Season 3 Episode 22
Season 3 Episode 22
Joey Havens is the author of the soon-to-be-released book, Leading with Significance, where he reveals everything about his experience helping lead the successful transformation of HORNE’s culture to one that is magnetic and puts people first. He cuts through the theories of academia and shows the real human emotions that elevate a corporate culture to one that is genuine, enduring and magnetic.
Joey serves HORNE as managing partner for strategic growth. He previously served as executive partner from 2012 to 2021, leading more than 1,800 team members to build the Wise Firm© while passionately living out his life’s calling to help others see and reach their full potential. Prior to being named executive partner in 2012, Joey served as the managing partner of healthcare services and the managing partner of government services.
Within the profession, Joey actively challenges the mainstays of public accounting. He advocates growing leaders faster using holistic approaches and intentional sponsorship. He has a weekly beBetter blog, is the author of numerous whitepapers and articles and has co-authored four books.
Joey is an active member of CPA Practice Advisor’s Top 30 Thought Leaders, where he works with other accounting professionals to help lead and shape the industry.
Joey is a frequent presenter, teacher and facilitator on creating a culture of belonging, strategic planning and leadership development and loves to teach young professionals the ABCs to Outstanding.
Joey joined HORNE in 1984 and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Mississippi.
In this month's episode, Ryan Eaton welcomes Joey Havens, author of Leading with Significance. Joey is the current Managing Partner for Strategic Growth at HORNE.
Havens discusses building company culture in his book and on this podcast. He explains how organizations can avoid burnout, resolve conflicts, and improve as a team. Even though Havens lands in the accounting realm, he provides a bird’s-eye view of principles every insurance leader should know.
In order to lead a company culture successfully, Havens stresses the importance of putting a leadership team behind it. The culture of an organization is not only its values and beliefs but also its actions and behaviors. As Joey continues, he explains why a “good” culture is not good enough.
According to Joey, it takes a leader to articulate a vision and a leadership team to clarify whom the organization will become. It is important for an organization to have a clear vision, and for its leadership team to be fully committed to achieving that vision.Havens states that to create a magnetic culture it takes a great deal of courage and vulnerability to acknowledge that more can be done. A strong leadership that continuously believes in the good of people is an important aspect of creating a magnetic culture.
Culture is the soul of your organization. It is really who you are.
Modern organizations recognize that work-life flexibility is essential to the development of a thriving, productive culture. Even though the terms are often used synonymously, they don't always mean the same thing. Workplace flexibility means employees can be productive regardless of where or when they work.
It is important to note that Havens states flexibility is challenging. The reason for this is that the flexibility you need in your culture, one that really attracts and holds people, must be unique to each person.
Communication, trust, and commitment are essential for flexibility, according to Joey. A company should communicate its definition of flexibility to its employees. Is it a privilege or a right? If an employee is flexing, will he or she be available when a need arises?
Flexibility is hard, but you must trust people to perform as expected.
A leader's role is crucial because it inspires and motivates others to make positive changes in the world. The leader creates a vision that the leadership uses to develop a plan of action and build a strong culture within the organization. This leads to incredible feats being accomplished together as a result of their guidance.
Assessing current capabilities, identifying strengths, and setting future goals is a practical first step toward becoming a more agile organization, but this process does not have to be perfect.
It is the authenticity and transparency that do most of the work, and cultural flexibility is an ongoing process rather than an endpoint. The ability of employers to handle disruptions is enhanced by their ability to adapt and improve.
Be sure to tune into next month’s episode as we continue our discussion with James Benham, CEO and Cofounder of JBKnowledge.
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