HDF 190:

FIRST YEAR LEADERS INSPIRED TO

EXCELLENCE

LEADERSHIP PORTFOLIO

Matthew Wulbrecht Spring 2017

mwulbrecht@my.uri.edu
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Strengths
Opening Statement
Section 1: Self Leadership SLIDE # 5
Section 2: Leadership Theories SLIDE # 6
Section 3: Inclusive Leadership SLIDE # 8
Section 4: Critical Thinking SLIDE # 9
Section 5: Interpersonal/Organizational Leadership
SLIDE # 11

*If you do not have one outcome from each area of the
Inventory completed, you may opt to choose 2 from one
of the sections.
Signature Strengths
Competition
Analytial
Harmony
Maximizer
Empathy

Values in Action Strengths

Honesty
Humility
Humor
Love
Leadership
OPENING STATEMENT
By taking HDF 190, I have been able to identify my top 5 strengths and values,
allowing me to further improve them. My top 5 strengths include Competition,
Analytical, Harmony, Maximizer, and Empathy. Next, my top values are Honesty,
Humility, Humor, Love, and Leadership. Being able to recognize all of these has been
a huge help in my personal development because I knew what I could utilize in my
leadership practices. Overall, this course has taught me a lot about myself and my
personal leadership style. Continuing to use my strengths, and working towards
improving my weaknesses in my daily life, leadership practices, and education will
only benefit me down the road.
SECTION 1
SELF LEADERSHIP

Outcome 15: Student will describe personal leadership style and/or personality
style including strengths and weaknesses and examples of application (Sources =
Leadership style inventories, the L.P.I., StrengthsQuest, Type Focus (MBTI), LAMP,
and other career inventories, etc.)

Target class: HDF 190

Additional experiences: StrengthsQuest, VIA values

Annotation: The StrengthsQuest activity truly helped my learn about my strengths and
how I can apply them in my life, as well as improve them. My top 5 strengths were
Competition, Analytical, Harmony, Maximizer, and Empathy, and I feel each of these
certainly apply to me. I feel my strengths also direct tie into my leadership style
because I like to bring everyone together, gain their trust, then push them to maximize
their abilities and complete the task at hand. Although Im very competitive and may
be tough at times because I want to win and be the best, I feel I am very easy to get
along with, and feel Im respected as a leader. Finding a good balance is very
important when being a leader, that way your group is happy, but also driven to
achieve their goals. As a leader, I am very comfortable not only being a vocal leader,
but also leading by example, and allowing others to figure things out on their own, and
grow. Identifying your leadership style and strengths is very important in order to be a
good leader, and the StrengthsQuest activity was very beneficial in helping me figure
that out for myself.
SECTION 2 Leadership Theory and Models

Outcome 40: Student will show knowledge of the Relational

Leadership model by Komives, McMahon & Lucas

Target class: HDF 190

Additional experiences: Relational leadership model in packet

Annotation: The Relational Leadership model is a key part of leadership because it

demonstrates how to relate to people, whether you are leading them, or being led.
The model details the different aspects of relational leadership which includes the
overall process, consisting of 5 categories, Inclusive, Empowering, Ethical, and
Process-oriented. There are also 3 components to this model which are Knowing,
Being, and Doing. The overall process allows you to figure out how you plan on going
about everything, and allows you to identify goals and objectives to strive towards
completing. Through this process, its very important to be inclusive, empowering,
process-oriented, and being able to make ethical decisions. An inclusive leader is
someone that can make everyone feel comfortable participating, and will in turn, get
the most out of everyone in the group. If people feel left out, they wont be motivated
to contribute, and will likely be detrimental to the group. This is somewhat related to
the ability to empower people as well, because that involves inspiring everyone and
getting the most out of them. If people are motivated to do their best, and fight to
achieve something, you cant ask anymore of them. Another area of relational
leadership is ethics. Ethics are directly related to integrity, being trustworthy, and
being realistic and authentic, all of which bring the group together. If everyone is to be
working together, trust and integrity are key to keeping a good group dynamic, and
allowing everything to run smoothly. The last area of relational leadership, which is the
most important in my mind, is purpose and process-oriented. Nothing else will matter
if everyone doesnt know what is trying to be accomplished. Identifying goals will allow
everyone to work toward achieving something, and give the group life and purpose.
The process everyone follows is crucial as well because it allows for people to be
organized and on the same page that way no one strays away from the goals of the
group. The process everyone follows was put in place to help everyone be successful,
so it should be followed to help the team as a whole. The 3 components of each of
these categories show the action/application aspect of these. For knowing, it basically
means the knowledge and understanding of each category that way you know how to
apply it to different situations. The first step in this model is to learn it, and then from
there you have the intelligence to know how to use it in your leadership. Next is being,
which to me means being a person who is willing to care enough to apply each of
these aspects to benefit everyone around you including yourself. Being someone who
embodies these will likely lead to being a successful leader. Lastly is doing, and this is
where the actual action/application of all these comes together. This is very important
because if you dont display your knowledge and understanding of this model, there
really isnt any point of knowing it. Overall, the relational leadership model is
undoubtedly very important to a group's success and relations.
SECTION 3
Inclusive Leadership / Diversity and its application to leadership

