As a Founding Ambassador for goBeyondProfit, Bernie Marcus issued both a challenge to fellow business leaders and offered a road map for leading with generosity across a lifetime.

Bernie Marcus was a true pioneer in corporate philanthropy. In this goBeyondProfit interview, we look back at his foundational stories of how The Home Depot became one of the most successful and generous companies. Hear Bernie discusses the early days – when money was tight, and associates came to him with a big request to help a customer in need or how associates took action on 9/11 and during the Oklahoma bombing cementing The Home Depot’s role in disaster response.

The Origins of The Home Depot’s Business Generosity

Business generosity got started at The Home Depot by accident. One of our associates called about a lady who was very poor, and rain was coming through the roof in her house. She came in the store with $5 and she said, that’s all I have. There’s nothing else I have. I asked the associate what he thought we should do, and he said if The Home Depot supplies the roofing, the associates in the store will do the repairs. And so I said, yeah, let’s do it. And we did it.

Everybody in the store participated on their time off. This was not done on the clock. We gave all the materials, and they did all this work on their time off.

At the time, The Home Depot didn’t have much money. This was at the beginning. And believe me, for us to give the materials up on a roof was a challenge for us. But it paid off big time. That store became one of the most productive stores that we had.

We found it was a great builder of character in the store. People were proud of what they did, their accomplishment, they talked amongst each other. It was out of the ordinary.

Arthur Blank and I thought, why don’t we expand this and do this throughout the chain? Today there were 2,270 stores and every one of them is doing something like that. It’s the store that does it for the community that they’re in.

Now, on top of that, as the company, we’re very much involved with veterans who are coming back from the war, building houses for those who have lost their legs and arms, helping them with posttraumatic stress, training them for jobs at The Home Depot. This culture of doing something for the community is part and parcel of what The Home Depot is all about. And it’s the reason that people at The Home Depot feel so good about the company, feel proud of the company that they work for, respect their bosses a hell of a lot more.

When Did You Realize That a Culture of Giving Had Taken Root At The Home Depot?

I think a major moment was following the Oklahoma City bombing. We had two stores in Oklahoma City at that time and I remember driving in and hearing about the report on radio. By the time I got to the office, I called both stores. I was very concerned that people in the store were involved or their families or friends, and I knew they needed counseling and the managers weren’t there.

To be honest, I was a little irritated by the fact that the managers weren’t at the store. And I said, as soon they come in, you better have ’em call me. And the day went by and it took hours before they called me. When they finally called me, I said, where the hell were you? And they both independently said, when they heard about the bombing, they loaded their trucks with emergency equipment, shovels, picks, hammers, electrical things, tarps, anything that a rescuer might need, and they were first on the scene.

They got there before the emergency vehicles got there and people were digging out of the rubble, I don’t know how they thought about it. They hadn’t talked to each other. They both said, I know we’re going to get fired because all that inventory is unaccounted for and nobody’s going to pay for it. I said, no, you are actually the biggest heroes we have. And that was a telling moment for us, for The Home Depot.

The same is true following the terrorist attacks on September 11^th. We were the only trucks allowed in the area. At the Pentagon, we brought lumber in to shore up the walls.

This has become a process with The Home Depot. If there’s a hurricane, if there’s a tornado in any area in the United States, The Home Depot trucks are ready to go. We have the equipment ready, and we send it there. The Home Depot lives this, and we do it every single day. If there’s a tornado somewhere in the United States, you can bet that The Home Depot people are on the scene and doing things like cutting trees down, helping people out of houses, helping them out of the flooded areas.

It has become a part of The Home Depot culture. This is part of a culture that Arthur and I envisioned, there’s something more than making money. There’s something more than becoming wealthy. We know the people we touch. We often see the people that we touch. And it’s heartwarming to know that you’ve touched a life, and you’ve changed a life for the better.

Why Did You Help Launch goBeyondProfit?

It’s important to look past your bottom line. There are other things in life besides making money. Maybe some of you are so busy with your business that you don’t have time for any of this, that you just are so focused. 

Maybe it’s time for you to get your nose out of the books and start doing something that really is meaningful and can balance you as a human being, as a whole person. Somebody who is totally focused on their business ends up being a pretty miserable human being. They may be wealthy, but just not enjoying anything.

I’m telling you this is good for your business. This will help productivity. This will help turnover. This has a big effect on your bottom line. And those of you who don’t give, don’t get it yet. Try it and you’ll get it.

Bernie Marcus helped found goBeyondProfit, a network of more than 2,100+ CEOs of businesses across the state of Georgia who pledge to operate generously and improve lives. Every company in Georgia is invited to join at no-cost.