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My Performance Review for the First Half of 2012

By Rand Fishkin •

As I mentioned yesterday on the blog, it’s performance review season here at SEOmoz, and since transparency is a core value for us, I’d like to share my personal performance review and the grades/feedback given by Sarah (at least, most of it) publicly here on the blog.

I’ll start with the scale we use:

Outstanding – Performance and achievements far exceed expectations for the performance category. Both the quality and consistency of work must be excellent and have dramatic impact on your team and the company to be considered for this level. Contributions at this level typically have company-wide impact.
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Exceeds Expectations – Performance and achievements frequently exceed expectations in the performance category. The work constantly meets all standards, and regularly surpasses them in key areas.
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Meets Expectations – Performance and achievements consistently meet the standard of the performance category. Note that sometimes, goals and standards may be higher in some areas than others depending on your role and projects. Be sure to rate accordingly.
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Needs Improvement – Performance does not consistently meet the responsibilities/expectations of this performance category. This includes seasoned employees who do not perform all aspects of the job, and new employees who are moving towards the Meets Expectations level, but are still inexperienced and do not yet perform at the standard job output level. There should be some indications that, with guidance, improvement can be made.
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Unsatisfactory – Performance is unsatisfactory in this category and the employee has not shown short-term improvement. Clear evidence of lack of ability for or adaptability to the present position exists. Efforts at improvement may not be successful. The employee probably should be considered for a less demanding position, career alternative or, failing these, termination.

And here are the specific items, along with my evaluation, followed by Sarah’s. I apologize for having to redact some material, but even at a company as transparent as we are, some things need to be kept private, mostly in the interest of empathy and occasionally for product development/press/not-spoiling-the-surprise reasons.
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Rand: I’ve been trying to attend lots of events with Mozzers (thanks to a less-crazy-than-usual travel schedule), bring a more positive attitude to the office, and see folks outside of work, too. I don’t feel like I’ve contributed to team happiness nearly as much as Leah/Hillari/Sarah and other team members who’ve done such an amazing job here. That said, I’m buoyed by the work they’ve done and haven’t felt as much need or pull to get involved, which is awesome. Meets Expectations

Sarah: I think this is an area you have really improved compared to last fall especially. Since last summer, when the <redacted> started degrading and getting more expensive, and the <redacted> deal fell through, you went through a pretty dark period. You used the word ‘failure’ a lot. I don’t think that was transparent or authentic because business wasn’t failing and you weren’t a failure. <redacted> wasn’t the right deal. Your team speeches were not as inspiring. You underestimated yourself and your achievements, and by extenions the company’s achievements. You had a lot of anxiety about going out for a round of funding. Since sealing the deal with Brad, your optimism and confidence has made you a more visionary leader, more inspirational. That really picks up the mood of the team. You’re also going to more beer nights and doing more 1:1s than ever before. You’re contributing to even more jokey allstaff emails. You’re also consistently in a positive mood in the office. Exceeds Expectations

Rand: I’m worried that my work quality, particularly in evangelism and external reach is suffering, but I’m proud of some of the big deal work – acquisitions & financing, for example. My contributions to the industry are less personally substantive as I try to scale my role and help others (Dr. Pete, Dr. Peters, Ruth, Jen, Joanna, even Phil’s thinking about starting a blog! become evangelists and thought leaders. I want to return to regular blogging as I think it will help this, but I’m also scared because my email is always so full and so hard to get through. It often takes multiple weekends of 8hr+ days/nights just to get back to inbox 0, and I don’t think I’m always contributing with the quality that my communication deserves. Need to work on this. Meets Expectations

Sarah: Why only an ME? You’re still doing outreach, you closed a great round with a great investor, and you brought on a new and exciting company… All within a couple months! Also, your internal evangelism has improved and I think that is a large part of what has increased company morale. It’s been great having you here to do 1:1s etc. This is the least amount of travel you have done in years, and I think it’s been great for your team. We’re growing so quickly that it’s great to have your influence and vision in the office. I think it’s really helped to ground Anthony and his team. I can’t imagine trying to help with that transition without you physically present. Exceeds Expectations

Rand: I want to become more technical and I really want to have more experience and connections with folks who’ve scaled larger teams so I can help us through our growth period. Team organization is an area where I feel like a total rookie. Thinking about going public or about the SecondMarket folks who’ve reached out or any of that “growth-stage” startup stuff is making me feel out of my depth. I’m also a little nervous that I’m losing some of my SEO skills. I had to research hreflang the other day only to find it’s a protocol I clearly should have been familiar with.

