around the same age, I started a family newspaper, and I'm really big into writing and creating content. And it's so funny how a lot of times we have those things that we are passionate about or things that come out in our childhood, and then we look, you know, years and years later, and we're still kind of doing those things in alignment and kinda see how we kinda have our gifts that we kind of just progress with and we step into that.

[00:03:18.69] – Brian Burkhart

I'll tell you a quick story and I have to preface this by saying, that I am terrible at organized religion. I'm just it's just not in the cards for me. I'm just bad at it. I suffer through and I need to do things, but it's not my jam. Right?

[00:03:32.40] – Gresham Harkless

Mhmm.

[00:03:32.59] – Brian Burkhart

Oh, by far and away, my favorite song ever at all times of year is The Little Drummer Boy. And it's a Christmas song so if anyone is not celebrating Christmas, this may not make sense. But it's the song about the notion that when the king of kings is born, there's this poor little boy who wants to give a gift, and he kinda looks within and realizes that he's got nothing. He's got nothing to give with one notable exception. He can play the drums and the songs, the lyrics really are all about how this little guy against all tangible odds goes to the king of kings, plays the drum and the king is very pleased. That notion of giving your gifts and recognizing early the things that you can really do and leaning into it, I think that's actually the key to success for people. People are quick to deny their own intrinsic disposition towards the things that they love. It doesn't feel like work when you're collectively giving your gift on a regular basis. So for me, I love that you did that as a kid, and here you are today building content on a regular basis. I'm still communicating on a regular basis. It doesn't feel hard when you're doing the thing you're naturally intended to do.

[00:04:43.69] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. I absolutely love that. I appreciate you for, breaking down that because I think so many times we ignore or we forget that. But as you said, when we lean into those things that we like to do and often we're good at because that's why we like to do it, that's when phenomenal things happen. So I know one of those phenomenal things, that you've been able to do is square planning. Could you take us through exactly what you're doing and how you serve the clients that you work with there?

[00:05:06.50] – Brian Burkhart

Absolutely. It's an interesting little business. We have very few competitors. There are a couple, but it's an interesting business because it hits at something so deeply personal and often traumatic. At its core, what Square Planet is all about, it's this notion of making waves. We make waves. And I'm out here in the desert of Phoenix. There's no water. These are not of the aquatic variety. The waves that we make, it's about helping our clients elevate their most important messages so people remember and act. Elevate messages so people remember and act. And that takes the form of a variety of things. There are two main ways that we produce income. They produce events, meetings, that kind of stuff.

So back pre-COVID, they were often live, now they're virtual. But it's really about helping our organizations take those moments in time, whether it's an internal sales conference, a supplier conference, or a client conference, and elevating them so that they're truly things that people remember and act on. Part of that is also helping the individual with things like a keynote or presentation that deeply matters and so that lives in a variety of ways. It could be like I just said in a conference sort of environment where someone stands on stage in front of a few hundred or a few thousand people.

It can also be things like a sales presentation, could be one to one, could be a team-based sale, but those presentations that deeply matter, not the little ones that we do a thousand times a day, but those big ones, the ones that you can feel the butterflies, that's where we step in in a really big way. Those are two of the six ways that we typically make money. I also get paid to go speak. We do some additional training and consulting on things like presentations. But essentially, it's helping people really take their message, and elevate it, so that audiences remember an act.

[00:06:55.60] – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I absolutely love that. And I think that, the being, you know, memorable and being able to creator create that environment that to make those waves and create waves.

[00:07:06.19] – Brian Burkhart

You gotta do it.

[00:07:06.39] – Gresham Harkless

Exactly. Exactly. It's huge. And I think that's what we all hope to do because I feel like, you know, getting more into, like, the psychology of why we do what we do. I feel like it's so that we are remembered so that we do create some type of action or make some imprint on our world or our society and so forth. And I think so many times, not being able to communicate effectively for that to happen can sometimes hold us back if we really have phenomenal things that we wanna do. So I love how you're able to kind of facilitate that and help empower people in so many different ways with being able to do that.

