Book
Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind
Al Ries & Jack Trout
For the idea that positioning ultimately exists in other people's minds.
Free tools · Develop yourself · 30 minutes
What Do You Want to Be Known For?
People are going to form an opinion of you. You might as well have some influence over what it is.
Free, no account, nothing to sign up to. You will leave with something written down.
01 · Mark's view
Why this matters, and why most people get it wrong.
People put you in a box
I meet a lot of interesting people.
Founders. Executives. Creative people. People who have built things, lost things, changed careers, moved countries, taken risks and accumulated experiences that should make them fascinating.
Then I ask:
“So, what do you do?”
And sometimes what comes back is five minutes of their life history.
They've done this. Then they did that. Then they joined somewhere else. Then they started something. Then there was another opportunity.
Everything they're telling me may be true.
But somewhere around minute three, I've lost them.
And if I've lost them, imagine what happens when somebody who has met them tries to explain them to someone else.
That matters.
Because people put people in boxes.
Founder. Investor. Designer. Operator. Technology person. Retail person. Someone who builds companies. Someone who fixes difficult situations. Someone who knows everybody.
Or the dangerous one:
“Really interesting person. I'm just not entirely sure what they do.”
Your CV isn't your position
One of the reasons I care about this is because I don't think most people's CVs explain who they really are.
Job titles certainly don't.
You might have worked across five industries. You might have had completely different titles. You might have started businesses, advised people, worked for somebody else, invested, failed, started again.
On paper it can look messy.
But there may be something remarkably consistent underneath it.
Perhaps people always ask you to solve complicated problems. Perhaps you're the person who gets everyone around a table. Perhaps you spot commercial opportunities. Perhaps you make things happen. Perhaps you build teams. Perhaps you see what something could become before everyone else does.
That pattern is much more interesting to me than your chronology.
Your history contains evidence.
The job is to find the red thread.
Stop trying to tell everybody everything
This is something I see all the time.
The more complicated someone's career has been, the more they feel they need to explain.
So they tell you everything. They think the detail creates credibility.
Often it creates confusion.
You don't need everybody you meet to understand everything you've ever done.
You need them to understand enough of the right things to know why you matter.
That's different.
If I meet you tonight and tomorrow somebody says: “You should speak to Mark. He'd be brilliant for this.”
I need to know why.
That's the test.
Can somebody who has met you explain your value when you're not in the room?
This isn't about inventing a personal brand
I'm slightly uncomfortable with the phrase “personal brand.”
You are not a packet of cereal.
And I don't want this exercise to manufacture some polished version of you that sounds impressive on LinkedIn but bears very little resemblance to the person someone meets over dinner.
We're trying to do almost the opposite.
We're trying to find something that is true enough to earn.
What have you repeatedly demonstrated? What are you unusually useful for? What do people already trust you with? What could you credibly become known for? And where do you actually want that reputation to take you?
Because there's another danger here.
You can become extremely well known for something you no longer want to do.
Your past gives you permission. It doesn't get to choose your future.
Your history matters. It is evidence.
But it shouldn't become a prison.
If you've spent twenty years doing something, people will naturally continue to associate you with it.
That doesn't mean you have to spend the next twenty years doing the same thing.
You are allowed to change. You are allowed to decide that a chapter has done its job. You are allowed to become interested in a different problem.
But there has to be a bridge.
You can't simply announce a completely new identity tomorrow and expect everybody else to believe it.
You need to understand what your past gives you permission to do next.
And sometimes that bridge is much more interesting than you realise.
Reputation is earned
You can change your LinkedIn headline tonight. You can rewrite your biography. You can build a beautiful website. You can announce that you're a thought leader, visionary, strategist, entrepreneur or whatever else you fancy.
None of that means anybody believes you.
Your reputation exists in other people's heads.
The strongest position is one that people eventually start repeating without you asking them to.
That takes evidence. It takes behaviour. It takes consistency. Sometimes it takes time.