Sarah: I think you’re outstanding brand guy and marketing guy. I think your product chops have improved substantially. You exceed expectations there. You have a knowledge gap on operating a large international organization, prepping to go public, and then going public. I also think you have an opportunity to learn more about individual coaching and team dynamics.

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Rand: I think I could do better communicating to a broader set of Mozzers. I’m hopeful that my new Moz.com/rand blog may help with that 🙂 The vision for the future still isn’t as distributed as it needs to be. I also know I need to recruit some more senior talent to the team. Sierra can do a great job with the folks individual managers need, but I need to help find those high-level, super-strategic, more experienced folks who can help be leaders and groom leaders here. Meets Expectations
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Sarah: I think you’ve improved on this by virtue of being present and spending more time talking about the vision and how everyone plays a part in it. You do a great job of responding to and commenting on the status emails. You talk to everyone at all layers of the company and show respect to everyone. I think that is a way you harness the power of many. You show them that they are important and their work is important. People need CEO validation on their work. They want to know that they are contributing to a greater good. By doing more team announcements, beer nights, allhands prezzies, etc, people understand what they’re contributing to, and the rules of the road to make it happen (i.e., TAGFEE). I think the blog is a great way of making people feel more connected to you and your values. The fact that we have so little politicking and backstabbing and other weird shit means that you’re creating a genuinely collaborative process. Your biggest opportunity for growth is to talk about the strategic roadmap beyond <redacted>, and beyond just a brand. We have very smart people in the organization. They want to know that we’re thinking ahead about all of the individual steps it will take to reach #1bnmoz. How are we going to be used by every digital marketer? We have ideas, but we need to broadcast them more. By talking about growth and the path ahead, we’ll help people see and plan beyond their immediate role. They will plan better for scale. They will also feel more energized in their work. Exceeds Expectations
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Rand: I worry that I’m letting down some of the intermediate layers of management and some great individual contributors. Squeaky wheels are getting too much grease and outside folks who email for a coffee meeting are often getting more attention than Mozzers (tricky balance). I want to be more proactive both internally and externally, but I’m struggling with how and where to fit this in against what feels like an already very crowded schedule. I think prioritization and saying no need to be big goals for me in the next 2 quarters. Needs Improvement
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Sarah: You’re always willing to help other people. You spend a lot of time helping folks and providing feedback. You’re never too proud to lend a hand. To be Outstanding, you’ll become even more involved in spreading vision, coaching, and resolving conflict. Exceeds Expectations
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Rand: I want to do better with giving more direct feedback to folks who I’m worried are underperforming, but I’m still terrible at giving constructive/critical feedback (and I’m worried it may be inappropriate coming from me vs. their managers). Need to work on this. As we talked about, I’ve also noticed that a lot of my happiness/unhappiness is tied to pain. My back issues need to get resolved, because when I’m pain-free, I can feel everything in my life feeling better and more hopeful, and when my leg’s on fire from the nerve problem, even good things don’t seem that good. I think recognizing that and mentally working around it will help. Needs Improvement
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Sarah:  This is a really hard one. On the one hand, you’re an outstanding for how you treat everyone else. You’re respecting to all. I think you’ve shown a lot of improvement on being willing to give feedback and digging into conflict. I think you’ve gone from a needs improvement to a meets expectations or exceeds on this front. I see the most opportunity for improvement in how you view yourself and your contributions. This review is a case in point. You drastically underestimate your strengths. Sometimes, you also let disappointments slow you way down. For example, the funding thing last summer did not make you bad CEO, it was not a waste, and it didn’t mean that SEOmoz wasn’t a really exciting company. However, you repeatedly referred to it as a failure and that you were a bad CEO. You’re a great CEO. There’s being humble, and then there is also not seeing your strengths or all other good stuff that’s going on. There’s doing a post-mortem, and then there’s a pity party. Sometimes, you can verge on the pity party. Value yourself. Remember to look at all the stuff that’s going right, even when some things are going bad. The team looks to you to gauge how things are going; If you don’t have confidence, they won’t have confidence. It’s not authentic to think you’re failing when you’re not, or to think you’re M/E at creating happiness when you’re exceeding expectations there. Meets Expectations

Priorities & Goals Evaluation: How well did the teammate meet his or her expectations or goals? Be specific about successes and areas for improvement.

