Mishra brings to the table 15 years of experience in the communications industry. This experience, he says, has helped him gain a deeper understanding of the sector. “I have been with Cisco India for the past seven years, during which time I served in multiple positions across the sales, business development and channels segments. Prior to joining Cisco, I worked in a senior management position at Avaya,” he says.

Mishra has a bachelor’s degree in electronics and communications from the Birla Institute of Technology and a postgraduate diploma in business management from IIM Calcutta.

With regard to his most memorable assignment till date, Mishra says, “I have worked in various capacities on numerous assignments. It is difficult to single out any particular one as all of them taught me different things.” In fact, he considers the ability to learn from past mistakes a key professional strength. He does, however, wish he had more patience while on the job. “I need to work on my patience levels,” he admits candidly. “The problem is I want to do everything at once.”

One of the things he wants to do is meet Ratan Tata, who he says is the source of his inspiration. “I admire his business acumen and the way he built the Tata empire, diversified it and expanded it continuously over the years. I would like to have the opportunity to meet him and learn from him,” he says.

Mishra’s ambition has always been “to excel in everything” he undertakes. “I want to make a meaningful contribution to society to the best of my ability.”

Mishra prefers a consultative style of management to get the job done. “It is vital for the team to express their opinion collectively. Only then can a consensus be reached,” he says.

Amidst meeting deadlines and coping with the daily grind, Mishra finds leisure time to be ever so elusive. What time he does get, he spends with his family – his wife, a homemaker, and two sons, aged nine and six. His parents are based in Ranchi and his father works at Coal India Limited.