So this exercise isn't going to finish by giving you a slogan.
It's going to help you identify a reputation worth earning.
What we're looking for
By the end, I want you to understand:
What people probably think you're good at today.
What you actually want to become known for.
What evidence gives you permission to occupy that territory.
Who you need to matter to.
What is currently confusing the picture.
What alternative position you may be overlooking.
And importantly: what you would need to do next for that reputation to become true.
02 · Think about this
Sit with these before you start.
- If you weren't in the room, what would somebody who knows you professionally say about you in 30 seconds?
- What do people repeatedly come to you for, even when it isn't technically your job?
- What repeats across your career even when the title, company and industry change?
- Which parts of how you introduce yourself are genuinely necessary?
- Is there an old identity you keep leading with because it once made you feel credible?
- Would you actually enjoy the opportunities the reputation you want would create?
03 · What I would do
The method, if we were doing this across a table.
- 01
Start with the box you're already in, not the one you want. You can't change a reputation you haven't described honestly.
- 02
Collect what people actually come to you for. Behaviour is better evidence than self-description.
- 03
Ignore job titles temporarily and look for what follows you across unrelated chapters.
- 04
Separate strong evidence from interesting anecdotes from things you merely believe about yourself.
- 05
Work out what you're over-explaining. Detail feels like credibility; usually it creates noise.
- 06
Only then decide what you want to become known for — and test whether your history gives you permission to claim it.
- 07
Finish with actions, not wording. A position becomes true through evidence, not announcements.
04 · Do it yourself
What you will have at the end.
- —An honest description of the box people currently put you in.
- —The red thread that explains you better than your chronology does.
- —What the evidence says you're genuinely useful for, separated from what you'd like to be true.
- —At least four genuinely different positions you could credibly build toward.
- —A serious Alternative if your preferred position were unavailable.
- —A dinner-test sentence and a 50-word spoken introduction.
- —The five highest-leverage things to do over the next 12 months to earn it.
- —A simple five-person reputation experiment to run in the real world.
05 · Use your AI
The prompt. This is the part most people never write.
TAIU exercise
TAIU what do you want to be known for exercise
A guided AI interview that separates the reputation you already have from the one you could credibly earn — and tells you what you'd have to do to earn it.
Approximately 20-30 minutes
What will it ask me?
- The box you're inHow people probably describe you today.
- What people come to you forThe problems that find their way to you.
- The five-person testWhat five very different people would say you're unusually good at.
- What follows youThe patterns that repeat across titles, industries and circumstances.
- The evidenceWhat you've really got proof for, as opposed to anecdotes and beliefs.
- What you over-explainThe chronology and detail creating noise.
- What you want more ofThe problems, people and calls you'd like the next chapter to contain.
- Who actually mattersWhose perception you're really trying to influence.
- What you're still carryingThe old identity that may be following you around.
- The strongest possibilitiesAt least four genuinely different positions you could credibly build toward.
- The AlternativeWhat becomes possible if your preferred position is unavailable.
- Earning itWhat you'd need to do over 12 months for the reputation to become true.
