What’s Standing Between You And Greater Success?
Cut through the fog, eliminate confusion, stop wasting time and effort, motivate your team, and bring focus to your goals; it’s all within your grasp with concise insights from The Clarity Papers, the book from strategic clarity expert Ann Latham. Order Your Copy Now.
Clarity comes first. Without it, we walk around the block to get next door, sabotage perfectly good strategy, erode profit, and thwart innovation. Most leaders believe they have clarity themselves and in their organization, but how do you know for sure? The Clarity Papers, a series of standalone, thematically related papers, will help you determine if a lack of clarity is standing between you and greater success. It also provides specific techniques for creating strategic clarity from the top of your organization to the bottom.
A lack of clarity is ubiquitous. Ann Latham, founder of Uncommon Clarity®, Inc., has been bringing the Power of Clarity to clients representing more than 40 industries for almost two decades. Her clients enjoy dramatically improved speed of implementation, employee engagement, innovation, and profit. You can’t afford not to read this book. (Don’t delay, get The Clarity Papers now.)
The Clarity Papers: The Executive’s Guide to Clear Thinking and Better, Faster Results
What Others Say About The Clarity Papers
Ann is really different from other consultants. For one thing, she is 100% driven by the problems, people, and the organization in front of her, not by a particular model or process to which she wants others to adapt. She relates well to a wide range of people from Board Chair to employee. She sees the whole, creates clear goals that work for all levels, and then designs a process to achieve those goals effectively and quickly. She unobtrusively prevents old baggage, emotional issues, or other distractions from derailing progress. She listens well and gets everyone else listening to each other.
I’m delighted to have been on the Board of Directors that hired Ann. Thanks to her, we reached an informed consensus that was level-headed, reality-based, and an accurate reflection of where we were and where we needed to go, and did so in very little time. I would definitely recommend her. I believe Ann could walk into any number of situations and get you where you need to go much faster and better than you could accomplish alone or with any other consultant.
Direct, concise, useful, impactful – you will think in new ways.
Ann has a knack for working with groups, identifying key issues, exploring alternative solutions and, best of all, implementing solutions that work.
“Ann recognizes that “best practice” may not be “best approach” for her clients, and when it is not, her working knowledge of alternative approaches will result in a solution that will be better than “best” because it works for you, in your plant, with your people.
“Ann can help you identify the crux of a problem and solutions that will work for you. While others may be good, my 35 years of experience tell me that no one is better.
Ann’s presentation on improving productivity would be valuable for anybody, including CEOs. I learned several things that I began using immediately. I keep her notes and diagrams right in front of me. As a speaker, Ann is very clear, engaging, credible, solid, and substantive. She really knows her stuff. I would gladly recommend her.
Yes! This workshop will definitely help me slash meeting times and get better results. I now know how to make my next meeting more focused and shorter.
Ann Latham was a guest speaker in my organizational behavior class. She did a great job of explaining the dos and don’ts of organizational change. Ann uses simple, clear stories and visuals to make her points.
I want to let you know how much I enjoyed your presentation. I especially enjoyed the way in which you intertwined humor, realistic techniques, and your own personal anecdotes for putting the techniques to work. It made them real for me, and I felt I could go back to work or home and use them right away.
“I know that I was not the only one that found the presentation to be helpful. After the breakfast I had the opportunity to speak with several of the other ERC5 Board members and they all had high praise for your content and delivery.
“I will be checking your newsletter for future presentation dates.
‘Ann Latham is a genius!’ was my first reaction when I read her article on “Why SMART Goals May Not Be Smart!”
“Within minutes I picked up the phone and called Ann – something I had never been inspired by a newsletter or blog to do before. Ann presented her SANITY process of goal-setting at a Toastmasters club officer training session for 35 local volunteer leaders within the organization. She took concepts originally formed for use in the corporate world, and adapted them to fit a volunteer organization such as Toastmasters, where leadership has to inspire people to stretch without having any actual authority over them. Her clear examples and logical thought process inspired discussions in the group that night, and in subsequent emails in the past few weeks, which have shown Ann was able to give a new vision and energy to the goal setting process. One of my officers commented, ‘In 20 years of attending club officer training sessions, that was the most inspiring and personally enriching session I’ve engaged in.’
