• Our Tools

• Our ToolsAnn Brody2019-01-14T14:31:58-06:00

Strong Core Skills in Coaching and Counseling

In addition to our years of experience in coaching and personal counseling, we rely on methods developed by The Highlands Company, which uses the Highlands Ability Battery as the foundational piece in its “Whole Person” approach to career development.

The Highlands Ability Battery

The Highlands Ability Battery is both high-tech and high-touch. The high-tech piece rests on the proprietary Highlands Ability Battery™ (HAB) and the 30+ page reports you get as a result, and the high-touch piece rests on a one-on-one 2-hour debriefing with your coach that uses the Highlands Whole Person Model to help you understand how to put this information to use in your life.

High Tech: The Highlands Ability Battery:

Is a rigorous 3.5 hour online assessment that objectively measures 19 distinct Natural Abilities, the innate talents that you are “hard-wired” to do with speed and ease.
Uses timed worksamples that do not rely on self-reported information or educational achievement to reveal how you instinctively learn, communicate, lead, make decisions and solve problems, work with objects and use your mental and creative talents.
Brings to light talents and strengths which may have been unrecognized in school or work.
Identifies roles in work, education and personal environment that best fit the adult or student.

High Touch: A 2-hour One-on-One Debriefing with your Coach:

Clarifies your results and explains how you can use each ability to experience less stress and more be productive in your life, education, and work.
Provides the opportunity for fuller exploration of your career and educational issues and questions.
Assists in making sound choices in your education and career, including a deep look at what areas of study or jobs would suit you best.

Get a Closer Look at The Highlands Approach

Career Assessment and The Highlands Whole Person Method (Explainer Video)
from The Highlands Company on Vimeo.

Testing With Worksamples Gives Objective Information About Yourself

Spatial Relations Example

In the example above, you are asked to find the item in the bottom row which matches the figure in the top row, only seen from a different angle. You are given many problems like this to solve in this worksample.

When you take the The Highlands Ability Battery, you may notice that some of the worksamples will seem very easy and others quite challenging. This is normal. It reflects the experience of comparing a strong ability to a weaker ability.

Your Highlands Ability Reports & Two Hour Review with Your Coach

After submitting your scores via the Internet, you retrieve the results from the Highlands Company website where you get a 30+ page report on your abilities including a graphic representation of your scores like the one shown below.

A two-hour review of your Highlands’ Reports with your coach by phone, Skype, or in person will deepen your understanding of how your ability pattern applies to your situation. You will receive an audio-tape of this conference to aid further reflection.

NEW Online Career Exploration Report

In addition, you’ll receive our ONLINE Career Exploration Supplement for more in-depth descriptions of each ability and how they impact work roles. You can view an expanded list of ability patterns and careers to explore with hotlinks to the O*NET (US Dept. of Labor’s Occupational Information Network) to discover realistic career options that fit your natural talents.

For a more in depth understanding of each report, download the Highlands Career Exploration Supplement.

Don Eisenhauer

Ann introduced me to the Five O’Clock Club as well as a battery of personal and professional testing mechanisms. She is a great listener and knows how to pin-point your challenge/problem/frustration. Ann recreates your confidence and sense of direction while looking out more than just 6 months. I often re-read my test scores, our notes together and her lists of readings. I highly recommend Ann Brody. My wife, a college educator, had great success with Ann’s methodologies too.

Don Eisenhauer

Allscripts Outcome Executive Associate

Danielle Henderson

Ann has been an invaluable career coach to me, my husband and one of our closest friends. I’d recommend her and her processes to anyone looking to get some clarity on the next steps in their career. She inspires trust, helps you build confidence that you can make a productive change, and was really a joy to work with in every way. She is also knowledgeable and creative — a great coach!

Danielle Henderson

Account Executive - Veeva Systems

Elizabeth Wiggs Maas

Ann helped me through a very difficult time this past year when I found myself new to Chicago, and without a job. Together we explored my unique strengths and by the end of my sessions with her, I was able to confidently choose a path for myself to follow. I learned things about myself and my skills that I never knew before, and the result was that I ended up taking a chance in my career that has paid off very well. The best part about my work with Ann was getting so much more insight into myself and the way I work – I’d recommend her to anyone who’s feeling unfulfilled in his or her current position!

Elizabeth Wiggs Maas

Marketing at Fairlife, LLC

Dan McMahon

I have worked with Ann on and off for over 5 years. Throughout my relationship with Ann as an independent and objective career advisor, Ann has offered valued advice that has been integral to my ability to navigate the complex corporate world.

I highly recommend Ann to anyone who feels the need to seek advice from an independent objective source on dealing with the issues employees are faced with, which can at times be complex given the current economic environment.

Dan McMahon

Business Growth Advisor at Integrated Growth Advisors

James P. Moorhead

Ann has been a career mentor since 2011, when I took the Highlands testing. I would highly recommend Ann’s services – she provides thoughtful and detailed career guidance, has in-depth experience and background from which to draw advice, and is a steady mentor at each step of the way.

James P. Moorhead

John Briggs

Ann has provided coaching to both of my sons — each at crossroads in their academic and educational choices. One son was midway through college and was second-guessing his choice of major/feild, etc. Ann was able to determine his core strengths and weakenesses, and steered him back to his original plan — and even provided him with a few options he had never considered. My other son, still at the high school level, was wrestling through the choices of majors, and Ann was able to highlight his strengths, giving him confidence that he could be successful regardless of his choice. I’m really glad we involved Ann in this process.

John Briggs

Director, Creative Network at AbbVie

Jon Rappoport

When I first met Ann some years ago, I was quite unsure of myself and frankly, too hard on myself for not having “figured it out.”

With the impact of her invaluable coaching having had a lasting effect on my decisions and successes to this day, Ann helped me to realize the unique and innate potential and purpose within myself. Her warmth, her intelligence, her support and her expertise are a huge part of the trajectory on which I still find myself growing, learning and pursuing the passions which continue to unfold before my eyes.

I will always look back on our time working together with fondness and appreciation, and as life — both personally and professionally — continues to be a revealing journey, I am bolstered by the knowledge that Ann and her talent as a career coach is just a phone call away.

Jon Rappoport

Strategist, Consultant and Chief Fig (Facilitator + Idea Generator)

Marie Theiss

Ann is one of the most intuitive, personable, and balanced professionals I know. I’m so glad to have connected with her. She’s helped me over the years with formulating my business strategy, identifying areas that are important to me and creating a fulfilling professional and personal life. Ann is so intuitive and looks for a holistic approach that satisfies so many angles. She helped me strike a balance between capitalizing on running my business, giving my attention to my philanthropic work, and maintaining a sense of calm during hectic and challenging periods of life. She is a gem, she’s funny and is such a valuable person in my life. I am so proud to recommend her here, and have been doing so to my personal and professional friends.