Updated Interview Framework

Extracting Your Brand Narrative

Your Personal Branding Guidelines emphasize that strong executive brands answer four core questions:

Who am I to my audience?
What am I known for?
What do I stand for?
Who am I NOT?

The guide also states: "Show what you know — and how you think" and "If it doesn't teach, clarify, or connect — it doesn't belong."

Let me restructure my interview to extract not just your expertise, but your brand narrative — the story of how you think, what you care about, and the value you create.

Section 1: Identity (Who You Are TO Your Audience)

Q1: When a client describes you to their CFO or board, what words do they use?

Not what you hope they say. What do they actually say based on feedback you've received? (e.g., "He simplifies the technical stuff...")

Q2: What do clients trust you to do that they don't trust others to do?

This reveals your credibility niche. (e.g., "Tell us the truth about our current architecture", "Navigate vendor politics without bias"...)

Q3: What's the moment in an engagement when a client realizes you're different from other consultants?

Be specific. Describe the scenario. This is your differentiation moment. (e.g., "Is it when you challenge their assumptions?", "When you translate vendor speak into business terms?").

Section 2: Expertise (What You're Known For — Proven by Evidence)

Q4: What do you understand about enterprise technology that took you 10+ years to learn?

What's the non-obvious insight? (e.g., "Most enterprises don't have a technology problem, they have a decision-making problem").

Q5: What pattern do you see across industries that others treat as unique problems?

From your Financial Services, Energy, Media projects — what's the common pattern? (e.g., "Every industry struggles with centralised vs federated IT...").

Q6: What do clients learn from you that changes how they approach future decisions?

What mental model or framework do they take away? This is your teaching legacy. (e.g., "They stop asking 'what platform' and start asking 'what capability'").

Section 3: Method (How You Think — Your Intellectual Property)

Q7: When you analyze a technology problem, what questions do you ask that others don't?

What are your signature questions? (e.g., "What decision is this technology supposed to enable?", "What happens if you wait six months to decide?").

Q8: Describe your actual process for the insourcing feasibility project

Walk me through it step-by-step. This shows how you think. (e.g., "1. First, I did [X] because I needed to understand [Y]...").

Q9: What's a framework or model you've created that you use repeatedly?

Is there a Marcus Bearden Framework™? (e.g., "A specific way you map build vs buy vs blend decisions", "A maturity model for AI governance").

Section 4: Values (What You Stand For)

Q10: What makes you angry or frustrated about how technology decisions get made?

These reveal your values. (e.g., "Technology decisions made without understanding business impact", "Enterprises adopting AI because of FOMO...").

Q11: Why do you do this work instead of being a CTO or VP at a company?

This reveals your intrinsic motivation. (e.g., "I like solving different problems...", "I get bored with steady-state operations").

Q12: What outcome would make you proudest in 5 years?

This reveals your purpose beyond billing. (e.g., "CIOs can navigate AI adoption without vendor hype...", "Sovereignty is understood as a spectrum...").

Section 5: Boundaries (Who You Are NOT)

Q13: What work do you deliberately say no to?

(e.g., "Do you turn down pure implementation work?", "Do you avoid vendor-funded 'advisory'...?").

Q14: What expert positioning do you explicitly reject?

(e.g., "I'm not a futurist predicting trends", "I'm not a hands-on architect writing code"...)

Q15: What would feel like "selling out" your brand?

This defines your brand boundaries. (e.g., "Recommending a solution because it's billable, not right", "Using buzzwords you don't believe in"...)

Section 6: Narrative Arc (Your Story)

Q16: How do you explain your evolution from "cloud guy" to "technology strategist"?

What's the narrative thread? (e.g., "I've always been solving the same problem... the technology just keeps changing").

Q17: What experience made you realize you were better at strategy than execution?

What was your moment? (e.g., "A project where your strategic framing mattered more...", "A client who kept bringing you back for advice...").

Q18: What phrase or concept do you repeat so often your team jokes about it?

What's your signature language? (e.g., "build vs buy vs blend", "simplify the complex"...)

Section 7: Voice and Presence (How You Show Up)

Q19: Read these two versions of the same message. Which sounds more like you?

Version A: "Organizations often struggle with cloud cost optimization due to inadequate visibility into resource utilization patterns and insufficient governance frameworks, requiring strategic intervention to align technical architecture with business objectives." Version B: "Most cloud cost problems aren't technical. You're spending £2M more than you should because no one knows which teams own which resources, and no one wants to be the person who shuts down someone else's environment." Which is closer? Version A, Version B, or something in between?

Q20: When you present to a board or C-suite, what's your opening move?

This reveals your communication style. (e.g., "Start with a provocative question", "Show a surprising data point", "Tell a story about another client's mistake"...)

Section 8: Legacy and Long-term Brand

Q21: In 2030, if someone searches "Marcus Bearden" what Google snippet do you want to see?

Be specific. (e.g., "Known for helping Global 2000 enterprises avoid vendor lock-in...", "Created the [X Framework] for AI governance...").

Q22: What do you want to be teaching in 5 years that you're not teaching today?

This reveals your growth direction. (e.g., "More about AI adoption psychology...?", "More about emerging sovereignty models...?").

Q23: If you wrote a book or long-form piece, what would the title be?

This forces you to distill your message. (e.g., "Build, Buy, or Blend: ...", "Beyond Hype: A CIO's Guide...").