Millard Fuller Interview (page: 8 / 9) Founder, Habitat for Humanity International	Print Interview

Do you think that President Carter's presence -- the high profile he has brought to the project -- was significant in taking it to the next level?

Linda Fuller: No doubt about it. A lot of people think that President Carter founded Habitat for Humanity, and that's okay, because somebody once said, "If you don't worry about who gets the credit, it's amazing what you can accomplish." But Habitat was eight years old when he got involved, and we were on a roll. Habitat was on a roll. We had the momentum started, and we were moving, but his involvement greatly accelerated the process, no doubt about it. Linda might want to comment on that too, but it would be impossible to overestimate what he brought to us. The credibility, the media exposure, take your pick. He contributed in every way.

There's a wonderful quote from President Carter saying, "Millard has the vision. The rest of us have the headaches."

Millard Fuller: Linda has said that, too.

Linda Fuller: Millard is very creative. He has a new idea every minute, and it takes quite a work force to make them reality. So that's why we say, "He has the dreams, we have the nightmares," figuring out how we are going to do all of these ideas. Sometimes he sets a little bit unrealistic goals, and it's a real stretch to fulfill those goals.

That could be anybody in business! CEOs are known to do the very same thing. Things can go awry in that situation. How do you keep it from collapsing?

Millard Fuller: The board of directors of Habitat for Humanity International is a very responsible group of people from around the world who guide the policy of Habitat for Humanity. We now are in 60 countries. We're building in 2,200 cities. We've built 65,000 houses as of mid-1998. We're continuing to build a house every 45 minutes, but I'm never satisfied. The reason I am not satisfied is because I know how big the problem is, and I realize that unless we accelerate the pace, we are not eliminating poverty housing. The problem is getting bigger, so we've got to constantly search for better ways to do what I think God has called us to do in a faster way. It's like the space exploration program. You've got to figure out how to do it better, faster, cheaper.

In 1990, there were some questions about your leadership specifically. There were some charges of harassment. What was that all about, and what have you done about it?

Millard Fuller: Well, Linda alluded to this earlier. Her family was more Victorian, not touchy-feely. My family -- my father especially was a very touching, loving man. What happened with me was I always saw myself as a country boy from East Alabama, and that's the way I behaved, as a country boy from East Alabama. But Habitat sort of grew up so fast that I did not realize what was happening, and it just really sneaked up on me. And all of a sudden, I had some people saying how I was behaving towards them was not appropriate. I was totally shocked. I couldn't believe it, but that's what was being said. And Linda was really shocked. She always stood by me 100 percent during that whole time, but it was a very difficult era. But you have to understand that that situation really got blown out of proportion, because there was a person in our organization who was trying to leak the story to the press, and the press kept saying, "What is the story?," and he said, "Well, Millard Fuller is acting inappropriately." "With whom?" "Well, we can't tell you that. It's an in-house thing." They said there's no story. Well, what happened, President Carter learned about this person's attempts to put it in the press, and he wrote a private handwritten note to this person saying, "Do me a favor. Do Habitat a favor. This is getting worked out. You are not helping the process."

So after President Carter sent this note, was there a change in the organization? Were other people put in charge of the day-to-day operations?

Millard Fuller: No. What happened was that this person who received this handwritten note from President Carter then mailed that note to the press and just totally violated the confidence that President Carter had placed in him. Then the press had a story, because a former President was shown to be concerned and involved. There were no charges of any kind ever filed, and it was a difficult internal situation which unfortunately got put in the press and was blown way out of proportion for that reason. I never attempted in any way to defend myself because, as a Christian, I feel if I have offended someone, I should ask for forgiveness. It is not how I feel. It's how they feel that is important, and I asked forgiveness of the persons involved, and unfortunately, that was not received as a -- what shall I say? -- a serious or a sincere apology. So the situation continued for some time. It eventually ended. I did come close to leaving Habitat for Humanity at that point, but that is way behind us now, and I am the President and the CEO in the full sense of the word. But no person can do everything. So it was felt, in a mutually agreed-upon decision, that I would spend more of my time being a spokesman, and more of my time promoting the work, and get other people to do the day-to-day management of Habitat for Humanity, all of whom report to me, and all of whom I have hired. But it's been a change which has worked quite well. This happened in 1991, and we are in 1998 now, and Habitat for Humanity has quadrupled in size since that time. So it has been a change that up to this point has seemed to work well.

That dovetails with the experience of a lot of founding CEOs. Over a period of time, the business just gets so big that you need to specialize.

Millard Fuller: Right. I know how to manage. My degree from college is in economics. I managed the Koinonia Farm. I managed Habitat for Humanity in a more hands-on way for the first 14 years, but no person can do everything. If you stay at home and run the shop, you can't be in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, doing an interview. You can't be going to California to have meetings, in Springfield, Illinois and all around the world -- which Linda and I do now on a regular basis -- with work in 2,200 locations. All of them would like to have us visit, and we go as much as we can, but doing so puts you out of touch with the headquarters more than you would be if you spent half or three-quarters of your time there.

Millard Fuller Interview, Page: 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9