Howdy ho, SEO heroes! Some big news last week while I was teaching my 5 day SEO training course in good old Washington DC – Moz, the search analytics company made a humongous announcement that’s huge, I mean really freakin’ BIG!
Rand Fishkin has stepped down voluntarily from his role as CEO and has promoted Sarah Bird in his place. Big whoopty-doo, you say. Why is this news to me anyways?
Well, it doesn’t have a whole lot to do with SEO, but it has everything to do with an individual recognizing what he loves, what he’s good at, and making an honest assessment and confession that being a CEO isn’t his dream. That, my dear SEO friends, is recognizing how ego can trap someone into a definition he may not have wanted. So, good on you, Rand Fishkin! He’s not leaving Moz, but apparently he’s going to concentrate on what he really enjoys – his words – marketing, evangelism, product development.
Do you know how often a CEO admits that being the captain of the ship is not his cup of tea? Not.Very.Often. That’s why this is big news. Ego-busting rarely occurs at this level, and hardly ever within the individual.
The other big news – to me, at least – is that Rand has put a woman, Sarah Bird, in the driver’s seat. Let’s see…how many large tech/software companies have a woman in charge? Not too many, that’s for darn sure. I respect Rand so much for choosing her. I’m sure he chose Ms. Bird for her technical knowledge, skills, abilities and leadership qualities. And those are fair standards to pick anyone, but I can’t help but go “YEEEESSSSS!!! LET’S HEAR FOR THE LADIES, YA’ALL…!!!!
Yeah…this means a helluva lot to me. I know ya all are going to say “But Nancy…Melissa Mayer runs Yahoo, for crying out loud!” I know, I know…but we women are so under-represented, and besides, that was a regular head-hunter/recruitment/steal from the competition exercise. This is totally different.
Anyways…I wanted to share my thoughts on how great I think this is. Women in technology, search engine optimization, science and engineering continue to be under-represented, and I am always happy to give a shout out to a sister!
Until next time…keep it safely between the ditches!
All the best to you,