[00:07:37.69] – Brian Burkhart

Well, here's what I would tell you, Gresh, and it's very real. I mean this very sincerely, is that leadership and communications are deeply rooted. They're deeply connected. It's things like you you think of any organization, big, small, doesn't matter. The leaders of that organization have no choice. They must communicate. Whether it's internally or externally, leaders are constantly put in a position to communicate. And within those same organizations, those that have a proclivity towards really solid communications often become the leaders. You see this relationship all the time regardless of the kind of organization those that can truly stand out when it comes to communication will often rise to the top very, very quickly. That is rooted in leadership.

And so when people can put these skills together and understand the power of that, they can really make a dent in their own little universal world, their life. I have seen many a person I've worked with rise up a corporate ladder, get raises and titles, and ultimately change the direction of their life and their family unit. It's real. So while it's a soft skill, it's one of those skills that permeates everything we do and when people look at it with the right proper lens and put the onus on it the way they should, it ultimately changes their life in a really powerful and powerful way.

[00:08:57.89] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. And it definitely as you know, as you said, it might be considered a soft skill, but I definitely feel like it's kind of a glue skill, so to speak, too, because you use it in so many different aspects of you know, from a day to day basis, obviously, jobs or presentations and so many different, aspects. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call your secret sauce. And this could be for you personally or your business or a combination of both. But what do you feel kinda sets you apart and makes you unique?

[00:09:23.39] – Brian Burkhart

Great question. There's a couple of things I think. I think for one, for me personally, that my business is definitely a deep reflection of me as the founder and CEO. There is not much of a difference between me and getting my company.

[00:09:40.70] – Gresham Harkless

We are so aligned. Biotic.

[00:09:42.60] – Brian Burkhart

Yeah, I mean that's just kind of the way that is. There's two things that I think. One is you probably are familiar with, there's a variety of different tests out there. Sort of like personality assessments. One, actually a great company, good friends of mine, it's Kolbe which is with a k. And the Kolbe index is this really kind of well-known personality assessment and if anyone knows and I say these numbers they're gonna know what this means. But I'm a four four nine three and that nine is an indication of something called fast start. Well, Kathy Colby, the founder of the company and a pal of mine. She said to me after reading my results, she's like, Brian, you're like a nine point nine. You're almost a ten. Doesn't really go that high. What that really means is that I am super fast on the uptake.

Unlike most people, if you and I had a conversation, Gresham, you were trying to tell me about your business or something, I'm gonna understand really quickly. And that is a huge part of the secret sauce because there's not a whole lot of people in my world that roll out of bed on any given day and say, you know what I want? I wanna be beaten up a little bit by some guy I hardly know about my presentation and communication skills. Mhmm. And so my ability to figure it out fast goes a really long way. I can give people, really actionable feedback. Really solid information to make them better in moments. And it's just one of those things that I just got luck. I got lucky. That was just one of those things that kinda fell my way.

[00:11:11.29] – Gresham Harkless

I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

[00:11:22.20] – Brian Burkhart

I'll give you a couple. So right now as we speak, we are using Zoom, and all those platforms whether it's WebEx, Teams, or pick one, create an immediate disconnect between you and me as people. Right? It's not a normal situation. If you and I were across a table from each other or sitting in a room, coffee house, board room, whatever it was, we would look each other in the eye no doubt about it, but the minute we get into Zoom, everything changes. So the hack that I am using is you'll notice, right now, Gresha, I'm looking you in the eye, But what I'm really doing is looking into the lens. Watch my eyes. I'm gonna shift and I'm gonna now look at you. Do you see the difference? It's subtle but it's real. I'm now looking at you but I'm really not looking at you. This is looking you in the eye.

