Smithberger 1

Morgan Smithberger
November 9, 2021
HDF 413
Alison Jackson Fraiser

Inclusive Leadership Statement

As I learn more about leadership this semester, I reflect on past experiences and try to
relate roles I’ve held to the content we are learning. What I’ve learned to be most important
when leading is connecting with those you lead, Relational Leadership Model, and supporting
those people, Servant Leadership Model.
When I think of inclusivity, I think of welcoming all to a group and offering support to
make people feel heard. In my leadership experience, I have never been in a position where I
have needed to support those who are very different from me.
After learning about the Relational Leadership Model (Rayner, 2020) last semester, and
more this semester, I feel like I connect with it most. Having Empathy, Maximizer, and Futuristic
as my top three strengths, this model allows me to build meaningful relationships with those I
lead and overall create more connections.
One leadership position I held in high school was co-coordinating the Class of 2024
Freshman Orientation. Through this experience, I learned about managing timelines, working
alongside peers, and creating relationships with faculty and staff. This experience connects to the
Relational Leadership Model most because of the emphasis on relationships I put from the
beginning. Working with friends and people my age, I had to create boundaries that allowed me
to stay successful in my role. However, I needed to put an emphasis on our relationships to help
establish trust and confidence while working with incoming freshmen. Overall, this event was
successful because of the empowerment instilled in others to recognize their significance to the
group.
Servant Leadership is also something that is close to my heart. Servant leadership
(Tarallo, 2021), in my eyes, is helping others through support and showing them they are
important to the organization and you. Although I have never held any leadership position that
would be considered servant leadership, I am applying to be Director of Philanthropy for my
sorority. Through this position, I hope to help my sorority recognize the importance of serving
others and reconnect with our philanthropy, Ronald Mcdonald’s house, as well as organizations
on campus that support URI students.
I hope in the future I can be in positions where I can be in leadership positions and
facilitate groups who are more diverse in viewpoints and backgrounds. With this exposure, I
hope to gain more confidence in leadership and have awareness for those in different cultures
than mine. I would like to utilize SOLC to guide me through facilitation/consulting practice and
become more successful in fulfilling the role of a facilitator.
 Smithberger 2

References

Rayner, L. (2020, September 14). What is the Relational Leadership Model? Graduate
Programs for Educators. Retrieved November 9, 2021, from
https://www.graduateprogram.org/2020/09/what-is-the-relational-leadership-model/.

Tarallo, M. (2021, May 19). The art of servant leadership. SHRM. Retrieved November 9,
2021, from
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/organizational-and-employee-developme
nt/pages/the-art-of-servant-leadership.aspx.