Rand: My goals the last 6 months included: Close a funding round. Work on team growth. Prepare us culturally and product-wise for the next stage of growth. Make teams more efficient. Recruit some great new talent to the company. Start to expand our brand’s reach outside of the pure SEO field.
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Sarah: Here are the CEO’s primary duties: (1) Set the vision of the company; (2) Set the strategy of the Company; (3) Set the Culture of the Company.
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Although we haven’t had a previous review, I believe that you also had some specific strategic goals since last January: (1) raise a round of funding, (2) acquire FollowerWonk, (3) make Inbound Marketing an industry-wide term, (4) Hire lots of talented people. Let’s review how you’re doing on each of these things.
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(1) Set the vision of the company. You’re meeting expectations here. The team knows the vision is beyond just SEO. But they don’t know what that will look like–that everyone who markets online, or has a blog, or works in PR, or is interested in big data about the web or small businesses etc etc will use SEOmoz. This is the real vision (not simplifying online marketing etc, and not that the brand will be more than PRO). It’s in there. I know you got this. But it needs to come out and be shared and discussed.
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(2) Set the strategy of the company. You have an opportunity to improve here. You’ve done a great job of getting the word out about (the product). You’ve also begun talking about the brand evolution. However, you have some work to do on the strategy beyond the next 6 months. How are we going to be a billion dollar company? The team needs to know that you’ve got plans for that. (i.e., international, diverse product lines, diverse companies, new core competencies we’ll need to develop). Right now, things get mysterious for people after <redacted>. That’s a shame because the future is awesome. You’re an Outstanding on strategy for the next 6 months, but an M/E or N/I beyond that. In general, I’d like to see you show the team what SEOmoz will look like in 5 to 10 years.
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(3) Set the Culture of the Company. You’re obsessed with this and I think that’s a great thing. This is a strength for you. That’s demonstrated in how everyone on your team operates, on the Best Workplaces Awards, and on the constant discussion of TAGFEE. Keep it up! Obviously, there will be new challenges, but I know you’re up to it because you’re obsessed with this and you can do anything you put your mind to. I rate you an absolute Outstanding here.
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And for your mini-goals: (1) Raise a round of funding. This was done in record time and with a world-class investor who totally completes you. Obviously, this is an A++. totally outstanding. Never let me hear you talk of not being able to raise money again. (2) Acquire Followerwonk. This was also done in record time and was a great deal. The aquisition is already starting to pay off! Victory! (3) Make Inbound Marketing and Industry-wide term. You’ve made a lot of progress here. There is still a ways to go, but it seems like things have gained momentum in the last 2 months. Inbound.org has been a big help. I think you’re meeting expectations here. (4) Hire lots of talented people. You are waaay under valuing the success we’ve had here. I can’t think of another startup our size who has done as much hiring as we have done this year. We have brought on more technical talent than any other similarly sized startup. Do we have everyone we need? No. But you can’t say that this hasn’t been a success. I think you’re exceeds expectations here.
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(1) Work with your team to build and present a crazy 5 to 10 year plan. It doesn’t have to be detailed or perfect. It will change. But folks need to know we’re thinking of it.
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(2) Spend more time with managers so that you can help resolve conflicts, set the culture, and spread the vision.
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(3) Acquire <redacted> or a <redacted> of some kind
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(4) Develop a brand and customer acquisition strategy that will work for <redacted>.
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(5) Expand SEOmoz’s reach beyond the SEO world, while continuing to serve/delight SEO professionals.
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Combined Performance Rating: The overall rating is tied to performance across all of the areas above, but is not simply an average; It recognizes the total value of the team member’s contribution to the company’s goals measured against the expectations for his or her position. Those in more demanding, managerial roles will necessarily have to perform at a higher caliber to exceed expectations (or be outstanding).

Rand: Meets Expectations

Sarah: Exceeds Expectations

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Sarah: Rand, it’s a pleasure to work with you. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I think you’re the best CEO you’ve ever been right now. You’re being more optimistic, visionary, and present than ever before. You were letting your anxieties run away with you a bit last fall, but I can see you’ve put that behind you and you’re ready to coach this company to success. You have many opportunities to be an Outstanding. I believe in you 100% I’ve watched your growth and I know you’re capable of anything you put your mind to. Thank you for being values-driven, fun, brilliant, and a joy to work with. I look forward to building #1bnmoz with you. 🙂

Whew… That was a lot of copying and pasting and editing and redacting. Hopefully, this example will provide some value for other folks. I’m looking forward to feedback and even disagreement if you think there’s things Sarah overlooked in her review of me or that I got wrong.

Part of a test: Did you know that the Italian Navy had an aircraft carrier? It was named after a famous Italian called Giuseppe Garibaldi.

p.s. My salary is set by the board, and my stock is founder stock, so unlike other Mozzers, my compensation is not tied to or affected by performance reviews. I also don’t take a bonus (given that my shares are ~25% of the company, I have tons of upside already). In the future, I’d like to share my salary publicly on this blog, but it needs to be part of a bigger discussion inside the company first.

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