View full prompt
I want you to help me work out what I should become known for. This is not a personal-branding exercise. Do not begin by writing a LinkedIn headline, biography, elevator pitch, slogan or positioning statement. I want you to interview me. Ask one question at a time and wait for my answer before continuing. Your job is to understand the difference between: how people probably perceive me today what I have actually demonstrated what I think I'm good at what other people repeatedly trust me to do what I want to do next what I want to become known for what I have earned the right to claim and what I may simply wish were true Be curious. Push me when my answers are vague. If I describe myself using words such as strategic, entrepreneurial, creative, innovative, visionary, passionate, experienced, leader or connector, don't accept the adjective. Ask: "What have you actually done that makes you say that?" Look for behaviour and evidence. Look for patterns across apparently unrelated parts of my life and career. Look particularly for things that repeat even when my job title, company, industry or circumstances change. Don't flatter me. Don't try to make everything I've done fit neatly together. If something doesn't fit, say so. If I appear to be holding onto an old identity because it once gave me status or credibility, challenge me. If what I say I want to become known for isn't supported by my behaviour or evidence, tell me. If you see a stronger position than the one I'm describing, develop it seriously. We will work through the following stages. 1. WHAT BOX AM I ALREADY IN? Ask me: "If I wasn't in the room and someone who knows you professionally had 30 seconds to explain you to somebody else, what do you think they'd say?" Explore my answer. What category would they put me in? What would they say I'm good at? What would they probably leave out? What might they misunderstand? 2. WHAT DO PEOPLE ACTUALLY COME TO ME FOR? Ask for real examples. What problems do people bring me? What advice do they ask for? When do people call me? What do people introduce me to others for? What responsibilities seem to find their way to me even when they aren't technically my job? Don't ask only about paid work. 3. THE FIVE-PERSON TEST Ask me to think separately about: a close friend somebody who has worked with me somebody who has worked for me a client, investor or business partner somebody who met me relatively recently For each person ask: "What would they say you're unusually good at?" Compare the answers. Look for language or ideas that repeat. Also notice where the answers are completely different. 4. WHAT FOLLOWS ME? Now look across my career and life. Ignore titles temporarily. Ask about moments when I've been particularly effective. Ask what role I naturally play when things become difficult, ambiguous or exciting. Ask what I notice that other people seem not to. Ask what I find relatively easy that other people appear to find difficult. Look for recurring patterns. 5. SHOW ME THE EVIDENCE For every important claim emerging from the conversation, ask for evidence. Companies. Projects. Results. People. Problems solved. Teams built. Money made or raised. Things created. Changes caused. Markets entered. People influenced. Difficult situations navigated. Failures that taught me something unusually valuable. Separate: strong evidence from interesting anecdotes from things I merely believe about myself. 6. WHAT AM I OVER-EXPLAINING? Ask me how I normally introduce myself. Then ask: "Which parts of this are genuinely necessary for somebody to understand why you're interesting or useful?" Identify chronology, job titles, old achievements and unnecessary detail that may be creating noise. 7. WHAT DO I WANT MORE OF? Move from past to future. Ask me about the next five to ten years. What kinds of problems do I want to work on? What kind of people do I want around me? What conversations energise me? What opportunities would I love somebody to call me about? What work am I tired of? What opportunities would I be perfectly happy never receiving again? 8. WHAT DO I WANT TO BE KNOWN FOR? Now ask: "If five years from now you had developed a very strong reputation for one thing, what would you hope people said about you?" Do not accept my first answer automatically. Interrogate it. Why that? Why now? Who would care? What would it allow me to do? Would I actually enjoy the opportunities this reputation creates? 9. WHO ACTUALLY MATTERS? Help me identify whose perception matters. Not everybody. Who are the people I want to: call me hire me invest with me invite me introduce me collaborate with me listen to me trust me Force me to prioritise. 10. WHAT GIVES ME PERMISSION? For the reputation I appear to want, ask: "Why should anyone believe you?" Assess the evidence. Classify my desired position as: already earned earned but poorly communicated credible and emerging possible but requiring more evidence mostly aspiration Explain your reasoning. 11. WHAT AM I STILL CARRYING? Ask whether any old identity is following me around. An old company. A title. An industry. A successful project. A previous version of myself. Something I keep talking about because it makes me feel credible. Ask: "If you stopped leading with this tomorrow, what would happen?" 