March 2005 | Vol. 23, No. 3

President’s Message

SVU Members Challenged to Receive the Society’s Vision

by George L. Berdejo, BA RVT FSVU

It has been a cold, gray and snowy last few weeks in the Northeast; however, the forecast for the SVU is bright and sunny. As of the writing of this article, we have had 97 NEW MEMBERS join the SVU so far this year! We have also received 248 additional member renewals this month, for a total of 2,686 member renewals for 2005 to date, approximately, 69% of the membership! A great start to what I expect will be a banner year for the SVU. Thanks for your support of the Membership Recruitment and Retention Initiative of Vision 2005, SVU’s Strategic Plan.

SVU ended 2004 with a record total of 680 new members. Our year-end total of 3,900 members is also a record. As Dave Parlato, Membership Chair, mentioned in his excellent e-Spectrum article last month, I have challenged the membership to double the new member recruitment for 2005. Let’s build on the success we experienced in 2004 by continuing to focus on and emphasize our membership recruitment theme, Each One, Reach One, a classic example of one of the Vision 2005 initiatives we can all be a part of. SVU must now continue to move strongly into 2005 by using today’s success to empower us for the challenges of tomorrow.

There is an adage that says people are like rubber bands; they need to be “stretched” in order to be effective. “Stretching” speaks of creating expectations. As individuals, we must create expectations for ourselves i order to climb the Ladder of Success. SVU’s expectations are outlined in our Strategic Plan. The Vision is clear and has been communicated; it must now be received and conceived within you before it becomes real.

For this Vision to be affected, it must:

• BE PERSONAL. In my November 2004 communication to you, I stated that all vision starts from within, it needs to be personal. You need to “own it”. Why? When something is personal, it has meaning. My personal expectation is that the membership at large would assist in moving the SVU agenda forward. I am calling on each individual member personally, to avail themselves of every opportunity to be part of the SVU team and Strategic Plan. Expand your vision, don’t see now, see tomorrow. Allow your decision to participate to be based on the promise of tomorrow’s success and not on today’s circumstances. Is it personal?
• CAUSE YOU TO TAKE ACTION. We need your help. When you are vision driven, vision will move you and vision will drive you: to join a committee, participate in a local chapter, or to reach out to potential new members. I am reaching out to you today and asking you to join the Leadership of the SVU to help us make our vision for you become a reality. Contact your local Chapter President or SVU Regional Advisor to find out how you can help. Can we count on you?
• BE A LIFESTYLE. We must model the way. Those around us must see the excitement in us. We have to walk, talk and live the vision, for the benefit of those who have yet to buy into it. How do you know that you have bought into the vision? It will show! Just like a woman who conceives, the signs will be obvious when the Vision has been conceived in you. Be as proud of your Society as you would be of your baby. Post the e-Spectrum articles around your lab. Ask your co-workers to read them. Test them on the Membership Recruitment theme. Encourage them to join the Society and get involved on the local Chapters level. Take some time out of the month to read the President’s Message with your staff and impress upon them the importance of getting involved. Keep focusing on the message. Is the Vision in you; is it showing?
• ALLOW YOU TO SEE WHAT WAS NOT OBVIOUS BEFORE. Vision yields direction, focus and purpose. It makes you establish goals and allows you to reach them. The Strategic Plan has certainly done that for this Society. Vision will attract others to you and allow you to see the leadership potential in them, they may not see in themselves. What is the sign that others have received the vision? They move to another level of commitment in the Ladder of Success. Do you see the potential in the people around you?

Vision will allow you to be a motivator and an enlarger of those around you and in turn the Society for Vascular Ultrasound. Vision unites and provides a center for leadership, it dominates and neutralizes a person’s doubts and fears, it attracts others to the leader and it inspires greatness in those around you.

As I sat with the leadership of the Society at the winter Board meeting in December 2004 the desire, the passion and the commitment were obvious. The Vision had been conceived, and it showed. My desire is for you to “see”, receive and then conceive the Vision from this communication. Great vision always precedes great achievement. Join the SVU as we climb the Ladder of Success in 2005 and see our Vision become a reality.
Thanks.

PS. Feel free to look over our Strategic Plan.