What Twisted Sister Can Teach CEOs About Conviction and Market Positioning

In the opening scene of Twisted Sister’s 80s anthem “We’re Not Gonna Take It”, a stern father stares into his son’s eyes and yells:

“What do you want to do with your life?”

The son shouts back: “I wanna rock!”

In that moment, clarity meets conviction. He transforms on stage into a front man who owns the spotlight.

Too many CEOs today are still staring into the mirror, uncertain about what they want their firm to be in the market. They say, “We want to be viewed as a strategic partner”, but their go-to-market reality tells a different story. Instead of conviction, they drift in the sea of sameness.

Why CEOs Search for New Ideas

If conviction is the missing ingredient, where do CEOs go to find it? Look at the attendee lists for Mindshare, Corporate Visions Emblaze, Gartner’s CSO & Sales Leader Conference, or Forrester’s B2B Summit. These rooms are packed with CEOs and growth leaders searching for:

• Fresh insights to sharpen their market perspective.

• Evidence-backed strategies to influence their boards, investors, and buyers.

• Early reads on economic, legislative, and industry shifts that could disrupt their markets.

• Examples of positioning conviction from peers who have broken free of commoditization.

At their core, these events reflect a universal CEO concern: “How do I avoid being just another vendor, and instead, shape the thinking of executive buyers?”

The Conviction Gap in CEO Positioning

A true strategic partner doesn’t lead with a laundry list of services or “we/us” language. They:

• Anchor messaging in industry point-of-view, backed by domain expertise.

• Understand the macro and micro-economic shifts shaping their buyer’s decisions.

• Anticipate legislation and regulatory impacts.

• Predict trends with a track record of accuracy.

• Shape industry dialogue through thought leadership.

Yet, most CEOs let their teams default to describing capabilities. The result? They sound like vendors chasing business instead of industry leaders shaping executive mindsets.

Corporate Visions’ “Great 8” framework is clear: buyer success is built on eight core moments, each demanding that sellers resolve ambiguity, shape decision criteria, and establish differentiated value. Without this, firms will forever compete as a commodity.

The Risk of Being Perceived as a Vendor

Vendors don’t set the rules of engagement—executive buyers do. Forrester research confirms two realities CEOs cannot ignore:

1. The Buyer Universe Has Expanded: Decision-making now spans 10+ stakeholders on average, across finance, operations, IT, and the C-suite. Complexity has skyrocketed.

   
   

2. Executives Want Outcomes, Not Features: Forrester found that C-level buyers prioritize conversations about business impact and growth outcomes, while vendors default to features and functions.

And here’s the rub: most firms are being squeezed into vendor consolidation cycles every 3–4 years. Value makes the cut. Commodities get cut.

How Growth-Challenged Firms Behave

Growth-stalled companies:

• Talk about their capabilities.

• Chase RFPs.

• Compete on price.

• Hope to be “short-listed” rather than setting the agenda.

Industry leaders do the opposite:

• They influence executive buyers’ thinking with fresh insights.

• They predict market moves before they happen.

• They deliver a unique perspective buyers can’t find anywhere else.

This is what The JOLT Effect reinforces: indecision thrives when buyers can’t connect insights to outcomes. Winning firms “JOLT” buyers forward by offering the confidence to act, not just another option to consider.

The Path to CEO Conviction

Conviction is the CEO’s job. It cascades into strategy, messaging, and how the market perceives your firm. Here’s how CEOs can lead with conviction:

1. Set a Specific POV – Just like the Twisted Sister son who declared “I wanna rock!”, your positioning must be loud, specific, and unmissable.

   
   

2. Adopt the Buyer’s Lens – Stop leading with “we.” Reframe your story around solving complex business challenges tied directly to your buyer’s growth agenda.

   
   

3. Align to Growth Drivers – Every message must connect to the buyer’s strategic priorities: revenue expansion, risk management, cost optimization, or innovation.

   
   

4. Operationalize the Great 8 – Use Corporate Visions’ framework to guide every touchpoint, ensuring sellers move buyers from problem definition to confident choice.

   
   

5. Elevate Insight Quality – Use research-backed insights (Forrester, Gartner, SBI Growth, CVI) to deliver predictive guidance—not recycled industry noise.

   
   

6. Engage in Executive Communities – Don’t just attend events like Mindshare for ideas. Bring those ideas home, translate them into a differentiated positioning, and embed them into your GTM system.

Final Word: Rock Your Positioning

The firms that win aren’t louder about themselves—they’re clearer about the value they create for others. CEOs who lead with conviction set the stage for strategic positioning, build durable buyer trust, and avoid being cut in the next vendor consolidation cycle.

So when the market asks, “What do you want to do with your life?” don’t mumble about

being a “partner.”

Stand tall, be specific, and rock your positioning strategy.

www.LucrumPartners.co