Doing Both: Capturing Today's Profit and Driving Tomorrow's Growth

Inder Sidhu is Senior Vice President of Strategy and Planning for Worldwide Operations at Cisco, the $40 billion worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. He is also a member of the company’s Operating Committee.

From 2006-2010, Inder co-led Cisco's Emerging Countries Council, which drives business success in fast-growing geographies like China, India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, and the Middle East. From 2006-2009, he co-led the Enterprise Business Council, which is responsible for Cisco’s corporate business, representing about half of the company’s total revenue.

In 2010, Sidhu published Doing Both (FT Press). In this New York Times bestseller, he identifies common business dichotomies and explores how successful companies avoid difficult tradeoffs and instead achieve bigger outcomes by “doing both.” Using this framework, he offers a unique view of Cisco’s consistent record of innovation and high performance.

Since joining Cisco in 1995, Sidhu has held executive leadership positions in the Sales, Services, and Business Development groups. He has served as the Vice President and General Manager for Worldwide Professional Services, Vice President and General Manager for Advanced Engineering Services, and Vice President for Strategy and Business Development, Customer Advocacy.

Before joining Cisco, Sidhu was with McKinsey & Company, an international management consulting company. He has also worked at Intel and Novell.

Sidhu is a frequent guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, Stanford University, and the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Goodwill of Silicon Valley.

Sidhu holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi; a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; and a master’s degree in business administration from the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania. He also is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.