“Forge ahead!” you can almost hear Jean Smith shouting as you envision her marching with her people through hazards and up to new heights … but a general in the Army she was not. Jean Smith was the general manager of EBSCO Information Services (EIS) in South Africa.

Commanding EIS-South Africa came naturally for Smith. A librarian by training, she leveraged her knowledge of what librarians need and want, and quickly gained experience in every area of information services, from sales to customer service. In no time, she found her intimate knowledge of the business placing her at the top of the ranks. “The exciting part of being general manager is being involved in everything – the general covers it all,” she said with a smile.

While recounting her 16 years with EBSCO, Smith said that EIS is known throughout Africa as the people who give away pencils at conferences. “We do so much more than give away pencils,” she said. It is not always easy being in the middle of so many relationships – as a division, working between customers and publishers and as a general manager, going between her staff and International Headquarters. “That’s always the fun part though – getting both parties to meet and having the satisfaction of seeing something come together,” she continued.