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Southern Company—one of America’s largest producers of clean, safe, and affordable energy—is not only a Fortune 200 utility, but also a quiet force of innovation, advancing the frontiers of renewable energy and electric transportation.
As the energy landscape shifts, Sloane shares how her team is reimagining leadership development to keep pace with change. She reflects on the power of human connection, the necessity of cross-system collaboration, and the role humility and curiosity have played in her own leadership journey.
This Q&A is a curated summary of their full discussion.
A: I’m the Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Southern Company and I have been with the company for over 24 years. It flew by with a blink of the eye. One thing I’ll share—thinking about the journey and becoming a leader—I think we’re always learning and we’re always growing. I am reflecting on my very first VP position. I was following a head of HR for Georgia Power who was so beloved and so tenured, and I got the best advice from the CEO at the time, Paul Bowers, who said,
"Don’t try to be Leonard, just be you."
That was really powerful. And the other thing I learned from Paul was to really have a point of view and perspective about the business, not just HR.
A: The energy industry—gas, electric, power—is going through what might be a once-in-a-generation type of transformation. If we are going to be able to capture and leverage this opportunity that we find, we’re going to have to make sure that we have a workforce and a leadership team who understand both the "what" and the "how" of our business. We had a strong pipeline and talent strategy, but the pace of change pushed us to rethink and refresh our approach.
A: Our organization has so many different types of roles and experiences. What you do to develop a lineman, for example, is very different from what you will do for an accountant. That is changing faster and faster every day. We want every employee—whether they are out working on a line or sitting in a corporate office—to feel like they have access to develop and grow.
A: When Chris Womack moved into the chairman and CEO role, one of the first conversations we had was really his desire to reinvigorate our learning and development. Chris is by far one of the most intellectually curious lifelong learners I’ve ever worked with. We decided to reimagine a legacy initiative—the Southern Company College—into what is now our Leadership Academy. The flagship program for our senior leaders is called Master Class. Through five sessions, they learn about our industry, our company, and leadership. One major goal across the ‘learning’ was to build strong cross-system relationships.
Our partnership with Medley brought in group coaching as a cornerstone into Master Class. We co-created the program, and it’s delivered significant results: over 80% attendance, over 90% satisfaction, and 100% of participants intend to stay connected with their coaching group [their Medley]. Having the Leadership Academy, having people spend meaningful time together and growing with and through each other and their coach—we’re already seeing the benefits of those relationships. It’s only been a few years in. I am 100% biased, but I am thrilled. It is doing everything we imagined and more.
A: I joined Georgia Power in a development program and when I was hired, I was told,
"We want you to come, we want you to learn, we want you to ask questions."
I had no expectation to deliver and I could just be curious. I’ve carried that with me. I’ve worked for some really strong leaders who gave me really candid feedback. I think back to my first VP role and when I had my first board presentation—it was 10 minutes, I think I spent 20 hours preparing. And I was a nervous wreck. But my father said, "Fake it till you make it. No one will know that you’re nervous." Some days I think I knock it out of the park and some days I’m just glad I get to come back and have another day to try it again.
A: Technology and AI are front and center. It’s managing between the mixed emotions of people being really excited to use technology and then this fear and concern that it’s going to replace them. At Southern, we are working through that. We are approaching it from a literacy and an education model. We want people to be excited, we want people to experiment with AI, we have a tool that we’ve created in-house so people can do that safely. It’s less about using it as a way to take away a bunch of people and talent out of our workforce.
A: We emphasize sharing and collaboration across our operating companies. If Mississippi solves a problem, we look for ways to scale that solution across Alabama and Georgia. We listen to external experts, stay transparent with employees, and involve them in problem-solving.
A: I think the thing that has been so helpful for me is I have a level of confidence that has come over time. I know that I will figure it out. I know that I have a great team of people. I know that we can find solutions. Give yourself grace and have the curiosity and the willingness to always ask questions. That’s just been a part of who I am. Surround yourself with people who aren’t afraid to give you feedback and tell you the truth. You’ve got to know what you don’t know. That’s just been an approach I’ve taken. And I’ve been really lucky to be surrounded by amazing people who’ve helped me.
