Don't delegate positioning

“Sharpening your positioning is like sharpening a knife; you cut through whatever is in your way with less effort.”

Product Positioning is your most informed guess at the sweet spot in the market and how you are going to prosecute it and win; taking into account your company resources, history and differentiators.

E.g. The company is focused on the mid-market equipment leasing companies offering a simpler to use, lease management platform that is everything they need and nothing they don’t.

Of course, positioning statements like these unpack into pricing, ideal customer profiles, product vision, features, metrics etc. Positioning is a huge part of product-market fit. In my experience, you can waste a ton of runway if your positioning is off. Conversely great positioning can help you sell through feature gaps. So where should positioning live in a company? Who is accountable for executing on it and iterating if it's not working: Sales, Marketing, Product? Those are all legit choices, but I think it lives, first and foremost, with the CEO.

Executing winning positioning takes commitment from all departments. Hundreds of decisions get made every week that need to incorporate positioning; otherwise the business can feel unpredictable, rudderless or just plain confusing. Repetition from the top is central to execution. You need to explain it to folks thousands of times and then explain it again. To do this naturally, simply and consistently, the CEO needs to have the positioning deeply internalized. Leaders should not delegate this thinking. Instead I advise to OVER LEARN IT and be the beacon keeping it on track. Always be sharpening it - Sharpening your positioning is like sharpening a knife; you cut through whatever is in your way with less effort.