HDF 190:

FIRST YEAR LEADERS INSPIRED TO EXCELLENCE

LEADERSHIP PORTFOLIO
Alexandra Fiore
SPRING 2015
allyfioreo@my.uri.edu

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Strengths and Values

Opening Statement

SLIDE #4

Section 1: Self Leadership

SLIDE #5

Section 2: Leadership Theories

SLIDE #7

Section 3: Inclusive Leadership

SLIDE #9

Section 5a: Interpersonal/Organizational Leadership

SLIDE #11

Section 5b: Interpersonal/Organizational Leadership

SLIDE#13

Signature Strengths
Positivity
Adaptability
Connectedness
Futuristic
Harmony

Values in Action Strengths

Spirituality
Fairness
Gratitude
Hope
Love

OPENING STATEMENT
This semester, taking FLITE was the second best decision I've made,
and the first best decision was attending the Leadership Institute. The
Center for Student Leadership Development has opened so many
doors for me and introduced me to some of the most amazing people.
In this class particularly, I have really learned who I am and what I am
supposed to be doing with my life. Learning about my strengths has let
me sum up what I am good at and how to overcome my weaknesses. I
feel confident that I can lead a roomful of people knowing these
strengths, as long as we can all work together as a team towards a
common purpose!

SECTION 1
SELF LEADERSHIP
#8: Student will express a personal values statement

Target Class: HDF190

Additional Experience: VIA character strengths

In the beginning of this leadership course, we were required to take a VIA quiz and our results told us what our top values are.
According to results, my top value is spirituality and at first I wasnt sure what it actually meant, but then as I further explored the
definition I was able to relate it to my life. The definition I was given to explain this value is, You have strong and coherent
beliefs about the higher purpose and meaning of the universe. You know where you fit in the larger scheme, Your beliefs shape
your actions and are a source of comfort to you. The part of this statement that stands out to me the most is where it says you
know where you fit in the larger scheme. I love this part because it helped me wrap my head around this value of spirituality and I
agree with it because I do feel comfortable in my own skin and I feel confident that I am in the right place in this world, doing the
right things. Even though I felt uneasy about receiving spirituality at first, the more I study it, the more confident I feel about
receiving it as my top value. My next top value is fairness. I couldn't help but smile when I received fairness because in high
school, I never felt like I fit in and all I wanted was everyone to be fair and include everyone. So now in college, I feel like I have
found my place and I fit in with everything I am involved with, however more importantly, I always am conscious of the people
around me, making sure their fitting in as well. My next value is gratitude and I feel like this is extremely important in this world.
A couple of years ago, my dad lost his job and my family definitely suffered a lot from it. Ever since then, I have learned to
appreciate everything in this world no matter what it is. I dont focus on the materialistic gifts; I live each day being extremely
thankful for each day to be alive and to have an amazing family by my side. Next comes hope. I have a lot of hope for the future in
becoming a nurse and I think it is important to have hope for the future because if you dont, what are you working hard for in life?
Lastly, my favorite top value is love. I am a huge believer in love, Im surrounded by love from my family and friends and by the
amount of I receive, I try to give two times of that love back to the people in my life. Love binds everyone together and gives me
hope for the future that if I continue to value love, we will all be okay in this world. The more I learn about my top values, I realize
that they all tie together. Without one of them, I wouldn't be the person I am today and I am so glad that HDF190 is truly teaching
me who I am supposed to be.
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SECTION 2
Leadership Theory and Models
#41: Student will describe personal application of the above theory (Komives et al)

Target Class: HDF190

One day during HDF 190, my class played a game called four-corners and this is how I
personally applied the relational leadership model to my life. Since there are five
different components to the above model, we made each component a corner of the
room and then we made the center of the room the last component. During this activity,
I stood in the corner for the inclusive component because I feel I relate to it the most.
Being a Nursing major, I know I am going to come across a lot of diversity, but it is
important to work with everyone and always believe that everyone is equal. I have been
the one who is left out many times and for me, I know that its one of the worst feelings
so I always want people to feel included and know that they have something to bring to
the table. It was very interesting to hear everyones viewpoints on each component, and
I did agree with everyones opinion, but in the end I still felt confident in the fact that I
relate to inclusive the most.
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SECTION 3
Inclusive Leadership / Diversity and its application to leadership

