Marc Laird has been the Chief Executive Officer at Cornerstone Home Lending, of which he is also a Co-Founder, for nearly 40 years. All that time, he’s been a steady hand at the wheel. “A lot of companies don’t have direction,” he said in a 2012 mission statement. “Cornerstone does.”
If it seems like all Cornerstone employees are moving in the same direction, Laird is the reason why. After all, he’s the same boss who handed his employees $10,000 in cash to help victims of Oklahoma tornadoes. The company embraces a “work-family” atmosphere and has the testimonials to show proof of concept; one worker said she’s “never been happier” and her blind jump to the company “turned out amazing.”
Not only that, working at Cornerstone is supposed to be fun—a word not often associated with the mortgage industry. Laird’s theory is simple: The better the work environment, the higher the quality of the work. “We exist at Cornerstone to use our God-given talents to make a positive contribution to the lives of our employees, our customers, our shareholders, and the people who provide services to us,” he said.
Laird believes Cornerstone is about serving customers, not challenging them, a value he takes to heart. “I don’t want someone telling me what to do all the time,” he said. “I want someone engaging my ideas. I want to be part of the solutions.”
To date, Cornerstone has been part of more than 500,000 of those solutions for homebuyers. The company has more than 50 investor sources and offers more than 300 loan products, with more than 2,000 employees carrying out the company’s mission. Which is to say, Laird’s mission. Under his direction, they are all thriving—together.