Outcome 83: Student will create a personal code of inclusive leadership

Target Class: HDF 190

Additional experiences: Relational leadership model, active member in the

rotaract club and greek life

Annotation: In HDF 190, we were given the relational leadership model to help
guide our understanding of relating with others. One of the main sections of this model
was Inclusive, and embedded in this section is the strategies and ways to always
include others. From this I have derived a personal code of inclusive leadership which
is, I will always keep an open mind when meeting new people, and will always allow
them to feel welcomed and be a part of the group. I have come up with this code to
make sure I always have the right mindset before meeting someone and allowing
them to have any sort of influence on me. Keeping an open mind can be very
important in any situation, but especially when relating to others, because whether
you are meeting them for the first time, or just having a basic conversation, you never
know what you can take from the situation to benefit yourself or those around you.
Next comes the true inclusive part, where you always want to make sure someone is
comfortable in amy setting, and feels that they can have a voice. If they feel
comfortable, and feel like a part of the group, their participation and contributions will
be much higher than if they feel like an outsider. It would be mutually beneficial to
both you, the group, and whoever deserves to be included in it because of the way it
makes them feel, and the potential they have in this setting will do nothing but benefit
you and your peers. Being able to include others in any situation, paired with a right
might set and ability to gauge any situation, will set up yourself, and others around
you for happiness and success in all your endeavors.
SECTION 4 Critical Thinking

Outcome 88: Student will show knowledge of principles of critical thinking (logic is
used in this minor)

Target class: HDF 190

Additional experiences: URI leadership institute, MTH 141

Annotation: While acting as a critical thinker, you must consider everything you are
taking in at the given moment. In my classes, which include HDF 190 and MTH 141,
as well as during my time at the Leadership Institute, it has proven extremely
important to be a critical thinker. By doing this, I have benefited from understanding
everything being taught to me as well as the material at hand. To do this, I used key
principles of critical thinking to truly understand everything and to aid my efforts in
gaining understanding and knowledge.These principles include asking questions,
defining all unknown terms, examining and analyzing evidence, and tolerating
uncertainty. By asking questions, you are insuring that anything unclear is clarified
and understood. If something is confusing, asking questions will only help you in you
efforts as a student, and you should never hesitate to get help. Next, define all terms
to enhance your understanding of the information at hand. Unknown terms should be
defined that way your arent confused and can act upon the information given. The
following step is examining and analyzing evidence in order to confirm the material is
correct, and to divulge in the true meaning of what you are focused on. This step is
the most important in my mind because it is where the true learning happens. As
someone with Analyzing as their second highest strength, I feel it is crucial to take a
step back and think about things before acting upon them. This holds true in my mind
for thinking critically as you should not look past something you are devoting your time
and mind to before comprehending it to the fullest extent. To add onto this,
questioning the correctness of something can be beneficial because it keeps your
mind open to any potential solutions, and questioning something prompts you to
finding out the truth and understanding it at the same time. The last principle of critical
thinking is tolerating uncertainty. To me, this means being comfortable with the
unknown and being open to everything being put in front of you.. Having this mentality
will make you want to learn, and want to expand your horizons. If you are closed off to
this, you will be less likely to put in the effort towards achieving the end goal, which is
full comprehension of what you are trying to understand. Critical thinking, when done
the correct way using these principles, will be extremely useful and present in
everything you do, making it crucial to utilize whenever possible.
SECTION 5
(Interpersonal and Organizational Concepts and Skills )

Outcome 99: Student will demonstrate knowledge of active listening techniques

Target class: HDF 190

Additional experiences: FLITE retreat, Leadership institute

Annotation: Active listening is very important in order to fully understand all the
information being given, be fully engaged, and and be respectful to those speaking.
Some techniques to always actively listen are putting away all distractions, sitting near
people that you wont be tempted to socialize with, asking the teacher/instructor
questions or clarification, and taking an active interest in whatever your doing. To put
away all distractions, you basically need to keep your cell phone away and out of site
along with other electronics, and forget about everything other than what your doing,
in order to be as engaged as you can. There are tons of distractions all around us,
and blocking those out can be very difficult, but is very important to be able to actively
listen. Second, you need to make sure you dont sit near peers that you will be
tempted to talk to. This means sitting away from friends, or people that talk
throughout class. This is something that you can identify and avoid throughout your
classes, but will certainly help keep you less distracted. Next, as it says in the active
listening grid we received during the FLITE retreat, you should always ask the teacher
specific questions if you have them or ask for clarification. Doing this will allow you to
fully understand the information being given to you. A lot of times people are to shy or
afraid to ask questions, or dont listen closely enough to realize they have questions,
which can lead to misinformation. Asking questions will be very useful and beneficial
to clear anything up and put you in a better situation to success and learn. Lastly, if
you take an active interest in what you are listening to or being taught, it will be much
easier to pay attention and care. Even if the topic is dull or boring, find a way to make
it interesting or find a way to make it interactive. Lots of people have trouble focusing
and listening if the discussion is boring, but if you put in the effort to make it
interesting, it will be much easier to enjoy. Overall, a lot of active listening is just not
being distracted, focusing on who is speaking, and taking an interest in what is being
said, and by doing these, active listening will prove much easier than you think.