Ann Latham’s workshop on ‘How to Give and Solicit Feedback’ was excellent. She clearly and insightfully shifted perspectives and provided examples and exercises that stimulated profound learning. Everyone knew much better how, why, when, good feedback works than before. She made it all clear and easy, and as someone who hires presenters and trainers for a living, I can tell you that those who create clarity are far more uncommon than those who create complexity and make vital tasks seem difficult. When the session and well-earned applause ended, I hired her for a future presentation. And now I’m sending this to my network to encourage them to contact Ann at uncommonclarity.com.
Ann Latham is extremely effective at helping diverse groups of people to find their common goals and create action plans to reach those goals efficiently. When you work with Ann, you get the job done, and you enjoy the process along the way.
When I called Ann, I was struggling with (what seemed to be) broad and profound dysfunctional behaviors rooted in the program’s history, exasperated by ill-defined roles, and complicated by ill-conceived new initiatives. When we hung up, I had a new perspective, the understanding and confidence to take immediate action to remedy 85% of the problem, and a better understanding of options for sorting out the remaining issues. The time and stress saved by one phone call with Ann was astounding.
Having worked with Ann on multiple projects, I know to expect a lot. Nonetheless, she continues to exceed expectations. Ann gets people out of their comfort zones, thinking, and seeing other points of view. She manages somehow to turn personal agendas aside and create powerful teams. She is always well prepared and willing to take charge to ensure we accomplish what needs to be accomplished in a timely fashion. In addition, she is personable and articulate. I highly recommend her services.
I’ve recently had the pleasure of working with Ann Latham as a member of a multi-constituent collaboration project. At first, our group began the process without the presence of an outside facilitator, however we quickly realized that our efficiency and effectiveness were limited. Ann was asked to facilitate our meetings and has proven to be an incredible asset to the process, providing a structure and clarity of purpose, soliciting ideas and encouraging individual contribution, while instilling accountability and helping all to keep focus on our desired outcomes. Clear and measurable progress is being made, and at a speed not possible without her guidance.
We asked Ann Latham of Uncommon Clarity, to help facilitate our strategic planning for the agency. What we received in return was an individual who helped us clearly define expectations, held us accountable, helped us identify core assets and skills, and focused us to make tough decisions about the direction of the agency. Overall I recommend Ann’s services to those organizations committed to improving their operation and performance.
Thank you again, Ann, for your excellent leadership. You organized our retreat so that participation by everyone was possible and all voices could be heard. We were able to identify areas in board organization that needed to be addressed and together developed solutions with the goal of becoming a more effective board. I saw results at our first board meeting after the retreat!
Ann Latham is easy to talk with and clearly knows her stuff without being the least bit condescending. I really appreciate her focus on value, not time. It’s a win-win. I received great value in a short period of time. We have increased the value of our meetings significantly and also increased the level of participation by those in the meetings. She also coached me through some significant strategic discussions as well as several change management issues. One quick tip before a very important meeting saved us hours of unproductive, contentious time by making me aware of where my process was most likely to break down, what to watch for, and how to prevent it. She was absolutely right and her tip worked perfectly in preventing us from getting bogged down. I would definitely recommend her to others and expect to work with her more in the future as well.
Ann, your newsletter is great! Always has useful, quickly applied information for leaders and teams. You pack a lot in a 3 minute read!
I recently had the pleasure of experiencing Ann’s facilitation skills on a significant collaborative project involving several influential members of the community. Ann was organized, focused, and kept things moving. It is clear to me we would not have accomplished what we did in a similar timeframe without the benefit of Ann’s drive and commitment.
Ann is highly skilled in helping her clients clarify their goals and the steps it will take to achieve them. She respectfully keeps the participants on track and moves the process forward to completion. With Ann’s guidance you can be certain that you will reach your destination.
