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by Marcus Goodyear<\/em><\/p>\nDavid Ratcliffe is the chairman, president, and CEO of Southern Company, one of the largest electrical companies in America. After decades of service, Mr. Ratcliffe retired\u00a0in December 2010. He was gracious enough to speak with us about the high calling of his daily work.<\/p>\n
Have you learned any insights about God from leading a power company?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m hesitant to suggest that leading a power company is any different than leading any other kind of organization in regard to learning lessons.\u00a0 The fundamental principles that we find in the Bible apply to any organization, whether it\u2019s not-for-profit or for-profit.\u00a0 Principles like treating other people how you want to be treated, accountability, integrity, honesty, trust, and faithfulness transcend any organizational construct or particular service or product that an organization might produce.\u00a0 So, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything unique about a power company.\u00a0 I happen to love what I do.\u00a0 I think it is extraordinarily important to the well-being of society and to the improvement of mankind\u2019s standard of living.<\/p>\n What is the high calling of providing power to people?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I think it goes to what it enables society and people to do.\u00a0 When we have a storm and the lights are out, we see clearly that a great portion of society comes to a screeching halt.\u00a0 Because we\u2019ve become so dependent on electricity and take it for granted, it doesn\u2019t take long before people get fairly ill and in bad humor about the fact that the lights are out.\u00a0 So, the men and women in this industry have a tremendous sense of responsibility for the order and humaneness of society as a function of the service that we provide because without it, our society comes to a halt.\u00a0 It\u2019s a huge responsibility, and we take it seriously.\u00a0 It is a high calling for us.\u00a0 We care greatly about making sure that we provide people with reliable and affordable electricity.<\/p>\n With power, it seems like there are a lot of stewardship issues involved, both for your company, as you try to produce power as cleanly and efficiently as possible at an appropriate rate, and also for consumers.\u00a0 Can you talk a little bit about the stewardship issues unique to your work?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n We are, first of all, engaged in a very large endeavor.\u00a0 There\u2019s a lot of activity going on, and in many cases what we do is dangerous.\u00a0 So, our first stewardship responsibility is to the safety of our employees and customers.\u00a0 We want to make sure that we do everything we possibly can to prevent accidents and injuries.\u00a0 Every single day, our objective is what we call \u201cTarget Zero.\u201d\u00a0 We don\u2019t want anybody hurt, including our customers and the communities in which we operate.<\/p>\n Beyond that, in day-to-day operations, it becomes a balancing act of responsibly generating power with the resources we consume.\u00a0 In our case, we consume a lot of coal and some natural gas.\u00a0 There are impacts to the environment in using these products.\u00a0 At the same time, we\u2019re trying to provide a service to society at the most attractive cost possible, because it\u2019s important that our customers are able to afford our product in order to enhance their standard of living or their particular business opportunity.\u00a0 We try to use common sense and find a way to balance what we do and how we do it against many, many competing stakeholder objectives, whether they come from environmental groups or customer groups, or subsegments of those groups.<\/p>\n Your code of ethics states: \u201cWe compete vigorously, but fairly.\u201d Christians don\u2019t talk about competition much, except perhaps in negative terms.\u00a0 What is healthy competition for a Christian?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I believe that we\u2019re supposed to live life to the fullest.\u00a0 This means that whatever we are about, we\u2019re supposed to \u201crun the race set before us,\u201d as Paul said, with great intensity, preparation, and vigor.\u00a0 We are supposed to run to win.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t mean we break the rules or take unfair advantage; it means we compete fairly, but we compete vigorously.<\/p>\n Life is meant to be lived with enthusiasm too.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like passivity.\u00a0 I think we\u2019re called to be competitive about what we believe.\u00a0 Paul says we\u2019re supposed to be ready to give an account for our faith, but not in an offensive way.\u00a0 So, I think healthy competition means that we are as prepared as we can possibly be.