HDF 190:

FIRST YEAR LEADERS INSPIRED TO EXCELLENCE

LEADERSHIP PORTFOLIO

Alexander Gianquitti
SPRING 2018

agianquitti@my.uri.edu
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Strengths SLIDE 3
Opening Statement SLIDE 4
Section 1: Self Leadership SLIDE 5
Section 2: Leadership Theories SLIDE 7
Section 3: Inclusive Leadership SLIDE 9
Section 4: Critical Thinking SLIDE 11
Section 5: Interpersonal/Organizational Leadership SLIDE 13
 Signature Strengths
Harmony
Discipline
Consistency
Learner
Achiever

Values in Action Strengths

Perseverance
Honesty
Forgiveness
Curiosity
Leadership
 OPENING STATEMENT
Hello, My name is Alexander Gianquitti and I am a nursing major with a
minor in leadership studies. In HDF190, I learned about my strengths
and values and how to apply them to my own leadership style, as well
as how to work with others as a developing leader. I also learned about
different leadership theories and philosophies and how to apply them
to my own life. The Servant Leadership Model is a theory that I identify
with most because it is about serving and leading others with the
strength, values, and skills I possess.
 SECTION 1
SELF LEADERSHIP

Outcome 17- Student will describe StrengthsQuest Signature Themes,

shadow side of strengths and/or weaknesses, and examples of application
(Source = Gallup)

Target Class- HDF190

Additional Experience- URI Courses and Involvement

 SECTION 1
SELF LEADERSHIP

In HDF190, we completed Gallup’s StrengthsFinder Inventory (strengthsquest.com). According to the

results my top 5 strengths are harmony, discipline, consistency, learner, and achiever. I feel as though
all these strengths fit me perfectly in specific ways. The strength I utilize and connect to the most is
harmony. I personally view harmony as balance and peace within my own life. As a nursing major,
classes are rigorous, and on top of my classes, I also balance numerous clubs and organization and an
on-campus job as a tutor. I utilize my strength of harmony to find that balance between everything that
occupies my time and reduce my stress. I utilize my strengths of discipline by staying organized and
structured with my schedule, assignments and events in my day-to-day life. To maintain the discipline in
my life, I make sure I keep a calendar or planner to write down everything I need to get done. I use
consistency by remembering to stay consistent with my values of being inclusive and honest. Everyday I
use my strength of learner because I am always learning new things and find joy in learning about
material in my major, or even things about people that I meet. My achiever strength allows me to be very
hardworking and take pleasure in having a busy schedule and achieving goals. On the shadow side of
my strengths, I found that I could improve upon my strength of empathy and WOO. I find that I am not a
very empathetic person when it comes to those situations where I need to or should be empathetic. I
think that I should work on relating to others and being empathetic to their feelings by imagining myself
in their situations. I could also work on WOO because I am an introvert. I will work on this strength by try
to talk to new people and build relationships with them.
 SECTION 2
Leadership Theory and Models

Outcome 27- Student will show knowledge of the “Servant Leadership”

theory of leadership by Greenleaf

Target Class- HDF190

 SECTION 2
Leadership Theory and Models

In HDF190 we learned about the Servant Leadership model that was developed by Robert Greenleaf. Servant
leadership is something that begins with a natural feeling to serve and naturally growing to become a leader. On a
Venn diagram the model’s characteristics can be split into servant, leader, and an area in between that
incorporates both circles which indicates sustainability. The characteristics that make up the servant side are
listening, empathy, and healing. Listening is about actively listening and making sure you listen to someone
before you make a decision about them. Empathy is about feeling what another person feels; it is about putting
yourself in their shoes and being personable with appropriate individuals. Lastly, healing is about helping the
members of a group become whole and building a future together. The characteristics that make up the leader
side are awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, and foresight. Awareness is being aware and conscious of
both yourself and others and finding understanding. Persuasion is about convincing your group to build
consensus and compliance. Conceptualization means making time for strategy and making goals for for your
team. Finally, foresight is about see the consequences and future outcomes of present decisions. The
characteristics of this model that fall under both servant and leader are stewardship, commitment to the growth of
people, and building community. These characteristics are about putting trust in and allowing everyone in your
group to grow and build friendly relationships. The servant leadership model as a whole is how leaders use their
skills to serve others. Servant leaders are able to understand that even though they can’t fix a problem, they can
serve and make an improvement to create a change. This information was gathered from Robert Greenleaf from.:
Home. (n.d.). Retrieved April 21, 2018, from https://www.greenleaf.org/
 SECTION 3
Inclusive Leadership / Diversity and its application to leadership

