Vanguard Awards: distinguished leadership (man).(THE 2011 NCTA)

Tom Rutledge

Chief Operating Officer, Cablevision Systems

ASK CABLE EXECUTIVES ABOUT CABLEVISION Systems chief operating officer Tom Rutledge, and certain words pop into the conversation.

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Integrity, intelligence and intuition are commonly used to describe the man who has managed to stay out of the direct glare of the spotlight throughout almost 40 years in cable, while spearheading some of the most successful efforts the industry has ever known.

While Rutledge is a man of few words--even fewer when talking about himself--he has been shaped by a succession of strong managerial mentors and what seems to be an unyielding belief that cable was not only the future of TV back when he started in the early 1970s, but remains so today.

'THE BASIS OF LEADERSHIP'

Rutledge offers a simple explanation of his managerial style: lead by example.