<\/p>\n If an athlete is going to compete well, he\u2019s going to make sure he\u2019s in great shape, he\u2019s going to have studied the play book, and he\u2019s going to go into the competition knowing the game plan.\u00a0 I expect my people to do the same thing.\u00a0 We\u2019re in shape physically, we\u2019re in shape financially, we\u2019re in shape mentally, we play by the rules, and we play to win.\u00a0 Now, if we don\u2019t win, we\u2019ll congratulate the other team on their ability to out-do us or out-play us, as long as our opponent has played fair. I think that\u2019s the way we\u2019re supposed to live out the opportunities we have been given.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve heard you talk about \u201cturning the other cheek.\u201d\u00a0 How do you turn the other cheek in a competitive business environment?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n When we\u2019ve competed fairly and lost simply because the other person was better, it\u2019s easy to move on.\u00a0 When somebody swings at us unfairly\u2014and people swing at us these days, not so much physically, but emotionally and verbally\u2014we have an opportunity to stop and exercise the discipline of choosing not to hit back, either verbally, physically, or emotionally.\u00a0 That\u2019s my notion of turning the other cheek.\u00a0 Now, I\u2019m not going to let someone beat us up, because I don\u2019t think that\u2019s what turning the cheek means.\u00a0 It means not being reactive in our responses.<\/p>\n Certainly we don\u2019t want to allow people to engage in libel and slander against us without feeling the need to defend ourselves.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Nor abuse.\u00a0 Abuse takes many forms.\u00a0 We think first about battered wives and husbands in marriage relationships, but there are a lot of battered employees in manager\/employee relationships that shouldn\u2019t be allowed to continue either.<\/p>\n Can you talk a little bit more about that?\u00a0 How would you intercede in what you perceive to be an abusive relationship in your company?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n There are many opportunities, but I think in order to intercede, there first has to be a clear statement of expectations for employees.\u00a0 We call ours \u201cSouthern Style.\u201d<\/p>\n Every organization generally has some kind of value proposition or code of behavior.\u00a0 I make sure people understand ours.\u00a0 And then, I hold people accountable for behaving in a manner consistent with the expectation laid out in those propositions.\u00a0 Accountability has to start at the top of an organization, meaning with me first as the CEO of the company. There has to be a foundation of expectation.\u00a0 A leader has to create a standard by which, when people see behavior that is inconsistent with the expectation, they have not just a right, but a responsibility to challenge that behavior in a constructive and loving fashion.<\/p>\n In many cases, that takes the form of a confidential hotline.\u00a0 In some cases, it means filing a report with a compliance officer.\u00a0 In the cases where we\u2019ve built the kind of trust relationships that allow for it, a face-to-face confrontation is best in which we say, \u201cI observed this behavior.\u201d\u00a0 Sometimes we\u2019re recognizing blind spots.\u00a0 Other times, we are simply acknowledging that we\u2019re human and we need to get better.\u00a0 Without people who are willing to call us to task and point out inappropriate behavior, we can\u2019t get better.\u00a0 It\u2019s constructive feedback.<\/p>\n Who holds you accountable?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n My expectation is that there are a lot of people who do.\u00a0 First of all, I expect the ten other members of Southern\u2019s Senior Management Council to hold me accountable.\u00a0 I\u2019ve tried to communicate clearly to them that we\u2019re all equals around the table, and that we have to hold each other accountable.\u00a0 So, when they see me doing something wrong, they have to say so.<\/p>\n I would hope, also, that my wife does.\u00a0 I know that my Board of Directors does.\u00a0 But, I desperately hope that my friends would too.\u00a0 You know that saying \u201cReal friends don\u2019t let friends drive drunk?\u201d\u00a0 A measure of friendship is the ability to challenge each other about behavior and to hold each other accountable.\u00a0 If we don\u2019t have accountability, then I\u2019m not sure we really have anything.<\/p>\n You also talked about enthusiasm, which doesn\u2019t immediately seem related to accountability and responsibility, but you\u2019ve connected the two, in that we have a responsibility to hold a particular kind of enthusiastic approach to life.\u00a0 Can a person learn to be enthusiastic?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I think they can, but it\u2019s a matter of attitude.