Both a college friend, and the years he spent in Kolkata in the early 1970s, have left a deep impression on Tuhin Mukherjee. "I had a very close circle of friends in college," he says. "One friend in particular was a source of inspiration for the rest of us, especially when it came to his lifestyle, reading habits, etc."

"Also, growing up in chaotic Kolkata in the early 1970s taught me a few valuable lessons. I understand the essentials of any situation before tackling it, and have developed a perspective of how to grow as a person and face life's tough situations," he says.

He carries this approach to the boardroom as well. As vice-president, telecom business at Emerson Network Power (India), he handles multiple areas that include overseeing the marketing, sales, product management, servicing, project rollout and working capital management.

His management style depends entirely on the given situation. "I have found that a permissive style works best. I delegate responsibility to my team and jump in whenever the situation calls for it. However, if I develop a product line myself, I believe in complete control; no delegation takes place then." This style of management has remained constant throughout his career.

Mukherjee has a diverse career experience behind him. Prior to his current position, he was the country general manager of global services at Emerson Network Power (India). This stint entailed overseeing the entire services business, which comprised the operation and maintenance of telecom base transceiver stations and data centres; erection, installation and commissioning of UPSs, air conditioning, DC power plants and all Emerson products at the customer's site, etc.

He started his career with Larsen & Toubro, Chennai, and then joined Nelco, Kolkata, in the industrial systems division. At Emerson, he has served in various positions within the company. From 1998 to 2001, he was business head of the east zone for Emerson Network Power. There, he handled six businesses and was instrumental in the company obtaining a 63 per cent market share in the medium and high UPS segment in the east zone.

Going forward, he is focused on growing the business and beating competition. "This is a huge challenge," he says, "as the industry is faced with falling ARPUs and there is immense pressure on capex and opex."

When not busy consolidating the company's presence in the telecom space, Mukherjee enjoys reading and listening to rabindra sangeet as well as Hindustani classical music.