People FIRST: A Call to Love

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.

People say loving others is a choice, not a feeling. Well, in my family it is more than a choice. It’s a calling. A calling to respect, demonstrate kindness, speak truthfully, and hold each other accountable while maintaining dignity and diligently staying on mission for the good of other people. 

Love makes our service more profitable to others and to us. Knowledge puffs up, love builds up. Our love can and should be both a stabilizing root and constantly growing as we practice and #beEvenBetter.

People are valuable. This even means team members, clients, even vendors and partnering firms. I believe that a firm that is dedicated to people encourages others to be themselves and work toward their passions. At HORNE, team members are provided ways to develop and reach their full potential, and don’t feel weighed down with meaningless rules, policies and politics. How you make others feel about themselves says a lot about you. If team members matter, team members know they matter.

When I first heard that our firm was changing the name of our Human Resource department to People FIRST, I thought that it was a little hokey. But each time I get to share part of our story at HORNE, the name becomes more endearing and natural. People FIRST. Culture Matters. People Matter. 

About the Author

Emily is a senior manager at HORNE LLP where she primarily serves the franchise team by building strong teams and standardizing training. As a member of HORNE’s Personnel Committee, her calling to love others helps guide our team members to reach their full potential.