Falcone Role Model

Paul Falcone once thought about becoming a Jesuit priest. He ended up in HR, which he says is not so very different.

“It’s the best function in corporate America. You really can touch people’s lives,” says Falcone, who recently became vice president of human resources for “It’s the best function in corporate America. You really can touch people’s lives,” says Falcone, who recently became vice president of human resources for Cox Communications in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. “You’re helping people when they’re down and when they need help most in their careers. There’s really a calling to it.” In his position at Cox, which he started earlier this year, he supports 2,000 employees and manages enterprise wide responsibilities.

Over a career spanning more than two decades, Falcone has become a role model in the profession and is known for his dedication to helping others, his depth of knowledge and his engaging personality, says friend Larry Comp, president of LTC Performance Strategies, a Los Angeles-area consulting firm that specializes in total compensation and performance management solutions.

“I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t have positive things to say about him, and that’s unusual,” says Comp, who has known Falcone since the early 1980s when he first became interested in human resources.

Fast Facts

It was there that he was inspired to write his first book, 96 Great Interview Questions to Ask Before You Hire (Amacom, 2009). He soon gained the experience he needed to land his first “real” HR job with a mortgage company. Following that, as well as a stint as an HR executive at a cancer research hospital, Falcone shifted his career focus to the entertainment industry. It was a good fit for a young man in suburban Los Angeles with connections in the business, including his father-in-law, who worked for Warner Bros. Records in Burbank, Calif., and many of his