Big Bets: Decisions & Leaders That Shaped Southern Company

Big bets are pivotal decisions leaders make when the stakes are high — decisions that forge a successful path or retrieve a lost cause at a critical crossroads. Big bets can determine a company's destiny or reshape its future.

Southern Company and its predecessor companies have faced every conceivable impediment to progress-natural and manmade disasters, a hostile takeover, a 'death sentence,' federal invasions, financial ruin, and numerous threats and attempts to pull its business apart and scramble the pieces. That Southern Company has not only survived for a century but also empowered the South to thrive is a reflection of the leaders who emerged to shepherd the company safely into tomorrow.

Some had to deal with adversity at every turn. Some had to envision a different future to seize new opportunities. All had to make critical decision when the moment mattered most. This is their story, the story of the dreams they pursued, the troubles they encountered, and the big bets they made.

About the authors:
Dub Taft & Sam Heys have been associated with Southern Company through many of its transformations over the past four decades. Taft retired in 2011, following a 39-year career as a writer, editor, and communication manager. Heys continues as a writer and editor for Southern Company and is author of The Winecoff Fire: The Untold Story of America's Deadliest Hotel Fire.

Taft and Heys have a wealth of company knowledge, as well as writing experiences, to share. They are available to speak to employees at staff meetings, department meetings or other employee gatherings.