Brand positioning: the art of renunciation

In a world where professional visibility is a competitive battleground, positioning your personal brand is not optional—it is essential. The ability to occupy a distinct and valuable space in the minds of your audience is what separates professionals who are merely competent from those who are irreplaceable. Yet, positioning is not just about claiming a spot; it is about defining it with precision. And defining means choosing, which in turn means renouncing.

The necessity of positioning

The necessity of positioning stems from a fundamental reality: the human mind is overloaded with information and relies on categorization to process it efficiently. If you do not define your positioning, your audience will do it for you—and not necessarily in the way you want. The brands, professionals, and leaders who stand out are those who deliberately shape how they are perceived. They ensure that their name, their expertise, and their value are clear and unmistakable.

Jack Trout and Al Ries, in their seminal work Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, emphasized that positioning is not about what you say about yourself, but about the space you occupy in the minds of others. It is the perception that people have when they think of you. And perception is not built in an abstract void—it is built through clear, deliberate choices that shape a focused and compelling professional identity.

Owning a word

Trout and Ries take this a step further in The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, where they propose a powerful idea: the strongest brands "own a word" in their audience’s mind. Volvo owns “safety.” FedEx owns “overnight.” Google owns “search.” These brands did not achieve this by accident; they did it by focusing relentlessly on a single idea and ensuring that every action, message, and offering reinforced that idea.

The same principle applies to personal brands. What is the one word people associate with you? Are you “the turnaround expert,” “the human-centric leader,” “the sustainability strategist”? If your positioning is diluted—if you try to be many things at once—you risk being nothing in particular.

The art of renunciation

And here lies the hardest part of positioning: the act of renunciation. To truly own a word, you must give up all the other words you could own. Positioning is an act of sacrifice. It demands the discipline to let go of competencies that, while valuable, do not reinforce the core of your identity. It means refusing opportunities that do not align with your chosen positioning. It means being comfortable with saying, "This is not what I do."

This is why many professionals struggle with positioning. They fear that by narrowing their focus, they will lose opportunities. But the opposite is true: clarity attracts. A sharp positioning makes it easier for others to refer you, for decision-makers to trust you, and for your brand to grow in authority.

A well-positioned personal brand does not try to appeal to everyone—it aims to be indispensable to the right audience. That requires focus. And focus requires renunciation.