CROSSFIRE
Clarity Of Mind : What Senior Managers Expect From You !
By Herman Githinji
As a young man at East African Breweries Limited , just promoted to a senior managerial position , I was preparing for a presentation to the directors . Writing those slides , I got lost in what and how I should present myself and the strategic plan . I decided to flag it off with my mentor by asking him what he thought they expected from me . He told me . “ They want to see if you have clarity of mind in the given task and how you will achieve it .”
But what is clarity of mind , and why is it important ? Clarity of mind is the ability to vividly understand the magnitude of the goal and what needs to get done to achieve and sustain it . Goal clarity is being aware of the importance of that goal to the overall company performance and its weight relative to other corporate objectives . Understanding the goal makes clear to the manager the enormousness of the task ahead , hence mentally getting ready for it .
There are several strategies and pathways to achieve particular goals . As a manager , the critical task is to analyze the viability of each based on some factors . First is the evaluation of resources you have at hand .
What ’ s your budget ? How many people do you have , and what ’ s their capability ? What time do you have ? Clarity of mind is accurately being able to determine the quality and quantity of the resources required to accomplish a particular task .
Good clarity of mind demands a manager to analyze the effectiveness of each alternative plan or pathway . What ’ s the cost-benefit of each ? Some plans may look easier but costly , while others may be complex but cheaper . The most effective strategic option or pathway is the one delivering the same or better result for the least cost . So , a manager must be clear of all these pathways and can explicitly explain why they prefer one in place of another .
A manager must clearly understand the technologies available when considering pathway effectiveness . New and straightforward technologies are available to help perform , control , and evaluate tasks efficiently . So , clarity of mind in this area means discernment and utmost consideration of all available technologies and how to deploy them where applicable .
Clarity of mind also means that in each
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Separate the wheat from the chaff . A manager may lose the grip on what ’ s essential by wasting time analyzing irrelevant information . We all beat about the bush sometimes , but beating about absolutely the wrong bush all the time is an unforgivable folly . pathway , a manager can transparently see how the dots between where they are and where they are going connect . I mean the need to see , step by step , the progression of each necessary action toward the goal . Most managers understand the goals and the required activities but lack clarity on how to sequence these actions toward the goal . They ’ re blind to what needs to be implemented first , why , and when .
Clarity of mind also means being able to analyze the environment and how it affects the projected outcomes . A long time ago , as a rooky manager , I presented a strategy to the board and the success hinged on a significant price reduction . One of the directors interjected and asked me , “ have you considered the impact of the reaction by your competitors against this price reduction ?” I hadn ’ t , and I was back to the drawing board in an instant . Besides competition , vital environmental factors may also shift , rendering your chosen plans irrelevant . Good sensitivity analysis and concrete assumptions around the strategies show clarity of mind .
To remove clutter in the current world of excess information , clarity of mind is required for identifying sources of relevant information . Knowing the nature of the information necessary to inform a decision and where to look for it helps save time . Efficiency and productivity are improved when the manager can separate the wheat from the chaff . A manager may lose the grip on what ’ s essential by wasting time analyzing irrelevant information . We all beat about the bush sometimes , but beating about absolutely the wrong bush all the time is an unforgivable folly .
Clarity is lost during the execution because
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