Outcome 97- Student will create a personal code of inclusive leadership

Additional Experience- HDF190

 SECTION 3
Inclusive Leadership / Diversity and its application to leadership

After learning about the relational leadership model in HDF190, I developed a

personal code of inclusive leadership to follow to keep in mind that people of all
backgrounds regardless of differences, are and will be included in my
leadership style. In the Relational Leadership Model, one of the components is
inclusive. To be inclusive, a leader must listen to others and engage in civil
discourse. My personal code of inclusive leadership is, “Within a group, all
people will be included regardless of background, age, race, gender, identity,
opinions, etc. and be able to be represented and share ideas fairly and given
equal opportunity, under my leadership.” This personal code of inclusive
leadership relates to my strength of harmony and honesty. My strength of
harmony because I want there to be balance and civility within a group no
matter the group members or their ideas and opinions. Honesty reminds me to
be truthful and inclusive to everyone in a group.
 SECTION 4
Critical Thinking

Outcome 99- Student will demonstrate proficiency of critical thinking

Additional Experience- Process of Selecting a College

 SECTION 4
Critical Thinking

Whilst critical thinking happens almost daily in my college life, an example of when I truly thought hard
and critically was when I was deciding on which college/university I wanted to attend. The only two
colleges I applied to in high school were URI and Rhode Island College. After being accepted into both
nursing programs, I had to make the decision of which school I wanted to attend. Some critical thinking
techniques I used where making a pros and cons list for each school, conducting research on each, and
talking to friends and family. For Rhode Island College I concluded that it was the cheapest school, really
close to home (commutable), and had a good nursing program. However I really wanted to live on
campus and truly get the college experience so I concluded that URI would be my best option for a
school because it was also affordable, close enough to home, even though I resided on campus, and had
a great nursing program, as well as so many opportunities to get involved in clubs and organizations. As
a final decision, I committed to URI after a long process of critically thinking about every pro and con of
each school. I decided that URI was going to give the best experience possible with involvement on
campus as well as with the nursing program and leadership. The process of ultimately choosing a
college was long and took many critical thinking tools to complete such as making pros and cons lists,
doing research on the schools, and seeking advice from others. This is an example of my critical
thinking skills because I had to make a big decision and gathered as much information as I could. This
relates to my strength of learner because I wanted to learn the most I could about what each school had
to offer before I made my final decision.
 SECTION 5
(Interpersonal and Organizational Concepts and Skills )

Outcome 132- Student will show knowledge of the stages of group

development (Tuckman/ Tuckman & Jensen, Bennis or others)

Target Class- HDF190

 SECTION 5
(Interpersonal and Organizational Concepts and Skills )

In HDF190 we learned about Tuckman’s stages of group development. According to Tuckman,

there are 5 stages that every new group progresses through, and these stages are forming,
storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. In the beginning stages, the members of the
group will not fully know their place within the group, but by the end each will see each others
strengths and values and form a well working, successful team. The first stage is forming which is
when the personal relations in a group are characterized by dependence. Group members tend to
be directed towards and discuss safe and open topics. The second stage, storming, describes
competition and conflict within a group with personal relations and organization. Stage three is
described as norming, where interpersonal relations are now characterized by cohesion. The
members of the group are now active, contribute and work on solving issues. The next stage is
performing. This stage is about being productive, completing work, and problem solving as a
whole group. The last stage is adjourning. This stage involves the termination of task behaviors
and disengagement from relationships, meaning there is conclusion and everyone goes their
separate ways. Together, these five stages create the the stages of group development. This
information was gathered from Tuckman and Jensen’s model: Learning & Development. (n.d.).
Retrieved April 21, 2018, from http://hrweb.mit.edu/learning-development/learning-topics/teams/articles/stages-
development