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Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Suddenlink Communications
JERRY KENT HAS A SIMPLE RECIPE FOR LEADership success: Hire the right people.
A 30-year veteran of the cable industry, Kent, chairman and CEO of Suddenlink Communications, has been a part of three successful cable ventures during that span - Cencom Cable Associates, Charter Communications and Suddenlink - and ran two of them (Charter and Suddenlink). Along the way, Kent has built a reputation as a savvy businessman, a loyal boss and an executive that has cultivated a culture of integrity, fair-mindedness and employee recognition at every company he led.
So it is no surprise that Kent has been honored with the 2012 Vanguard Award for Distinguished Leadership.
For Kent, being a leader means not only surrounding yourself with a strong team, but recognizing and rewarding them for their efforts, providing the tools and a path to advance their careers and creating a favorable work environment.
"I have 6,000 employees," Kent said. "Leadership to me is getting up every morning and worrying about all 6,000 of them; being sure we put them in a position to succeed, and knowing that the decisions I make have an impact on those 6,000 people and their families."
RECIPROCAL LOYALTY
Loyalty also is important to Kent, a favor that many of his managers have returned over the years. Nearly two thirds (15 of 24) members of Suddenlink's senior management team (at senior vice president and above) have worked with Kent for about a decade or more. Of those 15, all except one have...