Leap of faith: meet three RIM professionals who have boldly made the leap into executive leadership positions.

• Author: Groves, Shanna

Twenty years ago, V. Chapman-Smith was a library research assistant, wondering where her career would take her. She wanted to advance in the records and information profession to an executive role within a company. Was she afraid? Without a doubt. But that didn't stop her from taking the necessary steps to become chief archivist for the State of New York, a position she proudly holds today.

"A RIM professional has to want to move into executive management. Not everyone will be comfortable there," says Chapman-Smith, who is also executive director of a multimillion-dollar trust for the New York State Education Department.

Many records and information management (RIM) practitioners are realizing what it takes to advance from entry-level jobs to powerful roles within their organizations. Education and "who you know" are key to advancement but are only part of the picture (see sidebar, page 44). The three RIM professionals featured here know that all too well.

V. Chapman-Smith: "Take Advantage of Leadership Opportunities"

"I had the good fortune early on to work for a company that was building its records management program," recalls the professional archivist. "The company was not just looking for technical skills but wanted to build leadership capability within the ranks of its RIM program."

Early in her career, Chapman-Smith, a doctoral graduate of Philadelphia's Temple University, was fortunate enough to work for a company that expected the RIM function to support its strategic efforts. As corporate records officer and assistant vice president for a major Philadelphia bank throughout the 1980s and early '90s, she served on senior-level teams and worked with other corporate officers in planning and executing broad initiatives. These included consulting for corporate divisions through out the United States on records systems and archives management. She also participated in a corporate disaster recovery team and was principal author of the corporation's disaster recovery manual. Opportunities for professional development were plentiful. "The company's training program for leadership development was open to me and my team, and we took full advantage of it," she says.

This training led to her next big move -- the City of Philadelphia's Department of Records. As the department's chief executive, Chapman-Smith helped increase productivity by implementing $4 million in technology upgrades and more than $1.5 million in capital improvements for records and archival management. She also found time to serve on the city's risk management and information technology steering committees.

After four years working for the city, Chapman-Smith moved to the state level. In her present position she leads statewide records management and archival services and provides support to New York agencies, local governments, and not-for-profit historical repositories. She also directs the Archives Partnership Trust, a $10 million endowment to promote public awareness of New York's archival resources.

Chapman-Smith sees her leadership experiences as being far from RIM exclusive. "I have been able to participate in far-reaching...