bringing meaning to your practice

Sarah Bird, CEO of Moz@Sarah Bird*Nothing in this presentation is original.

TransparentAuthenticGenerousFunEmpatheticExceptional

Hold me to it!

Moz Basics

$35.6 million/year in total revenue

155 talented team members

Moz BasicsMoz Basics

Over 30,000 paying customersFrom all over the globe.

Moz Basics

Moz makes software that helpsmarketers

understand and improvetheir SEO, business listings, social media,

links and brand mentions.

It looks a little like this…

And this…

And this…

Lots of Awards ‘N Stuff

Best Places to Work

Brief Intro to Roger

Your new best friend, Roger.

Brief Intro to Me…

Yep. I’m an attorney.

Joined Moz as General Counsel in 2007

Values Alignment Framework

You

Personal Purpose & Values

You

Business Partners

Personal Purpose & Values

Strategic Alignment

You

Business Partners

Team

Personal Purpose & Values

Strategic Alignment

Company Culture

You

Business Partners

Team

Community

Personal Purpose & Values

Strategic Alignment

Company Culture

Brand

I know what some of you are thinking

Are you open to influence?

For me, it’s TAGFEE.

Obsession

≠Advocacy

You’re a snowflake. So am I.

Hubspot’s Culture Code

Or be an asshole if you want…

But be open about being an

asshole.

Are you being intentional about yours?

Everyone has a culture.

Get Into Warrior Stance

You

Personal Purpose & Values1

We’re each on a journey.

My Personal Values: TAGFEE + Humility

My Purpose: To create an inclusive environment where people learn and create something bigger than they could create alone.

Having values is easy.

Living them is hard.

It takes technique.

It’s not like riding a bike.

It’s more like

weight training.

Manage your energyLike an athlete.

Why?

Shit happens

Don’t pray for easy times, pray for the

strength to endure hard times.

--Bruce Lee

“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to

endure a difficult one.”

--Bruce Lee

Dig Deep

Personal Purpose & ValuesVisualize Your Legacy

Personality Assessments

Professional Coach

Pay Attention To Your Moods

Meditate. Run. Whatever works.

Business Partners

Strategic Alignment2

Every leadership team needs articulated values

& purpose.

Business people call this

“strategic alignment.”

Your purpose is why you’re in business.

Your values are how you do business.

Together, they make up your core promise.

Your purpose should be greater than yourself.

Values help you determine

whether your culture is healthy.

The First Version of TAGFEE…

The values are TAGFEE.

What is the purpose?

Confession: I hate marketing.

Confession: I hate marketing.

Bad

MarketingBad

Obscures the truth

Stops me from doing what

I want to do

Floods my inboxes without my permission

Tries tell sell me on products

I’ll never, ever need

Doesn’t teach me anything

Interrupts me during dinner

Asks first

Pollutes the scenery

TransparentAuthenticGenerousFunEmpatheticExceptional

The best marketing is…

The best marketing

Educatesme

Is tailoredto my interests

Gives beforeIt gets

Is so good,I want to seeit again and

share itwith friends

Is the Scenery

(rather thanpollutes it)

Appearswhen I’m

looking for it

Is clearabout what it

can andcannot do

for me

Entertainsme

It’s not about the software.

Moz empowers businesses to succeed bycreating their best, most TAGFEE, marketing.

…Making the world better for ourselves

and everyone.

What values resonate with you?

Communication

Respect

Integrity

Excellence

Enron Values

Your values and purpose

are your core promise.

When you fall out of alignment with your values and purpose,

you’re breaking a promise.

Are you working ON your business? Or IN your business?

Team3 Company Culture

I have a lot to say on culture because it’s so important to me and to Moz.

Culture≠

Perks

Culture is “how work gets done

around here.”

Culture is made up of

a thousand small decisions.

Use your values to judge the ‘health’ of

your culture.

Your culture is dynamic; It will

evolve.

Transparency

Everything but salaries.

Share the good and the bad news.

So. This sucked.

Don’t worry. We’re kicking ass.

It’s not “lonely at the top” if you share the load.

MozOS

A company-wide operating system to unite all levels of Moz for

planning, organizing and executing.

Authenticity: Pretend you’re talking to a friend.

No more performance reviews!

Real time feedback is Harder than filling out a long form twice a year.

We don’t track paid time off.

Just get your work done and pull your weight.

paid PAID vacation

Generosity is 150% Charity Match

$128K donated in 2014

It’s simple stuff.

Moz Fair Day

Moz HQ World Cup

St Paddy’s Day

It’s simple stuff.

“Fun” doesn’t really capture it.

Bring positivity to work with you.

Give someone the benefit of a doubt—Invent a good story.

Mozzers believe things can be

better, and that they can affect

change.

But Sarah, this is a business.

Employees who aren’t engaged leave physically or mentally.

Engaged employees are loyal

in good times & bad.

Fraud Reduction

Happy people are better at serving clients.

Recruiting is easier.

Strong cultures can suppress diversity.

Culture

Recruit, review, release, and retain employees on TAGFEE

Do employees refer their friends and spouses?

Is there productive conflict in meetings that result in sustainable agreements?

Enlist your team to help you get closer to your values. They own the culture too.

Community4 Brand

We are all looking for our tribes.

Create loyalty,Not transactions

Your customers will stick with you, and refer their friends.

Moz is and always wasa community first.

Rand, our Cofounder, blogged about learning SEO

2,000,000/month visits/month

Content is Co-Created and Curated

Practicing What We Preach

Earn Moz Points

Draw Roger Contest

800k marketers joined the MozCommunity to support each other,

and try to become their best professional selves.

Come for the content.Stay for the Software.

There is no loyalty without trust.

Admit Mistakes

Password Eff Up

Corporate Resiliency

Raving Fans

Do your business practices support your

culture?

What brands have found their tribes?

Seattle Divorce Services

Seattle Dad’s Rights Attorneys

Check out this video.

You’re probably really uncomfortable

after watching that video

It goes so strongly against unspoken but known conventions.

Initial conditions

This Is Water by David Foster Wallace

“The most obvious and important realities are often the hardest to see and talk about.”

We’ve inherited layers of culture.

Cultural Anthropologist

Does your brand experience integrate your culture, strategic alignment,

personal purpose and values?

You

Business Partners

Team

Community

Personal Purpose & Values

Strategic Alignment

Company Culture

Brand

Where are youon your journey?

Pick one area to work on when you get home.

It’s not where you come from that matters; It’s where you’re going.

Fin@SarahBird