HDF 415: FLITE Peer Mentor Leadership Portfolio

1. HDF 415:FLITE Peer MentorLeadership Portfolio Connelly Clifford Spring 2012cliffordc@my.uri.edu

2. Table of Contents • Gallup Strengths Slide 3 • VIA Strengths Slide 4 • Opening Statement Slide 5 • Section 1: Self Leadership Slide 6 • Section 2: Leadership Theories Slide 7 • Section 3: Inclusive Leadership Slide 8 • Section 4: Critical Thinking Slide 9 • Section 5: Interpersonal/Organizational Leadership Slide 10

3. Signature StrengthsGallup • Empathy: “Understanding not agreeing”   • Includer: “We are all equally important”  • Relator: “Keeping close relationships"   • Maximizer: “From talented to superb"   • Ideation: ”Forming ideas"  

4. Values in Action VIA • Humor and playfulness: “Bringing smiles to other people is important to you” • Capacity to love and be loved: “Sharing and caring”  • Leadership: "Harmony- Inclusive- Organization” • Kindness and generosity: “Never too busy to do a favor” • Fairness, equity, and justice: “Give everyone a chance” 

5. Opening Statement I want to be a Leadership Consultant. Coming to URI I never thought I’d get this far with leadership studies, or even get into it in the first place. After being part of institute the summer before my freshman year, and having the opportunity to become a peer mentor my sophomore year for the HDF class I had previously taken, I want to keep going. From this experience I have learned how I use my strengths in a authoritative role rather than just being a student. I have watched myself grow and succeed in all I do simply because I am passionate about it. People who think leadership is easy, are so wrong. They are just not as good at is as we are. "Others don't put me down because I see bright sides of situations .I laugh, I smile, I play and in the end they're the ones wondering how can she be so happy. "

6. Section 1: Self Leadership Student will demonstrate the ability to lead a project from start to finish (follow- through)HDF 413: Presentations After taking HDF 413/ SOLC I have learned a great role of responsibility and from experience I know what it’s like to lead a project from start to finish. One of many projects we were assigned for class consisted of several parts, followed by a presentation to Student Senate at the end of the semester. Having it be a class project, and having lack of responses from my classmates, I took the responsibility of being the lead and continuing to work on it the entire semester: coming up with the first ideas to what was finally agreed upon should go into the final presentation. Although my classmates did help out during this process, and looked to me for answers on occasion, majority of the time was spent as me taking initiative without being instructed to specifically do so. From this experience I demonstrate my ability to lead a project, while working with difficult people yet getting things done.

7. Section 2: Leadership Theories Student will show knowledge of the “Servant Leadership” theory of leadership by Greenleaf HDF 415: Katie Rose/ Lesson PlanI show knowledge of servant leadership by hearing Katie Rose’s presentation, making my lesson plan for Servant Leadership, and also being a servant leader myself. I show knowledge by understanding the model and all its 10 characteristics that are split into two main parts. Servant consisting of listening, empathy, and healing; Leader consisting of awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, and foresight; and both share stewardship, commitment to people, and building a community. I learned that servant leadership majority of the time is something that you realize you’ve done after you’ve done it, not before you’re going to do it. Knowing and explaining that Servant Leadership is not what you do, it’s who you are goes on to explain the saying “you are more then the sym of all your parts.”I understand it is by taking action and showing how I have been a Servant Leader in the past, even if it was unintentionally. From Katie, my lesson, and my experience of being a servant leader I learned that a servant leader is anyone who has helped me to become independent even if at the time I was unaware of what they were doing at the time.

8. Section 3: Inclusive Leadership Student will describe personal examples of being a change agent HDF 413: CARE After learning even more about being a change agent in HDF 413 following HDF 190, I discovered it’s all about looking for opportunities for improvement or innovation. This goes others as well as yourself. One specific example I can think of that I act as a change agent is, when trying to get a new organization started on campus. It’s called CARE (Cancer Awareness that Recognizes Everyone). Why? Because I want to create change, and because of this it falls under my individual values in the social change mode. A dear friend of mine passed away from Leukemia and majority of the time people don’t know what it is or what month is dedicated to its awareness (i.e. Breast Cancer awareness month is October). I am a change agent in this case by sharing my values to people, connecting them to a group, and further sharing our group values by connecting them with society values in order to hopefully create change as well as promote awareness of every month’s cancer. In order to do this I must make sure that our group values has a common purpose, in this case wanting to raise more awareness of all types of cancer. After that is accomplished we can move to the society component of social change in hopes to have citizenship among the URI community in supporting CARE and its purpose.

9. Section 4: Critical Thinking Student will describe what it means to analyze, criticize, synthesize and utilize information as a leader HDF 415: Being a peer mentor/ grading Although I have not specifically been taught these things in my HDF 415 class, or taught them in any other class, from knowing what these words mean I can see how they were and are used on an everyday basis to someone who is seen as a leader. When analyzing something you must be able to examine things and find out ones interpretation. I did just this when grading student outcomes for the HDF 190 class. I would criticize them by giving them feedback not to hurt them but to help them improve by indicating not their flaws, but what they could do better. I synthesized by showing them how they can connect things and combine things they learned in class to their outside lives in order the create the best outcome possible. Lastly I utilized my strengths while giving them feedback and I utilized the information they provided me about themselves, to understand their outcomes and where they are coming from when reading them.

10. Section 5: Interpersonal/ Organizational Leadership Student will describe personal examples of building relationships with members as a leader HDF 415Being A HDF 190 Peer Mentor, I must be able to understand my students and their strengths in order to build a relationship with them. From having this opportunity I have learned that it is important to get to know who you are working with and be reliable to them in order to gain trust and the respect you deserve. Throughout the semester I would email my small group with things I needed from the, due dates, and asking them if they needed me in any way. By doing this they saw I was reliable. The students are comfortable enough to come up to me for help and questions when they need it. Because of the relationship I built with them inside the classroom, I now am starting to develop one outside the class room as well. Student will say hi to me or reach out to me about things other than class concerns because they have built a relationship with me that they know I am a resource to them.