SPOTLIGHT
IN FOCUS MARY MYERS
BY JOHN WALLACE
M
ary Myers, BS, CNMT, is the operations manager of CT, PET and nuclear medicine for Valley Health System, Winchester Medical Center. Her imaging career received a boost from mentors along the way.
Mary Myers says mentors helped her reach new heights in the imaging field.
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ICEMAGAZINE | MAY 2022
“Through each stage of my career, I’ve had many mentors,” Myers explained. “I’ve had the pleasure of working for many great leaders and physicians, and with many memorable coworkers. I think that everyone you work with brings valuable snippets that you can use to piece together to develop your own leadership style. My biggest takeaway from my mentorships, is that more often than not, they were unspoken of. The best leaders know how to support you, encourage you and help you to develop your skills without formally or purposefully intending to do so. And that’s so important, because as a leader you have to be cognizant that everything you do— people are watching you. Your team is learning how you move, your intent, your motives, your priorities—everything!—just by watching you be you. As a leader, you have to have that awareness and accept that responsibility.” Two men are among those who helped shape her approach to leadership within the imaging field. “My previous manager/director mentor team of Patrick Cook and Jeff Behneke were grooming me to be a leader, long before I knew it,” Myers said. “I started working for them as a staff nuclear medicine tech and, little-bylittle, they began giving me projects to work on while walking me through it, guiding me, and then small amounts of responsibility within the department. They watched me grow and develop my skills as a technologist, and they started to trust me to take on more tasks of my own. When the lead tech position opened, I wasn’t sure that it was for me, but Patrick encouraged me to apply. I’ve always taken pride in my work, and by then, I knew I was a great technologist, but did that make me a leader?” The vocalization of support boosted her confidence. “Knowing I had their support when I needed it, but allowing me the independence to make decisions on my own, helped me to gain the confidence I needed to develop my own leadership skills,” Myers recalled.
ADVANCING THE IMAGING PROFESSIONAL
