HDF 190:

FIRST YEAR LEADERS INSPIRED TO EXCELLENCE

LEADERSHIP PORTFOLIO

Mariah deFreitas
SPRING 2017

Mdefreitas1@my.uri.edu
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Strengths
Opening Statement SLIDE #4
Section 1: Self Leadership SLIDE #5
Section 1: Self Leadership SLIDE #6
Section 2: Leadership Theories SLIDE #7
Section 3: Inclusive Leadership SLIDE #8
Section 5: Interpersonal/Organizational Leadership SLIDE #9
 Signature Strengths
Strategic
Relator
Input
Discipline
Learner

Values in Action Strengths

Honesty
Kindness
Appreciation of Beauty & Excellence
Fairness
Love of Learning
 OPENING STATEMENT

Throughout the spring semester in HDF 190, I learned

different ways to utilize my strengths and values. I was
able to discover myself as a leader and provide meaning
for why I serve and do leadership. The servant leadership
model lays the foundation for how I lead and why I am a
leader.
 SECTION 1
Self Leadership
(Student will describe personal leadership style and/or personality style including strengths and weaknesses and
examples of application )
In HDF 190, we completed the Gallup’s Strengths Finder. According to the results, some of my top strengths are strategic
and learner. I believe that these two strengths define very well how I lead. When I lead, I don’t tend to take control. I like to
strategize how the goal will be achieved, however; I do not like to be the person who does the actual task. I would rather
stand by and learn from others based on how they took control and completed the objective. I learn best while watching
and I lead best by strategizing. An example of how I use my strengths when I lead is when I trained to be a facilitator at
the North Woods Challenge Course. This training entailed a days’ worth of training on the elements and learning the
procedures prior to the elements and post elements. The following day, our group did the facilitating. At this training, I
found myself coming up with ways to achieve the goal and while we were trying to achieve this I would strategize new
ways to accomplish the goal quicker. I tended to watch before I joined in so I can learn from what others were doing.
Because of this training, I was able to see how my strengths came into play and I can strengthen them as I continue to
work at the challenge course.
 SECTION 1
Self Leadership
(Student will express a personal values statement)

In HDF 190, when I completed the VIA character strength finder I discovered that one of my top values
is honesty. I believe that being honest is key to happy relationships and life-long friendships. Even
though life gets hard sometimes, it is best to be honest with yourself and others in order to get through
the difficulties. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and I know that being truthful
can make the tiniest differences in what happens in your life. Being honest will earn respect and trust
from others. Not only being honest to others is important, but being honest with yourself is beneficial.
Personally, I believe that being honest about your values and morals will help you overcome the greatest
obstacles. If you’re honest with yourself about what you believe is the right thing, it will get you far in life.
 SECTION 2
Leadership Theory and Models
(Student will describe personal application of the “Servant Leadership” theory of
leadership by Greenleaf)
In HDF 190, we did a speech on the Servant Leadership theory. In my speech, I spoke about how I
relate the most to the characteristic of building community. One aspect that I touch upon was joining the
interact club at my high school. Throughout the past few years, myself, and a few members of the
interact club have created a project that will honor each classroom in our high school after a veteran
from our city. We have teamed up with our city’s Rotary Club and raised money for the project to get
started. We created a plaque that will be hung above each door in our high school. The plaque will have
the veterans name on it with the war that they have served in. In the city that I live in, we have had a
person serve in every single war starting with the Revolutionary war to our most recent one. The name
of our high school is Peabody Veterans Memorial High School. We wanted to create meaning for our
schools’ name and establish a strong relationship between students and veterans. We wanted to make
our veterans feel valuable, special and create and maintain a strong community for our veterans. As the
years go on, I hope to continue working on the project with the Rotary Club and continue building a more
welcoming community for the veterans in my city.
 SECTION 3
Inclusive Leadership / Diversity and its application to leadership
(Student will create a personal code of inclusive leadership)

While leading others, you must be inclusive of everyone’s differences, opinion’s and ideas. Being
inclusive does not mean you must include everyone, however; you should be aware of the differences
that people have within a group/ or community. In HDF 190, based on the VIA results, one of my top
values is fairness. Inclusiveness and fairness intertwine with each other when it comes to being a leader.
In HDF 190, we did an activity in the multicultural center with the other section of HDF 190. We were
split up into groups that we never worked with before. In our groups, we had to figure out how to get
across a line together being almost simultaneous. Since we are all first-year leaders, we all had different
ideas about how to accomplish the goal. Using my value of fairness and being inclusive, I made sure
that we each put our input in and then combined different ideas into one to achieve our goal. Being an
inclusive leader means acting fair and treated everyone respectfully while being aware of differences.
 SECTION 5
Interpersonal and Organizational Concepts and Skills
(Student will show knowledge of the construction / elements of informative and persuasive speeches)

In my public speaking class, COM 202, we have learned, prepared, and presented informative and
persuasive speeches throughout the semester. When performing an informative and persuasive speech,
one must start with an introduction that grabs the audience’s attention. In the introduction, one must
introduce themselves, introduce the topic being discussed and preview their main points. A good
introduction can start with visual aids, statistics regarding your topic, an anecdote, or anything that might
interest the audience. In an informative and persuasive speech, it is valuable to have at least three to
five main points to back up your topic. If you have less than three points, you will not be able to get your
point across. If you have more than five points, your audience will not be able to follow what you’re
saying. The difference between an informative speech and a persuasive speech is that in a persuasive
speech, you will need to have evidence to back up your argument. It is also important to have claims for
your counterargument. An example of a persuasive speech would be “college athletes should be paid.”
An example of an informative speech would be discussing a country or a place. Your topics can be
anything if you back up your arguments with valid information and evidence.