Can conflict help you?

Why do we become interested in some specific people and stop scrolling when their image appears, while others, equally competent, slip past our attention without leaving a mark?

In a previous edition of this newsletter I wrote that conflict, and especially internal conflict, is the fundamental tool that allows a personal brand to generate meaning in the mind of its audience. Conflict is the spark that ignites a story, because it forces people to confront their own doubts, fears, or aspirations and ask themselves: what is holding me back from becoming who I want to be?

Today I want to take this idea further. Conflict, when used strategically, is not only a way to capture attention and engage people. It also opens a field of narrative opportunities: the chance to offer your audience a path to progress, a sense of agency, and even an inspiring vision of transformation. At that point, your personal brand stops being just a record of achievements and becomes a proposal for change, almost an ideology that people can embrace.

What conflict really means

In storytelling, conflict is the engine of every story. Without it, there is no movement, no tension, no reason to care. External conflict appears when the hero faces a tangible obstacle: an enemy, an injustice, a setback. Internal conflict goes deeper: it is the battle the hero fights within themselves, between fear and courage, doubt and conviction, comfort and ambition. It is the tension between who they are at the start of the journey and who they must become to overcome the challenge. This inner struggle is what makes the story meaningful, because it reflects the same dilemmas that the audience also experiences in their own lives.

The seven basic plots

In his seminal book The Seven Basic Plots, Christopher Booker shows how the great stories of humanity can be grouped into seven archetypal structures. Each one revolves around a challenge that the hero must face, and that challenge is never just external: it mirrors the inner struggle that gives the story its depth and power.

These plots are not only useful for novelists or filmmakers. They are powerful tools for personal brands, because they help us translate conflict into narratives that our audiences can recognize as their own.

Let’s look at three of them and how they resonate with real personal brands today.

Overcoming the monster: Turning courage into voice

This is the story of facing an overwhelming force that threatens to destroy. The real monster is often not a creature, but fear itself.

Take Francesca Albanese, the Italian lawyer and UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Her personal brand is built on the courage to confront entrenched systems of power. By speaking out forcefully in defense of human rights, she embodies the archetype of the hero who dares to fight the monster. For her audience, the inner conflict is clear: do I stay silent in front of injustice, or do I raise my voice?

Rags to riches: The ascent that inspires

This plot tells the story of someone who starts from limitation and rises to recognition. The outer conflict may be scarcity or exclusion, but the deeper conflict is the belief that one’s origins define one’s destiny.

Lamine Yamal, the young footballer from a humble neighborhood in Barcelona, has risen with astonishing speed to become a global star. His journey is not only about talent on the pitch; it is about showing that potential can flourish regardless of where you start. His now-iconic three-o-four gesture has become a symbol of pride and aspiration for many young people who see in him their own possibility of elevation.

Voyage and return: The leader who comes back transformed

In this plot the hero ventures into an unknown world, confronts dangers, and returns with new understanding. The real conflict is internal: the loss of certainty and the painful process of learning.

Hubert Joly, former CEO of Best Buy, is a living example. After building a career on efficiency and performance, he embarked on a personal journey that forced him to rethink leadership itself. He came back with a transformed vision: leadership as a human act of service, rooted in authenticity and dignity. His brand today is not just that of a successful executive, but of a guide who has walked the path of transformation and now offers others a new way to lead.

The power of transformation

Conflict is not just an obstacle. It is the starting point of every story of change. When your personal brand manages to awaken the internal conflict of your audience and turn it into a narrative that also offers a way forward, a solution, a vision, an ideology, you become more than a professional with expertise. You become a transformative personal brand, capable of inspiring others to rethink their own path and move toward who they truly want to be.