\u00a0 One of my favorite quotes about attitude comes from Chuck Swindoll.\u00a0 He basically said that attitude is more important than almost everything else in life.\u00a0 Life is 5 or 10 percent what happens to you and 90 to 95 percent how you respond to it.<\/p>\n I think developing a positive attitude is also a learned discipline.\u00a0 For me, it\u2019s very easy, because I can quickly go back to the foundation of my faith and say, \u201cI know who I am, and I know there\u2019s a higher order.\u00a0 There\u2019s Somebody who cares about me and has a plan.\u201d\u00a0 Therefore, I don\u2019t have to worry about as many things as people who don\u2019t have that kind of faith and that kind of foundation.<\/p>\n You talked about enthusiasm being related to gratitude as well.\u00a0 Can you describe the disciplines of learning to be grateful and enthusiastic every day?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I sure can.\u00a0 It\u2019s part of my morning reflection time.\u00a0 I try to encourage my employees to think in a similar manner because in the process of reminding them, I remind myself that if we think about the fact that most of us have slept in a bed with a roof over our head with some kind of air-conditioning or heating, and we were able to get out of bed and go to a bathroom with hot and cold, running, clean water, and we most likely had a shower, and we have a toothbrush and clean underwear and shoes on our feet and a coat on our back, and we probably had something to eat for breakfast before we left the house\u2014how much do we have to be thankful for?\u00a0 It\u2019s a conscious effort for me to say, \u201cI have so much to be thankful for.\u00a0 How in the world can I leave here whining about what I don\u2019t have or about other circumstances?\u201d<\/p>\n Now, there are people who get up with severe illnesses who cannot do those things, and there are certainly people who don\u2019t have some of life\u2019s necessities.\u00a0 But, the vast majority of people in this country live an extraordinarily wonderful lifestyle.<\/p>\n I\u2019m so glad you shared that.\u00a0 Another thing I\u2019ve heard you say is, \u201cAccept that some days you are the pigeon and some days you are the statue.\u201d\u00a0 Can you tell us the story about a day when you were the statue, or when you felt like the statue?\u00a0 How did you find your high calling in that?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n No particular instance comes to mind, because I typically work hard at not dwelling on those things.\u00a0 If something bad happens to me, the easy thing to do would be to wallow in the question, \u201cWhy did this happen to me?\u201d\u00a0 Instead, I try to ask, \u201cWhy not me?\u201d\u00a0 Who says I\u2019m immune to being the statue some days?\u00a0 When I am the statue, it\u2019s my day to be the statue.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to clean up and get back into life.<\/p>\n One of my favorite stories about the eternal optimist is about a kid who, no matter what anybody did to him, they could never get him down or convince him that there was not something positive about life in every situation.\u00a0 One day his friends decided to challenge him.\u00a0 They filled a room full of horse manure and threw him into the room.\u00a0 He immediately began to dig out, saying to himself, \u201cThere\u2019s bound to be a pony in here somewhere.\u201d\u00a0 I try to remember that \u201cthere\u2019s a pony in here somewhere; I\u2019ve just got to find it.\u201d<\/p>\n You said you have trouble remembering specific instances, because you let them go so quickly.\u00a0 How do you do that?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Again, it goes back to how we choose to respond to what life deals us.\u00a0 There\u2019s no question that life is going to deal us some bad things, whether it\u2019s job losses or illnesses or loss of loved ones or divorces or whatever.\u00a0 We have a choice to dwell on those things and take them into our emotional bank account and let them become a poison to us or not.\u00a0 We can choose to evaluate them, assess what we can change about them, get about doing that to the extent there\u2019s something we can do to change things, and then move on.\u00a0 I choose to move on, or I choose to live a life of trying to overcome those situations.<\/p>\n For example, if I\u2019m in an accident and lose my right arm, there\u2019s nothing that I can do to replace my right arm.\u00a0 It won\u2019t grow back.\u00a0 Now, I might get a prosthesis, and that would be dealing with the situation.\u00a0 I can begin to choose to make something out of that.\u00a0 Or, I can simply dwell on the fact that I\u2019ve lost my arm, and isn\u2019t it awful, because all the things I used to do with my right arm, I can\u2019t do them anymore.\u00a0 It\u2019s just terrible.\u00a0 Why did this happen to me?\u00a0 That becomes a cancer, if you will.