"Emotional Capitalists: The New Leaders" by Martyn Newman is a book that delves into the significance of emotional intelligence in leadership and will have direct relevance to SEOs that find themselves in those senior roles. Newman posits that emotional intelligence, more than IQ or technical skills, is the key determinant of effective leadership. The book identifies several core emotional skills and competencies that leaders need to develop to become 'Emotional Capitalists'.
I'm sure that we've all head leaders that totally inspire us - because they "get us", there's that connection that may not suggest they're unreservedly "on our side", but they're open to new ideas, help you work through them and aim to build you up. Conversely, we would have all come across people may have been too task-orientated and seemingly unaware of how to effectively motivate people, or at the most basic level, have any form of empathy.
Below are some of the core elements of Newman's book and how I feel its relevant to senior SEOs (and all SEOs tbh):
Self-Knowing: This involves an awareness of one’s own feelings and the impact they have on thoughts, actions, and decision-making. In SEO, self-knowing can lead to better understanding of personal biases and limitations in keyword selection, content creation, and strategy formulation. The action here would be to build a diverse team of skills, attitudes and approaches so that any bias can be surfaced through team discussion. With that, of course, there has to be the willingness to adapt policies, principles and procedures based on the insight that comes out of that. Over-indexing here, however, can lead to excess self-criticism and imposter syndrome. So be self-analysing, but be rational with it.
Self-Confidence: Confidence in one’s abilities can foster a more innovative approach to SEO. Leaders who are confident are more likely to experiment with new SEO techniques or invest in untested strategies that could yield significant benefits. When you have a lot of experience in SEO that makes you more efficient and you can push through initiatives which is great, but it should give you the 'blue ocean' to play around with innovative approaches such as AI, or take a punt on new tools or agencies.
Self-Reliance: This is about trusting one's judgment and capabilities. In SEO, self-reliance can empower an individual to make decisive moves, such as adopting new algorithms or adjusting to market changes without undue delay. One of the strengths that senior SEOs need would be to be able to grab hold of initiatives' and work through them without excess input from others. The secret to success I've found isi the ability to make the most out of little - especially other people's time - but especially other people's money or resource. It ties greatly into the above point. If you can find innovative ways to become more self-reliant, then will lead to even greater success.
Self-Actualisation: Leaders who seek to realise their potential can foster a culture of continuous improvement in SEO practices, always striving for better content, more effective ways of working, and improved contribution to the wider marketing efforts. Being able to set that vision and a clear path of how to get there has been of vital importance to me. Just showing up, doing "stuff" with no clear purpose, or no real desire to radically improve the organisation for the better won't get you there.
Relationship Skills: Building strong relationships is crucial in leadership and SEO. Networking with other webmasters, influencers, and content creators can lead to beneficial collaborations and link-building opportunities. This has certainly been a core element of my SEO strategies over time. You just cannot achieve great results in SEO without being able to mobilise others around you to deliver on your needs. Infrequently have I been able to just use the capabilities that already existed - I had to build those capabilities - whether its technology, resource or budget - and then utilise them.
Empathy: Understanding the emotional reactions of others is key in leadership. In SEO, empathy can help in understanding the user’s search intent and in creating content that resonates with the audience. One of actions I took in my later roles was to take courses in the functions that existed around me and that I needed to learn - such as UX. By dry-running their roles then you gain empathy for what they're trying to achieve and how they do it. This allows you to move quicker to a position of understanding when you're working through shared challenges.
Straightforwardness and Influence: Leaders must be able to communicate their vision clearly and persuade others to follow. In SEO, this translates to creating clear, persuasive content and effectively communicating the value of a website or brand. Communication in enterprises is often overly-complicated. Sometimes teams may deliver some dialogue in away that is willfully ambiguous. I've found that being utterly straightforward is key to understanding. Also building that credibility for surfacing issues even though in the short-term it puts you into a bit of a pickle. Being able to take a straightforward approach to what's best over the short, medium and long-term is key.
Adaptability and Resilience: The ability to adapt to changing circumstances and bounce back from setbacks is crucial in the fast-evolving world of SEO. Algorithm updates, changing user behaviors, and new technologies require a flexible and resilient approach. But its not only those external factors you need to adapt to, but also those internal to the organisation and yourself. Teams change, senior leaders change, corporate strategies change; but also do you. I've changed massively after getting married, having kids, buying a house etc. We need to adapt our approaches and priorities against those environmental, organisational and internal to self changes.
Optimism: Maintaining a positive outlook can help in overcoming the challenges and failures inherent in SEO efforts. Times get tough, for all of those three elements I mentioned in the above point. The economy goes wrong, companies go through rapid phases of reinvention and we all have personal challenges to deal with. Learning about Stoicism or having religious faith will definitely help rationalise the world and only focus on the issues that you can directly control. There's so much in the world that you cannot control. Understand it, but don't spend excessive mental energy on trying to change it. Imagine trying to individually control tomorrow's weather.
Self-Control: This involves managing one’s emotions and impulses. In SEO, self-control can prevent rash decisions like employing black-hat techniques or making drastic changes without sufficient analysis. Abain, my point just above is relevant. Having significant levels of empathy causes the brain to over-work and could make you take decisions that aren't in anyone's best interests. So be intune with others, but effectively rationalise tham and think clearly about what you do. You don't want to burn bridges with an individual or team because you overreacted to something you assumed, but wasn't actually borne out in reality.
While Newman’s book is not specifically about SEO, the principles of emotional intelligence it explores can be applied to almost any field, including SEO. Emotional intelligence can enhance decision-making, strategy development, team management, and client relations, all of which are essential components of successful SEO practices and that's why I feel this is definitely a book that's worth considering buying from Amazon (aff), or elsewhere.