So the hack is I swear, I wish I could show you this. I have two little yellow posts with arrows. One on the left that says look, one on the right that says here. The thing is the eye line. It's a silly little thing. It costs nothing unless you need to go get some Post-its. It just simply makes me connect with you and whoever else is on the other end of that lens. That's a heck of a hack. The other one that I'll tell you, this is something that I feel like I've talked about to anyone and everyone that'll listen. And that is the idea that you don't need to have a physical mentor. I think this is a really good thing for anyone at any time of life at any age. There is so much collective wisdom available in the world whether it's the internet, books, you name it. You do not need a human being at your side, at the ready to be your mentor.

[00:13:01.10] – Gresham Harkless

Now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget, and this could be a word of wisdom or piece of advice that you kinda spoke to. It could be something you would tell a client, or if you have to do a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

[00:13:12.89] – Brian Burkhart

You're not gonna be surprised by this, Crash. So this is what my book is about. This is what I talk about all the time. For me, the thing that I am most passionate about and it really has started to resonate in a variety of ways in society and the fabric of life as we all know it. It's really being very clear, purposeful, and more than anything in the deep true knowledge of oneself of what you stand for, of what you believe in. There is enough work and enough people that you don't need to try to placate everyone. In fact, it's just a terrible idea. What's best is to know exactly what you stand for, and what you believe in, and then work with those around you who believe the same thing.

[00:13:54.10] – Gresham Harkless

One of the things I wanted to ask, before that is actually, what does being a CEO mean to you? We're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this show, but what does being a CEO mean to you, Brian?

[00:14:04.00] – Brian Burkhart

I think the number one thing for me about being a CEO of Gresh is being truly accountable. When things go bad, I've gotta stand there and say it's my fault. The buck does stop here. And it's interesting because there are lots of little ways that those things can create a really great organization. I'll give you a silly example but we talk about that kind of accountability on things like deadlines. If we have a deadline that our client is expecting something and we know we're not gonna hit it, as opposed to waiting we get to that deadline to tell them, we're gonna find the earliest possible opportunity to say, hey you know what? We're gonna miss this. That accountability, that willingness to say I have screwed up. I think that defines what the really good CEOs do.

It permeates an entire organization. People realize that they're allowed to be human and make mistakes, but at the same time figure out ways to fix those mistakes. That grace baked in from the top. That accountability organization. If that's not there, that void I think can be utterly destructive. And there are so many CEOs who love those layers of insulation and love to push that blame onto someone else. Not for me, and I think those I've seen and worked with, and those that I've spent time with that do such an amazing job of saying it's right here. Those are the best organizations. Those are the best CEOs. It's about ultimately, it's about accountability.

[00:15:34.39] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Accountability and as you said, being able to vocalize and say, hey, I made a mistake, but this is how we're gonna correct it is a huge thing. And I think so many times you rarely get people that raise their hand and say, I did x, y, and z wrong and kinda take that true leadership mantle, as you said. So definitely appreciate that definition and that perspective, and I appreciate your time even more. Now I want to hear a little bit more about how we can get a copy of the book and find out about all the awesome things that you're working on.

[00:15:59.89] – Brian Burkhart

You can certainly go to Amazon if you just put in Brian Burkhart's stand for something. You know it's been pretty cool. That's been kind of a neat experience. It was August first so I'm literally down to the day. I shouldn't date when we recorded this. I'm sorry.

[00:16:14.60] – Gresham Harkless

Today you're back.

[00:16:15.60] – Brian Burkhart

My book was released on August first of twenty nineteen and so it has been a year. It's been very, very cool. But the best easiest thing to do is also just go to square planet dot com. Think round earth. Square Planet has a bunch of links. Our site has links to a variety of things, a bunch of free resources, some free tutorials, some free downloadable ebooks, and then of course, a link to my book as well. But, I'd love to meet any members of your audience and have a more in-depth conversation. Let's do that.

[00:16:46.70] – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. Now I appreciate you, Brian, for obviously, taking time out today, providing loads of value, and of course, being able to kind of create that, opportunity for expertise, that gym that we can kinda learn from and be and be mentored by you and and learn about all the awesome things that you're doing. So we will have the links and information in the show notes so that everybody can follow up with you. Cool. But truly appreciate you, my friend, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

[00:17:09.09] – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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