The balancing act of life and work: as general manager of Cox's Orange County system, Leo Brennan puts family first—for himself and his employees

Cable World, March 18, 2002 by Richard Cole

Leo Brennan has run Cox Communications' Orange County, Calif., system for 12 years, and in that time, he has helped develop it into what could be the MSO's crown jewel. With Brennan as general manager, Orange County became the first Cox system to roll out high-speed-data and telephony services--just two breakthroughs that have made it a pioneering operation.

But in 1998 a personal tragedy put all professional accomplishments in perspective.

His son, Lee, a nationally ranked champion springboard diver, was killed in an automobile crash driving back to Arizona State University, devastating Brennan, his wife, Bev, and their daughter, Kim.

"That's just your worst nightmare," the 52-year-old Brennan says now. "It's the worst possible thing that could ever happen to you. You're supposed to die before your kids. It's something that will live with us forever."

Friends and family, including his colleagues at Cox and the cable industry in general, proved to be a great comfort in the aftermath of the tragedy, he says.

The Southern California Cable Television Association renamed its $25,000 scholarship program the Lee Brennan Memorial Scholarship Fund. In Orange County, Brennan set up a local fund to honor his son that provides for two scholarships--one to a graduating senior at Lee's former high school and another to a senior from his diving club.

His colleagues say that Brennan had always highly valued his family--he will celebrate his 29th wedding anniversary in June--and that value is reflected in a management style that has earned him the fierce loyalty of his top employees.

"He seeks life's balance," says Sharon Smith, VP of human resources for Cox Orange County. "He persevered through that horrible event. Now, he inspires people to work very hard, but at the same time, take time for family--if you need to go to that football game for your child or that dance recital, that's what you should do."

Kimberly Toonen, VP of residential property markets for the system, echoes that sentiment. She feels no guilt about taking off time for important family matters, she says.

"He not only encourages it, he demands it," she says. "He really epitomizes his mantra: family first."

Brennan's family life as a youth was challenging. Although he called New York state home, his father worked for the railroad and was always on the move, living in Chicago and various East Coast cities.

"We were real nomads," Brennan recalls. "I attended three different high schools."

After graduating from Ohio State University he started his cable career as a salesman for Coaxial Cable and in 1984 moved to Connecticut, rising to become Northeast manager for Times Mirror's cable systems. He was transferred to Orange County 12 years ago; Cox took it over in 1995.

"This is a very demanding market, and I've looked at a lot of markets over the years," he says. "The customers in Orange County have a very high demo, and they have high expectations."

His customers are early adopters and are technologically sophisticated, which made the market an ideal spot for Cox to roll out the nation's first cable high-speed access in December 1995, says Smith.

"Whenever corporate was looking for a system to try this, I raised my hand," Brennan says.

Being first has had its drawbacks, he acknowledges.

"We're sort of the pioneers, and pioneers always get arrows in the back," Brennan says. "In the beginning, for instance, we had some real issues with our digital cable service, such as the interactive program guide not working as well as it should have."

On another occasion, 5,000 telephone subscribers lost their service after a switch failure.

But these new services ultimately have helped win subscriber loyalty, which in turn has helped Orange County achieve the highest penetration rate among Cox systems.

Orange County has a high proportion of planned communities--about 65%, Toonen says--that are owned by large developers. In those cases, subscribers are signed up community by community, and the competition can be fierce.

"We have some tough characters to deal with, sometimes with unrealistic expectations," says Toonen, who is charged with those negotiations. "Sometimes I get upset, and I have to bring Leo in--he's kind of the level head."

The strategy seems to be working: Cox signs up 8,000 new residential units every year.

The successes directly reflect Brennan's faith in his own staff and his good humor and upbeat attitude, despite the tragedy in his own life.

The weekly staff meetings tell the whole story, according to Toonen. No matter how difficult the previous week has been, each meeting begins with executives discussing their successes, not their failures.

COX ORANGE COUNTY

OWNERSHIP: COX Communications
HOMES PASSED: 315,000
SUBSCRIBERS: Basic cable, 241,000; digital
cable, 91,000; high-speed data, 87,000;
telephone, 72,000
MILES OF PLANT: 2,650
BASIC CABLE RATE: $38.99
DIGITAL CABLE RATE: $49.74.
HIGH-SPEED INTERNET RATE: $34.95
AD SALES: CableRep Advertising, a division of
Cox Communications