Lighting the Way – the Life, Leadership and Legacy of Mike Garrett

BankSouth Board Member, Mike Garrett retires after a decade of service

When Mike Garrett talks about his life and career, he doesn’t mention titles. He talks about people. About the men and women who gave him a shot, the late nights, the hard moves, and the lessons he picked up by listening more than speaking. His is a story not just of professional ascent—but of humble, steadfast leadership shaped over decades of doing the work, earning trust, and staying grounded in who he was.

Mike’s journey began in 1968 on a Georgia Power line crew, a co-op student with a dream, a work ethic, and a scholarship to Southern Tech. “I didn’t come from much,” he says, “but I had people who helped me along the way.” That included his parents, who didn’t have the means to send him to school, and leaders like Tommy Stone, who rearranged work schedules so Mike could finish the one course he needed to earn his four-year degree. “The company at that time was run by engineers, and if you wanted to be one of them, you needed a degree,” explained Garrett. “I couldn’t have done it without Tommy, and I’m forever grateful for his support and encouragement.”

That degree—and the grit it took to earn it—opened doors to leadership roles across Georgia and Alabama. With each promotion, Mike, his wife Karen, and their growing family packed up and moved. Fourteen times, to be exact. From Macon to Jesup, Bainbridge to Valdosta, and eventually across state lines to Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, Mike went where the work—and opportunity—called.

“I call it luck,” Mike says.

But luck had little to do with the fact that he became President and CEO of Georgia Power and Mississippi Power. He also served as Chairman of the Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. For more than four decades, Mike helped shape the infrastructure, economy, and energy future of the Southeast.

His leadership style? Make decisions, take care of people, and never try to be someone you’re not.

That humility followed him into retirement—well, semi-retirement. After settling on a farm in Morgan County, Mike got a call from BankSouth CEO Harold Reynolds and board member Jamie Reynolds. They were looking for someone who had seen a few bumps in the road and could offer steady, experienced guidance to the bank.

After a few days of thought, Mike agreed.

Over the next 10 years, Mike would become a trusted and respected voice on the BankSouth Board of Directors and Chair of the Audit Committee, helping guide the bank through a period of strategic growth and increasing complexity.

“For me, the most rewarding experience in serving on the BankSouth Board was getting to know those fine people,” says Garrett. “And learning about banking. I never realized that banking was as complicated as it was.”

Mike insists that he “didn’t do much” on the board—but his fellow board members would say otherwise. In moments of challenge, he was often the voice of clarity and calm. “This is probably the way we ought to do this,” he’d say, drawing on years of leadership in industries where high stakes and fast decisions were the norm.

He watched proudly as BankSouth accelerated its Savannah market presence, calling it a “breaking point” where he knew the bank was headed somewhere special. More recently, he beamed as BankSouth was announced as the Bank at Work partner for Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA)— Hyundai’s first dedicated electric vehicle (EV) plant in the U.S., and the largest economic development project in Georgia’s history. “What’s happening as you drive south down I-16 is incredible,” he says. “To be part of that, even a little, meant something.”

On April 15, 2025, due to health challenges that made the regular cadence of meetings and responsibilities difficult to keep, Garrett officially retired as BankSouth board member. But his voice and example remain a guiding light to those that follow his lead.

What makes Mike Garrett’s story so compelling isn’t just the titles he held but the people he uplifted, his quiet influence, and the integrity he carried from that first line crew to the boardrooms of the organizations he served.

“I’ll tell you, we moved 14 times in my career. As we would move, I would get asked to serve on bank boards and small bank boards and I would compare one against the other,” Garrett explained. “Generally, the banks were pretty well run, but, I know for a fact that BankSouth is very well run by a group of people who aren’t opposed to taking risk, but it’s calculated risk. They don’t get outside the lines very often. They know what to do.”

He often quotes a BankSouth commercial he liked: “If you ran a bank, you’d run it like this.” It resonated with him. “That’s exactly what I’d do,” he said.

And that’s what Mike Garrett has always done. No shortcuts. No pretense. Just service.

“It’s a group of people that I was proud to be associated with and it meant a lot to me and to Karen to be a part of the journey.”