\u00a0 It starves the positive energy that I think we\u2019re supposed to live life with.\u00a0 I try to make a conscious effort to assess those situations and work on the things that I can do something about and turn loose the things that I cannot do anything about.<\/p>\n But, again, it is a discipline.\u00a0 I don\u2019t mean to suggest that I\u2019ve got this all figured out, because I\u2019ll go back and pick up a setback from three months ago or six months ago and look at it again.\u00a0 I guess I consider it some success when I pick it up less frequently and hold it for a shorter period of time.<\/p>\n A lot of places in the country are not doing well right now, which means a lot of people are getting laid off.\u00a0 As a Christian, how do you fire somebody?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Again, it goes back to trying to achieve a balance.\u00a0 In many cases, CEOs are running businesses that have owners.\u00a0 In our case, we have shareholders and I have to balance the commitments I\u2019ve made to my shareholders with the commitments I\u2019ve made to my employees and the commitments I have to operate the business in a reliable fashion.\u00a0 So, I\u2019m constantly trying to find ways to do that better and more efficiently.\u00a0 Sometimes, I get into stressful situations and simply have to make hard decisions.\u00a0 A lot of times, those decisions involve laying off or firing people.\u00a0 I do that with as much compassion as possible.<\/p>\n One of the things that we try to do for our employees is to be absolutely up-front about what\u2019s happening.\u00a0 We tell folks, \u201cHere\u2019s what we\u2019re looking at, here\u2019s why we\u2019re looking at it, here\u2019s what we\u2019ve got to achieve, and here\u2019s why we have to make this decision.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to do everything we can to help you find another job within our company, if we possibly can.\u00a0 If we cannot, we\u2019re going to try to provide you some outplacement services.\u201d<\/p>\n My experience has been that when I sit down face-to-face with people and say, \u201cLet me explain to you what we\u2019re doing and why we\u2019re doing it,\u201d they don\u2019t necessarily like it, but they understand it, and they appreciate the courtesy and the compassion of an honest answer.\u00a0 And then, they can appreciate the gentleness and the compassion that I try to exercise in letting them exit the company as gracefully and with as much professionalism as possible.<\/p>\n Like not forcing them to carry their stuff out in a box immediately?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s an interesting comment, because I\u2019ve been involved in that.\u00a0 And, it is an awful situation that we\u2019re in, in corporate America, because what has happened is that organizations are extremely concerned about confidentiality and security. So, we do it too.\u00a0 We will tell someone that this is their last day, and that they need to clean out their desk and turn in their stuff and leave the building.\u00a0 The reason we do that is because we can\u2019t afford to take the risk that an angry employee will go back and sabotage their computer, or go berserk emotionally and try to do something either to the facilities or to the people around them.\u00a0 It is the most cold and unkind thing.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been through it, and I don\u2019t like it at all, but I don\u2019t have a better solution.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve worked at Southern Company for nearly forty years.\u00a0 That seems to be unusual, given that the average career in a particular workplace is seven years right now.\u00a0 What advice would you give people who are trying to stay faithful to a particular career at a particular company?\u00a0 How did you do it?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Actually, I love the work, and I enjoy the process of learning.\u00a0 This is a very complex business with lots of opportunities for learning new things.\u00a0 And then, we have a value proposition at Southern of unquestionable trust, superior performance, and total commitment.\u00a0 Those are three pretty good principles to build a career on.<\/p>\n My advice is to learn as much as you can, wherever you happen to be.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be afraid to ask questions of people, particularly the older people, because there are no dumb questions and they love to talk about what they do and why they do it. Expand your universe and knowledge.\u00a0 And then, do the very best job you can of building your communication skills, both verbal and written.\u00a0 Learn as much about how to communicate effectively as you can, because it is an art.\u00a0 We all think we do a good job at it when the fact of the matter is all of us can be a little better at it.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n