#81: Student will describe personal examples of being a change agent

TARGET CLASS: HDF190

Additional Experience: Leadership Ambassador for
Welcome Day

A change agent is a person who has the understanding, motivation, and skills to create positive
change. I believe I portrayed being a change agent this year working as a Leadership Ambassador
during Welcome Days, promoting the CSLD to incoming freshmen. As I was talking to the incoming
students and their families I couldn't believe that I was in the position that I was in because exactly a
year prior, was the day I decided that URI was the school for me. During these conversations I
realized my goal was to be a change agent to at least one person. I wanted to make them believe that
URI is right for them and they were meant to be a leader. Its such an amazing thing when someone
comes up to you and tells you that youre their inspiration so that was my goal. Leadership has truly
changed my life for the good more than I could even put into words and I wanted to show that to
new students. I want the Leadership program to change their lives just like it changed mine and in
order for that to happen I would be their change agent and make them commit to attending the
institute and following through in the minor. Doing the Welcome Days has truly shown me how
much Leadership has offered me at URI and how many opportunities have come my way, so I
believe that if I can successfully share this experience and convince someone to follow in my
footsteps, then I am a change agent.
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SECTION 5a
Interpersonal and Organizational Concepts and
Skills

#134: Student will describe ways to build relationships

between leaders and members
Target Class: HDF190
Additional Experience: Leadership Institute

Relationships are formed in many different ways. Friends, family members, acquaintances; they're all different
relationships and all of them have different closeness between them. When I went to the leadership institute I
experienced all three of these relationships, but there was certain way that built my relationship with my peers
and my leaders like no others.
In the beginning of this retreat, we all started out as acquaintances. We didn't know each other; we were all at
the institute for the same reasons but we were all strangers to each other. Moving forward in the retreat, we
started to get to know each other through icebreakers and activities that made us familiar with one another. The
memorable part of the institute for me would be breaking boundaries. Breaking boundaries is basically letting
all of the walls come down and building stronger bonds with the people next to you, stronger than I could've
ever imagined. Yes this built my relationship with my peers but it definitely built my relationship with my
leaders as well. During this experience, I looked up to my leaders so much more than I already did because it
made me realize how strong they both are. The part that I enjoyed the most about breaking boundaries was that
yes there was two leaders in the room, but during the moment it felt like they were one of us, one of the
students. It let them vent to us on an equal level and at the end, it made us all respect the two wonderful people
even more than we already did.
There are many different ways to build a relationship between a leader and a member, and breaking boundaries
is an extreme way to build this relationship, however for me it was an extremely memorable experience and I
will never forget the life-lasting relationships I gained at the leadership institute.
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SECTION 5b
Interpersonal and Organizational Concepts and Skills

#100: Student will describe examples of using active

listening skills
TARGET CLASS: HDF190
Additional Experience: Part-time Nannying Job

I believe I developed all of my active listening skills during my senior of high

school working with a baby boy everyday. I started watching him when he was
three months old and I still see him when I return home from school on breaks, but
since I was with him so much I practically raised him. Working with a baby is a
much different relationship because he was unable to talk yet so in order to
understand and cater to his needs, I had to channel in and actively listen to what he
wanted. As he got older it was amazing to see that I taught him some of his first
words and be able to listen and hear his progress. I want to work with babies for the
rest of my life and I feel that it takes a lot of skill and active listening to be
successful in working with them. Having futuristic as my top strength, I look
forward to working with babies and definitely having some of my own someday,
but through this process I definitely believe active listening is such an important
skill to carry.
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