12. WHAT IS CONFUSING THE PICTURE? Identify contradictions. Things I say I want versus things I actually spend time doing. Things I claim to care about versus evidence from my choices. Multiple identities competing for attention. Language that could mean almost anything. Tell me where the story becomes difficult to repeat. 13. GIVE ME THE STRONGEST POSSIBILITIES Using everything you've learned, develop at least four genuinely different positions I could credibly build toward. Do not give me four wording variations of the same idea. For each explain: what I would become known for why my history supports it who would care what opportunities it could create what is distinctive about it what evidence is missing what I would probably have to stop emphasising what danger comes with being known for this Include at least one position I have not suggested myself. 14. THE ALTERNATIVE IS UNTHINKABLE Now assume my favourite option is unavailable. I cannot choose it. Develop the strongest alternative future from the evidence you've discovered. Take it seriously. Ask: "What becomes possible if you stop trying to become known for the thing you currently think you want?" Show me opportunities, identities or directions my preferred answer might be hiding from me. Then compare the two honestly. Do not automatically recommend my original preference. 15. DON'T LET ME MANUFACTURE MYSELF Now make the strongest argument against deliberately building a personal brand at all. Ask whether I would be better served by concentrating on contribution, work, relationships and evidence and allowing the reputation to emerge from those things. Tell me where deliberate positioning would help me and where it could make me appear artificial. 16. CHOOSE SOMETHING WORTH TESTING Help me choose the strongest working position, not a permanent identity. It should sit at the intersection of: evidence ability interest usefulness distinctiveness future direction people who care Explain why it wins. Also explain what would make you change your mind. 17. THE DINNER TEST Imagine I meet someone interesting tonight. Tomorrow they call exactly the right person for me and say: "I met someone last night you really should speak to..." Complete what I would ideally want them to say next. Keep it natural. No jargon. No marketing language. 18. THE 50-WORD INTRODUCTION Now help me create an approximately 50-word spoken introduction. It should make it easy to understand: who I am what connects my experience what I'm particularly useful for where I'm heading It must sound like something a human being would actually say at dinner. Read it critically. Remove anything that sounds like LinkedIn. 19. HOW WOULD I EARN THIS REPUTATION? Do not give me a marketing plan. Tell me what I would actually need to do over the next 12 months for this position to become increasingly true. Prioritise evidence over communication. Consider: projects businesses clients experiments people partnerships writing speaking communities research results Identify the five highest-leverage actions. 20. THE REAL-WORLD TEST Design a simple reputation experiment for me. Include asking five people independently: "If you had to describe me professionally to someone who had never met me, what would you say?" and: "What would you come to me for that you probably wouldn't go to most other people for?" Tell me not to explain why I'm asking until after they answer. Explain how I should compare their responses with the position we've developed. 21. GIVE ME MY HANDOVER Finish by producing the structured handover document described below.
After the exercise
Don't immediately change your LinkedIn.
Don't rewrite your website tonight.
And don't start introducing yourself with a new sentence you've used exactly once.
Test it.
Ask the five people. Listen carefully to the words they use.
Try your 50-word introduction in real conversations.
Notice which part makes people curious. Notice what they remember. Notice what they introduce you to other people for.
And most importantly, start doing the things that create evidence for the reputation you want.
Because the objective isn't to say you're something.
It's to reach the point where other people say it for you.
06 · Get out into the world
Close the laptop at this point.
- 01
Ask five people independently: “If you had to describe me professionally to someone who had never met me, what would you say?” Don't explain why you're asking until after they answer.
- 02
Ask the same five: “What would you come to me for that you probably wouldn't go to most other people for?”
- 03
Compare their language with the position you developed. Look for the words that repeat, and for the gaps.
- 04
Try your 50-word introduction in real conversations and notice what people remember and what they introduce you for.
- 05
Create one piece of genuine evidence for the reputation you want this month. Evidence before communication.
07 · Go deeper
Two things worth your time. Not a reading list.
Book
Working Identity
Herminia Ibarra
For the idea that new professional identities are discovered through experimentation rather than introspection alone.
Book
Reinventing You
Dorie Clark
For changing an established reputation and creating evidence for a new direction.
Book
Obviously Awesome
April Dunford
A product-positioning methodology, but useful here for thinking about alternatives, differentiation, value, audience and category.
