HDF 190:

FIRST YEAR LEADERS INSPIRED TO EXCELLENCE

LEADERSHIP PORTFOLIO

Brindley Rospars
SPRING 2018

brospars@my.uri.edu
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Strengths
Opening Statement SLIDE 4
Section 1: Self Leadership SLIDE 5
Section 2: Leadership Theories SLIDE 7
Section 3: Inclusive Leadership SLIDE 8
Section 4: Critical Thinking SLIDE 9
Section 5: Interpersonal/Organizational Leadership SLIDE 11
 Signature Strengths
Discipline
Achiever
Focus
Learner
Relator

Values in Action Strengths

Gratitude
Kindness
Persistence
Social Intelligence
Hope
 OPENING STATEMENT
Throughout HDF 190, I learned a lot about not only what leadership is, but also about
myself. I truly enjoyed learning about all the different leadership theories that can be
applied all throughout different facets of life beyond just the classroom. I also learned
how I can use my strengths (discipline, achiever, focus, learner, and relator) as well as
my values (gratitude, kindness, perseverance, social intelligence, and hope) in order to
lead affectively. By knowing my strengths and values, I learned a lot about myself and
how I can use them not only as a leader, but also to be a better friend, worker, and
citizen. I also learned how my strengths and values fit in to my major, PharmD, and how
I can implement these to be as successful as possible within my field.
What I have appreciated most within this class is the fact that we all learned skills that
are applicable outside the classroom and in all of our involvement on and off campus. I
learned to become a more confident public speaker, which helps me in organization
such as Tour Guiding, as well as to learn more about how to use my strengths
effectively.
 SECTION 1
Self Leadership
After completing the VIA Character Profile, I learned that my top five strengths are gratitude, social
intelligence, kindness, and zest. My values truly reflect me as a person and friend, which I do not
think show in my Gallup strengths. Although I sometimes feel that my work ethic defines me in
many ways, I know that these values contribute to my personality that sometimes does not show up
on paper. The mix of social intelligence, gratitude, and kindness specifically influence my
relationships with those I hold close to me. My friends and coworkers are truly my family, and I
value being able to make and retain close relationships with them, and I try and never take anything
that I have for granted.
Gratitude is a value that I have held close to me even before I realized that it was one of my top
character traits, as I believe that being grateful is something we all need in order to stay humble as
leaders and be thankful for the events, opportunities, and people in our live that have affected our
lives in a positive way. Being vocal about what you are thankful for can go a long way, as
expressing those feelings to others makes sure that the good things in life are not taken for granted.
Gratitude is a value that enables me to recognize that I am blessed, and should return those feelings
to others through service and being a kind person.
Kindness can go a long way for others, whether it be by helping a stranger or being there to support
a friend in a time of need. I love being able to be of aid to others in any way possible, and taking
care of them as well. Going into the healthcare field, I hope to use this value by selflessly helping
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everyone that I possible can, even when it means working longer hours or taking extra time to work one
on one with a patient.
Perseverance drives me​ to finish what I start, no matter how hard it may seem. There is no better
feeling to than successfully completing a challenging task. This also complements my growth mindset
because I love challenging myself and pushing my skillset to higher levels. The desire to finish what I
start keeps me committed to my goals and loyal to what I choose to be involved in.
Social intelligence helps me with perceiving what others are feeling and thinking, and it naturally
guides me to how I interact with others. With an instinct of what to do in many different social
situations, social intelligence leads the way for me to make sure that I can know when to go out of my
way particularly to make others feel that they are fitting in and at ease. This value also helps me to be
accepted to many different social circles, which is beneficial to me as I can bring out certain aspects of
my identity that others can feel comfortable with.
Hope a mindset for me; as I believe that with hope, one knows that there are endless possibilities for
the future. Having this value brightens up days when obstacles cloud the pathway to achieving goals, as
it reminds me that those feelings of are merely temporary. For me, hope consistently encourages me to
make the most of every opportunity that a new day brings.
 SECTION 2
Leadership Theory and Models
The Relational Leadership Model can be seen throughout organizations at URI, however I truly see this come
to life on the Orientation Team. This team I am a part of that uses this model extremely effectively. Regarding
inclusiveness, the many diverse members are all aware of our differences that we have. We have had specific
and deep talks regarding privilege, identities, and many other features of life in which people differ. It is very
important to us that we build inclusive and welcoming environments so that we can not only work efficiently
as a team, but also give incoming first-year students a space in which they feel valued for who they are. We
also empower each other on this team, as we set high expectations for those that are chosen to be on the team
and constantly give affirmations that remind us that we were chosen to for a reason, and that the choice was
intentional.
The high expectations set for us also tie into the ethical component of the model, as we cover in training what
our values are as individuals, as orientation leaders, as well as representatives of the university. We also cover
certain professional expectations and know that we need to lead by example not only during orientation, but
throughout our time at URI. We have also clarified our purpose as a group, which to provide incoming
students with a fun and educational orientation over the summer in which they feel welcomed and excited
about coming to campus in the fall. Our process is one of the strongest aspects we use of the model, as we pay
a lot of attention to the dynamic within the group and looking at the specific ways we can improve as a team.
We do a lot of team building activities that put us through stressful or hard situations so that we can work
through it, and take the time to process what we were good at and what components need improvement.
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Inclusive Leadership / Diversity and its application to leadership
A change agent is an individual that attempts to affectively bring about positive change. Through an
independent research session, I learned that there are many characteristics that make a great change
agent; including having a clear vision, patience, acting as a role model, and being a relationship
builder. They need not be the person designated as the leader of a group, as change can be brought
around by anyone who works hard enough. A change agent knows it is crucial to have a clear vision, as
it allows for other to also understand what the goal is and support it if they so choose. Patience is
another key to being a change agent, as many try and rush change to happen almost overnight. By
understanding that positive and effective change takes time to produce, the process will come at a
naturally better and more productive pace essential to success. In addition, acting as a role model also
helps change agents show that their ideas can be trusted because they can practice what they preach. It
is important to show faith in what one is trying to change and show confidence in it. Lastly, by
building positive relationships with others, it also helps to gain support in achieving change because
others will be more willing to help a person that they trust and respect. These characteristics of being a
change agent can be connected to the beginnings of the social change model, as many social change
movements start with a spark started by an individual. However, social change occurs on a large scale,
and change agents play large roles in spreading the ideas of a movement necessary for change to occur.
Couros, G. (2017, April 30). 5 Characteristics of a Change Agent. Retrieved April 17, 2018 from
https://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/3615
 SECTION 4
Critical Thinking
Through independent online research, I learned about decision making methods that include voting,
multiple votes or voting rounds, ranking, scoring, as well as iterative convergence. Voting is a
method in which all members of a group can participate by voting for a certain decision to be made.
Most often, this will lead to the majority of the group making the decision in their favor. However,
voting by a show of hands may make members of the group that do not agree with the majority feel
uncomfortable showing their opinion, which may lead to them voting for a decision that they do not
wholeheartedly support. This decision making process also does not account for the minority’s input
but is easy to implement overall. A similar process is multiple votes or voting rounds, in which
group members are not limited to one vote. After casting multiple votes for their preferred decision,
following rounds can take place in which each round has less and less choices are available. This is
a great way to not limit members to just one top choice and make their decisions also regarding
what others choices are still in the running. This is another fairly easy process to implement, but
may take more time than a single voting round. Another decision making method is ranking, which
is helpful for gaining information to see a group’s preference for the most and least favored options.
Data like this allows for a decision to be made based on the top favored options, however the
inclusion of the least preferred choices may lead to more insight on things to avoid for the group. A
main constraint on this process is that it is more difficult and time consuming to implement, but can
be worked around by asking members of the group to complete their rankings before a meeting or
deadline.
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Scoring is another method that dives deeper into the characteristics of why a decision is favored or
not favored. The process includes asking members of the group to score certain characteristics of a
choice. For example, if a group was trying to decide the best food to make for a bake sale, members
could score each option based on taste, popularity, cost, and ease of baking the good. Similarly to
ranking, this method has a downfall in that calculating the data makes it harder and longer to come
to a decision. The last decision making method is iterative convergence, also known as the Delphi
Method. This process includes making suggestions and receiving feedback before coming to a final
decision, sometimes in rounds. This process does not rule any option out and is adaptable depending
on any new or changed ideas that group members have throughout the decision process. By
combining multiple aspects of all of the above processes, it allows for a more collaborative and
adjustable way to come to a decision within a group.

