Culture Matters: Building the Wise Firm

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.

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.

Last week, we took a look at how a strong culture leads to innovation with HORNE’s Principles for a Culture of Innovation in Executive Partner Joey Havens’ beBetter blog. This week, it’s time to ask yourself if your firm is future ready? CPA.com published its “Insights into the CPA of the Future Study” concluding that 92% of CPAs reported that they were not “future ready.” Read more about Joey’s challenge to leaders of the profession to set the tone at the top and do what it takes to become a future ready firm in his beBetter blog below.

With the world’s biggest sporting event among us, I would like to take you back to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

American air rifle shooter, Matt Emmons, was competing in the three-position event in which participants shoot multiple shots from 50 meters away in varying positions­­—stomach, knees and feet. Emmons stood on his feet for his last shot of the competition. Leading by three points, his last shot only needed to come close to the bull’s-eye to guarantee him the gold medal. He took a deep breath and fired. Bull’s-eye! 

When it comes to our personal and professional growth, the common denominator that often trips us up involves risk. As I consider my performance over the past years and my future ambitions, I find myself pondering these two questions:

What is a leader? According to Merriam-Webster, a leader is “a person who leads…who has commanding authority or influence.” Am I a leader? Who can be influenced by little ole me? 

“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.”  - Proverbs 12:15

Here at HORNE, we are building the Wise Firm. That is our culture. We want to be like the wise man from the biblical parable who built his house on a strong foundation. When the great storms came, he was able to overcome because he had built his house on a solid foundation. 

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: