Culture Matters: Building the Wise Firm

Let’s face it, we live in a Burger King world of “having it your way.” We want customization, immediate gratification and to be the center of attention. We know what we want, how we want it and the sooner the better. Yet, even in a role as a service provider, I still find it difficult to deliver on that expectation.

My first job in the corporate world was serving in an administrative capacity on a team with about 150 people. I was certain that I was at the bottom of the ladder, but figured there was lots of room to stretch and grow. Had you read over my job description, like many similar job descriptions in most organizations these days, chances are you would see the following under the list of responsibilities: “Perform other duties that may be required.”

I’ve always been inspired by people who have successful careers, are at the top of their game and then throw caution to the wind by selling everything they have, cutting ties to their old life and pursuing a long-standing dream in their new-found freedom. Doesn’t simply reading those stories fill you with a sense of amazement and inspire you, even if for a brief moment? Seeing their faces when they tell their stories, with an infectious grin from ear to ear, that's the passion and all-in attitude we need in the workplace today. 

Our Executive Partner Joey Havens shared a very challenging blog with the firm and the readers of his beBetter blog last week.  His challenge? Stop treating email as urgent.  The blog created much conversation within the walls of HORNE and on our social platforms, we realized that email really is running people’s lives.  In case you haven’t read it, we wanted to share.  Then, you decide--is email running your life?

Strong teams don’t just happen. You know that.  I know that.  Yet, so many people lack the intentionality required to build a strong team. 

I’ve been privileged to grow and serve on some amazing teams led by strong, intentional individuals. I could write a dissertation on what I’ve learned about building strong teams simply based on their examples, but today I want to share three intentional practices that I’ve incorporated into my career:

Occasionally my church encourages a special dress for Sunday worship service. This could be anything from “wear pink for breast cancer awareness” to “Spirit Sunday” where we dress up in our favorite team’s regalia. Well, imagine one’s dismay when she missed the memo and walks in and instantly feels out of place. It’s that feeling of wearing red when everyone else is wearing black; donning jeans when everyone else is in a suit; having curly hair when everyone else’s hair is straight; being a black female when everyone else is a white male. It’s that feeling of being different. Welcome to my world as a professional in public accounting. 

A few days ago, I had a crazy-wonderful, unexpected client service experience. Feeling inspired by our executive partner’s blog last week, The Desire to Serve: Are You Delivering an Unrivaled Experience?, I felt compelled to share it with you.

A few months ago, our HORNE team launched a feedback movement designed to help us capitalize on our greatest opportunity, GROWTH.  As we all work together to build the Wise Firm, the most critical component to each of our building blocks is the growth of our team members. That means being fully engaged in our personal growth and development while helping our fellow team members grow and develop. This is the only way we will all reach our full potential.  Feedback helps us accelerate this growth. And accelerating the growth of our team members is vital to our firm’s success. 

Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish..."