Culture Matters: Building the Wise Firm

There are so many ‘first times’ in life that we will never forget. I certainly have experienced my fair share at HORNE and they have positively guided me to beBetter. I can remember my first complicated project and how it made me doubt myself; the first time I received good feedback from the team for hard work and good performance; the first challenge that I had to face as a foreigner and English being my second language; and the first time I was exposed to the client.

I love that the term we call our culture, the Wise Firm, is based on the Biblical parable and a song I grew up singing in Sunday school. “The wise man built his house upon the rock, the wise man built his house upon the rock…and the rains came tumbling down.” This little song got me thinking about how we build our team members? Do we really build them up with a rock like foundation? Do we encourage them to reach their full potential?

I hate raking leaves. I mean I really hate raking leaves. It just so happens that I have five large oak trees in my yard that drop copious amounts of leaves, including a live oak that drops leaves all year long. My wife loves a clean, leaf-free yard. So you might say, “No problem, hire someone to rake the yard for you—make your wife happy and prosper.” Well, I am also cheap, so while I hate to rake leaves, I hate to pay someone to rake them even more.

Not many people know this, but HORNE was the first firm to take a chance on me. I wasn’t the smartest student in the class. I wasn’t the most social. But I believe God gave me favor to connect with HORNE and convince them to give me a shot.

Picture this. A nice restaurant, low lighting and candles lit. You ask the lovely waitress for an entrée suggestion. Her reply, “Try our prime rib po-boy. It’s wonderful. I get it all the time.”

She was direct, polite and believable as she shared her personal favorite on the menu. What could possibly be wrong with that?

At a restaurant serving $40 prime steaks with lobster tails, she had just suggested an $8 sandwich.  Not only that, but she repeatedly sold the most sandwiches of anyone in the house! More than half of her tables ordered at least one sandwich every night.

I grew up in a diverse family—four sisters, one brother, three races, and a 75 year age span between the family members that still lived in my parent’s house in Tennessee. I’m so blessed to be part of a family with so many perspectives, learning to empathize with others’ positions rather than automatically becoming judgmental. As you might expect, getting along with everybody all the time wasn’t always easy. I remember one particular instance when my 5-year-old brother and 13-year-old sister were having a particularly difficult time refraining from killing each other. My mom, the wisest person in the world, pulled my sister aside and told her “I know your brother is hard to deal with and sometimes really hard to like. You know how the greatest commandment is to love God, and the second is to love others? Well, your brother was made in the image of God. You have to love him.” Mic drop.

Every day, I have the same question lingering in the back of my brain. How am I adding value and making a difference at HORNE—both internally and externally? This is a question I wrestle with regardless of self-evaluations and alignment conversations. Those just prompt us to quickly put pen to paper and formalize the question. But that constant lingering is why I’ve challenged myself to write this very blog. And, when I did, came to some very basic conclusions that I want to share with you.

Three years ago, an internal survey of our team members shined a spotlight on an area we realized we had to be intentional to overcome: Leadership Diversity. Without intent, the unconscious bias of our current leaders would most likely result in the growth and promotion of other team members who reminded them of themselves. We know our future relevancy depends on diversity of thought which comes from diversity of experiences. So, with the introduction of our Belonging at HORNE Sponsorship and Advocacy program, we set out to increase transparency around leadership development, create access and drive diversity in leadership across the firm.

The most read blogs from 2016 paint a clear picture that culture matters. Some are funny, some are heartwarming, but the most impactful were clearly the blogs where our team members didn't shy away from hard topics and felt empowered to share their personal stories. Here’s a look back on the best blogs from 2016. Enjoy!