Southern Company CEO Chris Womack: ‘Never Stop Raising The Bar’

There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who receive an award and see it as a chance to take a break. And those who see it as a reason to work that much harder.

Southern Company CEO Chris Womack is most assuredly in the latter category. He leads his prolific energy company with one maxim above all others: Great is not good enough if you stop getting better.

Womack knows what he’s talking about.

Southern Company, which serves more than nine million customers across the U.S., was recently ranked No. 1 in the oil and gas industry on Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies list. That’s a real feather in the cap.

Womack and his staff achieved this mark through the idea that “getting better” is not just a slogan. Instead, Womack pushes his staff to clearly define “better,” benchmark it and show others how to achieve it.

Of course, this is the kind of focus that comes from someone who has been with an organization for several decades. Indeed, the Alabama-born CEO has had Southern Company on his business card since 1988. Let that sink in—that’s 38 years of service. 

“We challenge ourselves very, very forthrightly about not becoming complacent,” Womack explained to me on a recent episode of the Corporate Competitor Podcast. “Especially in terms of not relishing being No. 1.”

Athletes will tell you. Any team can come from behind to beat you. No lead is totally safe. Womack, a former player for Western Michigan University on the baseball diamond, knows that well. That’s why he doesn’t believe any victory is worth a day off.

“We have to keep getting better,” he told me. “We have to keep moving the bar, raising the bar, elevating the bar, stepping up our game to continue to be successful.”

Womack talked about all this and more on the podcast, including:

• Be adaptable. He believes that adaptability is a strength for both individuals and businesses. The CEO, who had to adapt when he left rural Alabama for college in Michigan, benefited from being malleable then. As a hitter, you never know what pitch is coming at you next. The same is true in business.

• Vulnerability is not weakness. Over the years, Womack has learned that sharing stories, fears, hopes—these things strengthen bonds and relationships. They demonstrate a shared humanity. So, as a leader in business, he doesn’t shy away from vulnerable moments. He leans into them. “We’re all in this together,” he says.

• Employees are people. In the old days, many companies told their employees to leave their baggage at the door. But Womack calls this practice “completely unrealistic,” adding, “that’s not real life.” Instead, he fosters an environment where employees are free to express what’s going on in their lives outside of the job. That way their workplace feels more like home.