Ann Latham is the Founder of Uncommon Clarity, a consulting firm helping professionals gain cognitive clarity. As a clarity consultant, she has worked with notable businesses, including Hitachi, Boeing, and Medtronic. Ann is also the author of The Power of Clarity, The Disconnect Principle, The Clarity Papers, and Uncommon Meetings. Her insights have appeared in The New York Times, Bloomberg, and Management Today.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [4:05] Why Ann Latham founded Uncommon Clarity
- [8:30] How Ann developed The Disconnect Principle
- [14:27] The latest definition of clarity and the habits that impede progress
- [19:14] Ann’s experience giving a TEDx talk about communication
- [21:18] Tips and techniques for accelerating results and hosting meetings
- [27:01] What brings Ann joy?
In this episode...
The word “clarity” is used frequently in business contexts, but what does it mean? For entrepreneurs and leaders, clarity involves identifying your goals and methods for achieving them. How can you gain clarity in all aspects of your professional life?
Widely recognized “Clarity Queen,” Ann Latham has discovered the common roadblocks to goal progression, including a lack of specificity and clear communication. She maintains the importance of gathering enough information to make informed decisions about the next steps. This involves identifying specific decisions and action steps and developing detailed plans to execute them.
In this episode of the Lead Like a Woman Show, Andrea Heuston sits down with Ann Latham, the Founder of Uncommon Clarity, to discuss how to gain clarity in your professional life. Ann explains how to accelerate results and optimize communication in meetings, the takeaways from her TEDx talk, and insights from her books.
Resources Mentioned in this episode:
- Andrea Heuston on LinkedIn
- Lead Like a Woman
- Artitudes Design
- Stronger on the Other Side: The Power to Choose by Andrea Heuston
- Ann Latham: Website | LinkedIn
- Uncommon Clarity
- The Disconnect Principle: Eliminate difficult conversations with clarity and empathy by Ann Latham
- The Power of Clarity: Unleash the True Potential of Workplace Productivity, Confidence, and Empowerment by Ann Latham
- The Clarity Papers: The Executive’s Guide to Clear Thinking and Better, Faster Results by Ann Latham
- Uncommon Meetings – 7 Quick Tips for Better Results in Half the Time by Ann Latham
- “How to communicate when something goes wrong” Ann Latham on TEDx
Quotable Moments:
- “I cut to the chase and figure out where we need to start and what we need to do to move things forward.”
- “People don’t understand that clarity leads to better business results.”
- “All you know for certain is that things didn’t happen the way you expected.”
- “Clarity is knowing exactly, very specifically, what you’re trying to accomplish and how you’re going to get there.”
- “The best thing you can do is just try to be on the steady incline that goes through the middle of all those peaks and valleys.”
Action Steps:
- Ask specific questions for feedback: Instead of vague requests for feedback, specify exactly what information you need, such as asking for permission to start a project. This approach eliminates uncertainty and accelerates decision-making, addressing the challenge of miscommunication.
- Use destination verbs in meetings: Replace “treadmill verbs” like “discuss” and “review” with “destination verbs” like “decide,” “plan,” or “approve” to make meetings more productive. This action addresses the common issue of unproductive meetings by ensuring every agenda item has a clear, actionable outcome.
- Adopt the disconnect principle: Frame difficult conversations as identifying a “disconnect” rather than assigning blame, which reduces defensiveness and promotes constructive dialogue. This method is effective as it shifts the focus from personal failings to problem-solving.
- Practice clarity in decision-making: Implement a structured decision-making process by clearly defining the decision at hand and the criteria needed for making that decision. This step tackles the prevalent lack of systematic decision-making in organizations, ensuring decisions lead to clear and actionable steps.
- Embrace open-ended questions: Use questions like “What needs to be different when we’re done?” to clarify objectives and next steps in any project or task. This approach fosters a clearer understanding of goals and helps identify the specific outcomes needed to drive progress.
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