Culture Matters: Building the Wise Firm

When I was in college working to obtain my bachelor’s in business management, if someone told me that one day I would grow up to become an acrobat, I would have told them they’d lost their mind. Pigs had a better chance of sprouting wings and taking to the sky than I had of navigating a trapeze. Yet here I sit ten years later, constantly walking a tightrope as I try to balance work and home life.

“Thanks for the feedback!” Walking down the hall in the office, I overhear this statement. It’s a common saying these days. I think about how feedback has impacted our culture, smiling in gratitude. 

At some point in my life, I decided that one of my mantras would be that the little things in life can make a big impact. The risk with stating that in this blog is that people who know me can likely find many instances where I have not lived up to that mantra. Agreed, I am not always consistent with it; however, it is something that I think about often. 

Research tells us that engagement is a byproduct of four sequential factors, built on a solid foundation of clear expectations. Team members must know what is expected of them at work and have the resources to perform their jobs before they can even think about engagement.

Certainty. It’s something many of us crave, but time and time again, life proves to be uncertain. Every area of our lives produces some unknown elements. As much as we plan and prepare, the truth is uncertainty can also mean feeling insecure, unsettled, unmotivated, and at times, very disconnected from one’s purpose.

Every day at HORNE is an opportunity to advance the firm along its journey to build the Wise Firm. We have 13 building blocks that define the Wise Firm and arguably nine of them are not technical or task focused. Those building blocks We & Service (the foundation of the Wise Firm), Collaboration, External Focus, Sense of Belonging, Relationships, Hard Decisions, Honor Values, Empowered People, and Positive Energy — speak to our team members and the leadership they deserve.

People say I’m a very engaged team member, I take my work seriously and I go above and beyond. I can’t say I disagree with them. In fact, I can’t tell you how much it means to have the people I work with acknowledge these things about me and take time to give me that feedback. It creates a great deal of value, and I view it as a not-so-common gift in the workplace.

We often make the mistake of trying to control every aspect of our lives. Many of us have a morning routine we follow religiously. For some, it is waking up in time to enjoy a cup of coffee outside on the deck, catch up on news or stop by Chick-fil-a for your regular #1 meal with two strawberry jelly packets and an orange juice. For others, it is going on a morning jog, getting the children ready for school or having a fashion show in the mirror to find the perfect outfit. Hey, no judgment here!

Regardless of what you do to get going in the morning, it is your routine, and it seems like something you have full control over. That is viable, right up until disaster strikes (insert scream here)! Now it seems the rest of your day is thrown off. We can control the amount of coffee we consume or our morning workout; however, we cannot control the unexpected events that prevent us from sticking to our routine.

Fear is a deep-seated and natural human emotion. Indeed rational fear helps us make sound decisions and even helps keep us alive. But less primal/survival fears are learned as we grow and experience life. It’s these less rational fears that can stall or even derail our professional growth and career trajectory. Fear of failure, of being wrong, of not being good enough, of being taken advantage of and even fear of success can all diminish our capacity for growth, success and happiness.