(2017). Five Useful Methods for Group Decision Making. Retrieved from http://meetingsift.com/5-
useful-methods-for-group-decision-making/
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Interpersonal and Organizational Concepts and Skills
In my COM 100 class, my peers and I developed our public speaking skills, specifically in the domains
of informative and persuasive speaking. For one assignment, I gave a six minute informative presentation
on the culture of Costa Rica, which was a country I was able to visit less than one year before I
presented. I chose to organize my informational speech in a topical pattern, discussing the natural
wonders, art, and cuisine of the country. In addition, I also created a supplementary PowerPoint
containing key words and pictures from my time visiting. I believe it was an effective speech, as after
receiving anonymous feedback from my peers, many comments said I was an enthusiastic, engaging
speaker. Other critiques included a good level of volume, clarity, and eye contact with the audience. One
audience member wrote that the highlight of my presentation was the passion and energy that I brought
to the information which made it more interesting to listen to as compared to some other presentations
that had done similar topics. After watching a video recording of my presentation, I agree that some of
my nonverbal actions helped to make it an effective presentation on top of my strong content in the
speech.
Regarding persuasive speaking, I was able to present a persuasive speech to some of my peers that I
 SECTION 5
had originally wrote as a paper for my kinesiology class. This persuasive speech dove into the topic of
whether the game of youth football should be changed or disbanded as a whole. I argued that the sport
should be modified in order to reduce the number of children that are subjected to traumatic brain
injuries (TBIs). Throughout the speech, I heavily used pathos and logos in order to persuade the
audience to agree with my thesis. I cited many scholarly sources and research studies on statistics
regarding prevalence of youth TBIs and how they can be even more detrimental when such an injury
occurs to a child as opposed to someone old enough to play in the NFL. This appealed to the logic of the
audience, therefore incorporating logos into my presentation. I also discussed the ethics behind a parent
knowing that by allowing their child to play tackle football, they could suffer from a potentially fatal
TBI, and therefore are not doing enough to protect their child in sports. This appeals to the pathos aspect
of rhetoric because of how the audience feels emotion for the child and possible anger at the parent for
letting their child be subject to such danger.