Podcast
WorkLife: The Case Against Personal Branding
Adam Grant
An important counterargument: contribution and genuine relationships matter more than manufacturing an image.
08 · The alternative
Before you go.
Assume the position you most want is unavailable. What becomes possible if you stop trying to become known for the thing you currently think you want? Often the preferred answer is the one that carries the most status, not the most evidence — and the alternative reveals opportunities your favourite option was quietly hiding.
09 · Test it
Which parts of this can be tested rather than debated.
- 01
Can somebody who met you once explain your value when you're not in the room?
- 02
Does your 50-word introduction sound like something a human would say at dinner, or like LinkedIn?
- 03
Is your desired position already earned, earned but poorly communicated, credible and emerging, possible but under-evidenced, or mostly aspiration?
- 04
Would you actually enjoy the opportunities this reputation would attract?
- 05
Do the five people you ask use language close to the position you've developed?
10 · The TAIU handover
Take the output with you.
The prompt already ends by producing this. If you have done the exercise somewhere else, or your assistant drifted, paste this in to force a clean, portable summary. It belongs to you — keep it, share it with people who know you, or bring it into a deeper conversation.
TAIU exercise
The TAIU handover
A clean, portable summary of what you concluded and what you will test next.
View full prompt
WHAT I WANT TO BE KNOWN FOR Finish by producing a structured document called WHAT I WANT TO BE KNOWN FOR, using exactly these headings: THE BOX I'M IN TODAY How people probably currently understand me. THE RED THREAD The strongest recurring pattern across my experience. WHAT PEOPLE TRUST ME FOR What the evidence suggests I'm genuinely useful for. THE EVIDENCE The strongest proof points. WHAT I WANT NEXT The future I appear to be moving toward. WHO MATTERS The people whose perception matters most. WHAT I COULD BECOME KNOWN FOR The strongest credible position. WHY I HAVE PERMISSION Why somebody should believe it. THE ALTERNATIVE The strongest alternative position and what it reveals. THE DANGER How my preferred position could limit or pigeonhole me. THE GAP What is not yet credible or proven. THE DINNER TEST What I want someone else to say about me when I'm not there. MY 50-WORD INTRODUCTION The natural spoken version. STOP EXPLAINING What I should stop leading with because it creates noise. EARN IT The five most important things I should do over the next 12 months to make this reputation increasingly true. REAL-WORLD TEST The questions I should ask five people and what I should look for in their answers. UNRESOLVED Anything you still don't believe we've answered properly. End with this thought: You don't get to decide your reputation. Other people do. But you can decide what you want to earn a reputation for, and then give people enough evidence to believe it.
11 · Ask Mark
If there is genuinely more to explore.
Still uncertain whether the position you want is earned or claimed? Your What I Want to Be Known For handover is complete. Don't start again. Take it, along with the answers from your five-person test, into Ask Mark.
Starter prompt
I've completed What Do You Want to Be Known For? I don't want you to polish my positioning. I want you to challenge it. Compare what I want to be known for with the evidence of what I've actually done and what other people say about me. Tell me where I'm kidding myself, where I'm underestimating something valuable, what alternative I'm overlooking, and what I need to do for this reputation to become earned rather than claimed.
Ask Mark is in build. It is not a better prompt — it starts from your handover, assumes the exercise is done, and argues with the conclusion rather than repeating the discovery.
Take this to Ask Mark12 · Talk to Mark
Only where the consequences justify it.
A human conversation becomes relevant where the reputation question carries real consequence: repositioning after a significant change, moving industry, stepping into a public or board profile, raising capital, or deciding whether a chapter you're well known for has done its job.
If you do get in touch about this, bring the handover. It means the conversation starts at a much higher level than "tell me about yourself".
Start a conversation13 · Continue
Your story explains how you got here.
You've found your strengths. You've thought about where to direct them. You've made sense of your story. Now you're deciding what you want that story to become known for.
Your reputation influences what comes looking for you next.