Ann provided us with the focus, structure, and critical thinking that both my team and I needed to make some tough strategic decisions. She also pushed us hard to define quantifiable outcomes and take action on several critical issues. Her ability to help both strategically and right through implementation with on-going feedback makes her especially valuable. She is a pleasure to work with as well.
Ann listens, understands, simplifies, reframes, and provides clear advice. She challenges my assumptions and forces me to face the real issues. I inevitably leave with a new perspective, better decisions, 3 – 4 specific action items, and the resolve and focus I need to get the right things done. On top of that, she has given me excellent time management and organizational tools, and has helped me engage and motivate my staff. I value every one of our conversations. If you are looking for a great coach to help you become more successful, I highly recommend you call Ann.
Ann, I just wanted to take a second to say thanks for your incredible advice. It’s been my new mantra for the past couple of months and my productivity has soared. Such a simple concept but oh-so-effective. I can’t believe that was missing from my life for so long.
Thank you, Ann. For listening and not judging. For always sharing a warm word and a smile. For your amazing newsletter; there is always something that speaks directly to me. Every month, when I open my inbox and see your name, I am thrilled with anticipation and excited to read your creative and concise advice. Thank you for sharing your lessons with the world!
I have been very lucky to enjoy Ann’s outstanding talents in strategic planning and creative solutions. She led the MMTN Steering Committee through various decision making exercises, devised by her, that have resulted in a far more robust and goal-oriented organization than I ever dreamed possible. She has breathed new life into the MMTN. In doing so, Ann has earned the highest respect of her colleagues and myself on this vital Committee. She has an uncommon talent of seeing her clients’ vision – frequently long before they do!
Thank you so much for the workshop that you did for us last month on increasing sales. It was very appropriate and beneficial to all who participated. I appreciated the fact that you were so well organized and that you kept the workshop flowing with such ease. The workshop stimulated a lot of great ideas and discussion amongst the staff, many of which we are starting to implement and see results from. I would definitely have you back to do a workshop again at a later date.
Clear information with good, concise ideas for change – what I learned will help me reduce meeting times and improve results significantly.
I am extremely impressed with Ann’s ability to bring clarity to the decision making process as I have observed her during the Materials & Manufacturing Technology Network (MMTN) Steering Committee on which we both participate. She has an uncanny ability for getting people to put aside their personal objectives and look at the “BIG” picture to identify the important objectives and reach consensus. She has demonstrated repeatedly her ability to quickly get to the stuff that really matters.
I needed someone experienced with conducting interviews, surveys and facilitating focus groups to gather the input from the community and other stakeholders. I contacted a friend at the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County to inquire if he knew of someone who would meet my needs. He responded with a glowing recommendation for Ann Latham of Uncommon Clarity, Inc.
I contacted Ann to discuss my needs and within days she was off and running. We scheduled focus groups and Ann facilitated them. Ann then synthesized the input received and presented the information in written form. The result was a well-received plan with great information, and praise for our timely submission of the plan.
I will certainly solicit the services of Uncommon Clarity (Ann Latham) in the future, and I will recommend her services to anyone in need.
Ann Latham guided our Board of Directors through a process to reflect, renew, and regain our purpose. Ann has an amazing ability to draw people out, pull people back to the critical issues, and reframe the conversation with her questions. She got everyone really thinking and contributing. The result was a clear and strong conviction of purpose that we didn’t have. I now measure everything against that purpose and am totally committed to providing ambitious, career-oriented professionals with strong leadership & growth opportunities.
Ann has a natural ability for process improvement and easily learns new systems and adjoining processes.
[This company] should be considered the benchmark for any company evaluating their exposures in this area.
The method used for translating quality requirements into manageable actions is the best seen anywhere and has led to managers with a greater depth of understanding, a more integrated system approach, and more astute planning than any of 95 companies audited.
About The Author
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 is considered an expert in strategic clarity and the productivity, performance, and commitment that follow.
She is the author of 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).