Pursuing Utopia
By: Ryan Zilm, CRM, CIP, IGP, CEDS, MBA, FAI
Reflecting on my career, it’s hard to believe that I’ve been working for nearly 27 years. My first job was back in 1996 as an administrative assistant to the executive assistant to the CEO of Sunoco in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. Afterwards, I started working at Target and Albertsons after I graduated high school, all while going to school full time. I didn’t really have an idea at the time of what I wanted to do as a career, so I was knocking out the first two years at a community college – or so I thought.
While at Tulsa Community College, I believe my second semester, I was attending a business law class with my dad. It was such a thought-provoking class and being able to stretch my mind in ways I hadn’t even imagined at that age – were simply immeasurable. After class one day, my dad told me that I was not living to my fullest potential and we walked down to the counselors’ offices where they had a job board. We found a posting for a contract company and I applied. After that, things were so incredibly different!
I landed a job working for the Williams Companies in IT Asset Management, and while I did a lot more than just purchase IT equipment, the things I learned from my peers there were simply priceless. I was fortunate to have been a part of a team that was much more senior and took me under their wings. I learned, through hard work, perseverance, and relationship building, what good really could look like if you set your mind to it. Learning from some of the most hard working people I’ve ever met pushed me to my success and I can never thank them enough for instilling such good characteristics in a “whippersnapper” at a time when they could have left me high and dry.
Today, when I think about how I partner for success, I reflect on those days at Williams when you had a multitude of diverse personalities to overcome. Implementing significant change back in the late 90’s, was not something people were very fond of and it wasn’t something you heard about as often as you do today. So, the key to success in partnerships for me has, and will always be, understanding the multiple point of views and the “WIIFM” for each stakeholder in a given situation. So many examples of how I have overcome challenges pop to mind, but it’s really the people who make all the difference.
When I first started learning the ropes in Information Management, everything was very black and white – or “this is what the law says” – with no flexibility. That mentality made it very difficult to win people over when trying to implement change. Nowadays, I’ve seen Records and Data Management leaders evolve and really tap into the art of IM to balance the necessities of personal relationships that help to lead to a better alternative. That willingness to adapt to a different perspective, risk appetite, or simple human emotion of attachment to a process, is what makes us so much more successful now and in my opinion, has helped us move from being the “Legal Folks” with a stick to those caring “Carrot-wielding” partners.
In those early years of my career, one of the things that really brought us together as a team were the many volunteer opportunities around the community. I was encouraged to join those and to also join the affinity groups offered by the organization. It was through those fun little engaging events that I learned my passion for volunteerism. There is nothing in this world like the feeling of having done something for someone in need – especially when you didn’t really have to – just out of the kindness of your heart did something to brighten someone’s day.
Today, I carry that mentality over into my volunteerism. Albeit sometimes a little too much. You have to find the right balance for you, your family, and your other hobbies. That said, a great friend for many years and I were talking about this “professional responsibility” and her words never rang so true, “We have a professional responsibility to give back.” Those words were so powerful and made me really self-check to see if I was living up to that mantra. I very rarely say not to any opportunities and if I do, it’s simply because there is something else already on the agenda or I just don’t have the capacity to give it the true time a given project deserves. In fact, one time I was approached to support an ARMA Chapter in a State that I had never even been to! I accepted, of course, and it was much easier than I imagined. It’s so easy nowadays to allow ourselves to become too busy for the things that matter – to procrastinate for the things that aren’t as fun – or even allow ourselves to get caught up in projects that don’t result in much.
Now I still have room for more growth, and am looking forward to becoming an ICRM mentor! I recently signed up after years of saying no. Why? Because I realized that I was making excuses for not doing it! I kept telling myself that it was too restrictive and I couldn’t mentor the way I wanted. Finally, I realized I was only fooling myself and now I’m looking forward to continuing to pay it forward!
Recently being inducted into the Company of Fellows, I must say was the most humbling experience. While I have been volunteering for the ICRM, ARMA, AIIM, Document Strategy Forum, OpenText, and many others across the world since I can remember, this was never on my bucket list. All of the work projects, the board roles I’ve held, the educational content I’ve presented or written, all of it led up to this achievement that I am so honored to have been rewarded. And it won’t stop now! I continue to volunteer for board roles, presentations, projects, you name it! It’s a part of the fabric of my being and I look forward to continuous learning and contributions in the future.
The one thing that really drives me in these roles and projects is – dedication. For so many years early and later in my career, I have seen people quit roles, projects, resign from volunteer positions – because they can be very difficult at times (and everyone has their own personal reasons.) For me, I see it as a challenge. So many times I wanted to walk away, simply because it would be easier if it was someone else’s problem – but I challenged myself earlier on to never give up.
When I landed the job at Williams at 18 years old, I was so ecstatic! Making good money at that age was all I needed, or so I thought. My school took a back seat for a while, and while it took my 16.5 years to complete my Associates degree – I never stopped. The respect I received after completing that first degree drove me to obtain my Bachelor’s degree in less than two years after first obtaining my Associates and just a few years later, completed my MBA. During this time, I was obtaining industry certifications and certificates. The hardest thing to do was to stick at it when you keep failing. Many people don’t know this, but when I was trying to obtain the CRM designation, I failed – A LOT! The way that I learned and studied was much different than those who are “academically” gifted. I was a very hands-on learner versus a reader. I failed 5 or 6 times one part of the CRM exam! I was gutted. And I heard that one of my former leaders said, “If Ryan can’t pass that exam – nobody can.” It was heart-wrenching to hear those words. I nearly gave up, but…I met an ICRM mentor at one of the ICRM training sessions who said to me, “Ryan, you only fail if you give up.” Those were the most powerful words that I lived by – and proving people wrong, that I will succeed, has been that driving dedicated force behind much of what I do. It also helps me to give back to others. If my experiences, or knowledge, can be shared with others and they can take that knowledge and turn it into something even better, then I have given back. Sharing knowledge, bouncing ideas off of other like-minded and thought-provoking peers, is one of my favorite things about this profession. We have truly created a connected family across the globe – and I see it only increase in size and value every single day.
By uplifting others and focusing on what really matters – we can all have better days, better months, better years. Setting aside our own personal agendas and really leaning towards a Utopia of Information Management is what keeps me engaged each and every day.