I’m the new kid on the Forbes block. I write about clarity, its power to improve everything from growth to employee engagement, why it is so uncommon, and how to create it.

I didn’t label my talent for clarity until I started my business a little over a decade ago, but the evidence goes way back.

Some people, like my elementary school principal, confuse belligerence with clarity. I’ll never forget the day our lunchroom ladies started withholding dessert until we cleared our plates. The ice cream sandwich was probably the whole reason I bought the school lunch that day and here was this heap of unpalatable stewed tomatoes between me and my ice cream. When lunchtime ended, I was still there, sitting alone, staring at those tomatoes and asking for my ice cream. Recess ended and I was still staring at those tomatoes. The lunch ladies called the principal. He told me I was about to be late for class and was in trouble. I, however, was perfectly clear. I had paid for my lunch and knew it was no one’s business but mine whether I ate the stewed tomatoes. That kind of clarity is in my DNA.

Some people, like my first supervisory training instructor, confuse credentials with clarity. When I left Corporate America, I saved exactly one of the many framed certificates corporate employees accumulate. “Most Likely to Dispute Recognized Authority.” This one was awarded to me by that instructor because I challenged the many studies he presented. But the instructor was confused. I didn’t dispute the authority of the well-credentialed studies; I questioned their applicability to our situation. You can’t solve a problem without identifying its cause. And someone else’s study, even if thorough, accurate, and interesting, may or may not be relevant. That kind of clarity is in my DNA.

Some people, actually, let’s make that most people, confuse content expertise with clarity. On one of the very first days of one of my first jobs, I sat through a long, boring meeting where everyone spoke in acronyms. I felt it would be forever before I could learn enough to be useful. As I struggled to connect the dots of this esoteric conversation, I forgot that I was an intimidated new hire for a second and shocked the group by interrupting the conversation. “Wait a minute. Did you two just agree to do blah, blah, blah? ” Both responded instantly. One said yes and the other said no. That kind of clarity is in my DNA.

Many years later, when I was ready to venture out on my own and leave the corporate world behind, I asked about a dozen colleagues – the CEO, peers, and direct reports – “What is it that I do extremely well that is most unusual?” This little bit of market research gave me greater clarity, a value proposition, and the perfect name for my company: Uncommon Clarity! The clarity in my DNA was suddenly official! Plus, it had visibility and a label!

So how do I actually create clarity?

The vast majority of my work involves creating transformative clarity – the kind that galvanizes commitment and drives high performance. The need is strong and universal as evidenced by the fact that my clients represent 38 industries and range from for-profits such as Hitachi to non-profits as diverse as Public Television and Smith College. Sometimes I create clarity throughout a project by helping clients determine where they are, identify their options, make decisions with commitment from the right people, and track the shortest path to results. Other times I teach my clients how to create clarity themselves. This process always starts with helping them see the lack of clarity all around and the daily impact of that confusion. That is followed with simple techniques for creating clarity that improve decisions, commitment, productivity, communication, delegation, persuasion, meetings, and much more.

The goal of my posts on Forbes is to help you see the confusion, understand why it is so common, see the tremendous potential of greater clarity, and learn techniques for creating clarity in your organization. In short, I want to inject clarity into your DNA because the world would be a happier, healthier, more productive place if clarity were common.

So please follow me on Forbes. Let me know when you agree or disagree. Ask questions and share your own examples and expertise. Let’s see if we can make clarity common!

Ann Latham is an expert on strategic clarity and author of The Clarity Papers.

Take The Clarity Quiz! Actually, take them all! Download a free copy of The Clarity Quiz Collection.

This article first appeared on Forbes, August 31st, 2015