January 2005 | Vol. 23, No. 1

President’s Message

SVU's Ladder of Success

by George L. Berdejo, BA RVT FSVU

Seasons greetings fellow SVU members! I hope this message finds you in good health and in good spirits after a joyous holiday season. As we embark on the second year of my term as President of your Society, it is with great expectation that I write; expectations for continued growth both for the Society and its individual members.

Perhaps the most strategic and rewarding work one can experience is to help leaders of tomorrow develop their potential today. This task requires careful thought, wise planning, endless patience, and genuine commitment.

Mentoring is a relationship that is created for the specific and definable development of an individual’s skills or an art. A mentor’s demands and expectations will bring out the best in his student and not allow him or her to settle for mediocrity. From a mentor a student can learn to successfully overcome the crises that a mentor would consider routine. However, a new generation of leaders cannot be manufactured wholesale; they are produced one by one, because some one has taken the pains to discipline, to instruct and enlighten, to nurture and train one that is younger. Mentoring is designed to put a person upon a path of success.

With these thoughts in mind I will ask you to join the SVU on the Ladder of Success for 2005. The four rungs of this ladder are:

Essentials for Mentoring

• Casting vision. SVU’s strategic plan, VISION 2005, has been cast and provides the framework upon which we will move our Society into the future and build up the next generation of leaders. Please take a moment to look over your Society’s Strategic Plan and think about where you can contribute.
• Recruiting. With this communication I am reaching out to you as a committed and interested member of the SVU to join its leadership and to move forward SVU’s agenda, especially in regards to our membership recruitment campaign.
• Matching. The SVU intends to inquire as to the mentoring needs of its members as they apply to the Strategic Plan and the future of our Society. Keep in mind, EVERY MEMBER HAS A ROLE WHERE THEY CAN CONTRIBUTE THE MOST. Where do your interests and talents lie? SVU understands the basis for pairing a mentor and mentoree – joining similar talents, gifts, areas of service, life situations, and skills and we will work diligently to help our members to find mentors with corresponding interests.
• Equipping. SVU and its leadership will provide orientation and the resources necessary for those entering mentoring relationships, be it through Chapters or via committee service.
• Support. The current leadership of the SVU is committed to make themselves available as experienced mentors to serve as “consultants” to the next generation of leaders and mentors.

The Board of Director’s and the Annual Conference Committee met in Virginia Beach in early December of 2004. I am happy to report, once again, that the Board was able to cover the entirety of its planned meeting agenda over the one and one half days of the meeting. This is a testament to the hard work, dedication and efficiency of the Board members and SVU Executive Director Steve Haracznak. Thanks to the Board and the Executive Committee for their hard work, preparation and valuable input, you make my job that much easier.

Thanks to Chair Kathy Carter and Co-Chair Judy Fried, the Annual Conference Committee also worked very hard to put together what promises to be an extraordinary program for SVU’s 28th Annual Conference, which will take place in Chicago at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, June 16-18, 2005 as part of this year’s Vascular Annual Meeting. Plan to be part of this magnificent event.

On behalf of the membership, I would like to extend my thanks to out going Board members Paula Heggerick, Michel Comeaux and Judy Fried for their dedicated and excellent service to the Society as members of the Board of Directors. They will certainly be missed. I also want to welcome our three new Board Directors for 2005: Kathleen Greene, Joe Hughes and LeAnn Maupin. I’m sure they will do a good job in representing the best interests of the membership on the Board.

I believe that the future of this organization will be determined by the commitment and involvement of its membership. SVU’s leadership has declared that success is in its future. Accordingly, we have planned to make you, our membership, a major part of its Strategic Plan. Join us on the Ladder of Success in 2005.

In closing, I extend to you best wishes for a blessed and prosperous New Year and success alongside the Society for Vascular Ultrasound.