Ann Latham is the founder of Boston area consulting firm Uncommon Clarity®, Inc. Her clients represent more than 40 industries and range from for-profit organizations, such as Boeing, Medtronic, and Hitachi, to nonprofit organizations as diverse as Public Television and Smith College.
Ann spent the first half of her career working in high-tech companies, beginning as a software engineer and winding up reporting to the CEO and leading cross-functional and cross-divisional efforts to set strategy and make operational improvements. In 2004, after years of helping only one company at a time, Ann decided to strike out as an independent consultant so she could take her talents to many companies and increase her impact.
Before quitting her job, Ann asked numerous colleagues what it was that she did particularly well that was most uncommon. The responses all pointed to the same thing and she named her company Uncommon Clarity® based on those answers.
Upon leaving the corporate world, Ann saved only one of the many framed certificates she had received: “Most Likely to Dispute Recognized Authorities,” a good-humored acknowledgment of her constant questioning and challenging of assumptions. She has never looked back.
Ann initially focused on improving client operations, but soon realized that the strategic clarity and alignment essential for success often needed more attention than operations. She quickly changed her business focus to include strategy and alignment.
Ann is considered an expert in strategic clarity and the productivity, performance, and commitment that follow.
She is the author of The Power of Clarity: Unleash the True Potential of Workplace Productivity, Confidence, and Empowerment, The Clarity Papers: The Executive’s Guide to Clear Thinking and Better, Faster Results plus three other books.
Ann has also been interviewed and has been written about in 85 media sources, including The New York Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Forbes, Inc., MSNBC.com, and MasterCard.com. She is an expert blogger for Forbes.com. Her business advice also appears in her own global e-newsletter, Clear Thoughts, which won a Constant Contact All-Star Award (for its exceptionally high open rate).
She’s an accomplished keynote and workshop speaker, and has spoken to thousands of executives, managers, employees, and MBA students. Of Ann’s speaking, famed Ideas Are Free coauthor and Isenberg School of Management professor, Alan G. Robinson says: “Ann Latham is one of the best business speakers I have heard. She is very experienced, the quality of her thinking is extremely high, and she knows how to deliver her message in an entertaining, concise, and convincing way.”
In addition to consulting, Ann enjoys travel, sports, and outdoor activities. She has been seen carrying her canoe while riding a unicycle. She took up ice hockey at age 42 when she got tired of watching her daughters have all the fun. (This, she adds, was a seriously humbling experience mostly spent skating toward where the puck used to be.) She’s an avid hiker and alpine skier, but also enjoys quieter activities like watching wildlife and curling up with a good book in front of the fire. Her most recent addiction is pickleball, the fastest growing sport in the US.
After visiting 43 countries, 48 US states, and seven Canadian provinces, Ann makes her home in New Hampshire.
She graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University with a degree mathematics.