FIRST YEAR LEADERS INSPIRED TO EXCELLENCE HDF 190: FIRST YEAR LEADERS INSPIRED TO EXCELLENCE LEADERSHIP PORTFOLIO Tyler Sloan SPRING 2014 Tyler_sloan@my.uri.edu

Opening Statement SLIDE 4 Section 1: Self Leadership SLIDE 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Strengths SLIDE 3 Opening Statement SLIDE 4 Section 1: Self Leadership SLIDE 5 Section 2: Leadership Theories SLIDE 6 Section 3: Inclusive Leadership SLIDE 7 Section 4: Critical Thinking SLIDE 8 Section 5: Interpersonal/Organizational Leadership SLIDE 9 *If you do not have one outcome from each area of the Inventory completed, you may opt to choose 2 from one of the sections. Intro. presentation topics: Getting involved, gaining skills, meeting new people/a community of leaders, finding your niche

Values in Action Strengths Signature Strengths Analytical Strategic Achiever Learner Competition Values in Action Strengths Humor Creativity Honest Fairness Perserverence M Selling point: Why they should be involved in the Minor/our programs? Our graduating seniors had a 3.63 GPA. You can be involved and have a fantastic GPA. Half were also in Honor’s and/or Greek Life. It’s about being in a community of people who want to make a difference – it’s about support and knowing the people to help you get want you want accomplished – starting TODAY! 3

OPENING STATEMENT Entering FLITE this year, I knew why I was a leader, but was not quite sure how I was a leader. Through HDF190, I was introduced to leadership theories and models that I had and will continue to subscribe to on a daily basis. Great things to be able to answer by the time you get ready for interviews…these are the things that people come to college for! Gain REAL experience in order to lead in your field of study! 4

Additional Experiences SECTION 1 SELF LEADERSHIP (Student will show evidence of goals and objectives that were planned and achieved) When I first started working at Six Flags, I started off as a Retail Team Member, the lowest man on the totem pole so to speak. I knew that I wanted to be more than just someone who sold the product. I wanted to be the person behind the scenes making sure everything went according to plan, and when need be, stepped up to take care of certain guest problems. I told myself by the end of that first season that I wanted to be an Assistant Supervisor, so I worked harder than any other team member in my department. This caught the attention of the Retail Manager and full time supervisors. They promoted me and upon becoming the assistant supervisor of retail, I began changing everything that was not working and tried to make everything more efficient Additional Experiences HDF 190 Group Project, Leadership positions at Six Flags Relay For Life Committee The are both academic and co-curricular opportunities. 5

Leadership Theory and Models Additional Experiences SECTION 2 Leadership Theory and Models (Student will describe personal application of the above theory (Greenleaf)) All throughout my life I had been involved in leadership ventures where I was a servant leader, but this time I got to be a servant leader for a class of my peers, fellow freshman here at URI. When I accepted the position, I knew I had to give these students the opportunity to succeed just as I had the previous semester. For one student in particular, the material finally clicked with her. She has recently come talk to me about helping me tutor in the Fall if I continue to do so and wants to expand the tutoring to all the MTH 110 classes regardless of teacher. This is a direct reflection of Greenleaf’s theory wherein “Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?” Additional Experiences HDF 190 Activities, MTH 110 Tutoring The are both academic and co-curricular opportunities. 6

Inclusive Leadership / Diversity and its application to leadership SECTION 3 Inclusive Leadership / Diversity and its application to leadership (Students will demonstrate knowledge of McIntosh’s theory of privilege and its relationship to leadership) McIntosh writes about privilege of whites, and discrimination of other races and genders in her paper. She talks of how those that are not men, and not white, are seen to be at a disadvantage while white men are believed to be neutral. She goes on to compare white privilege to an “invisible knapsack of unearned assets.” She makes a valid argument that white men are given all these privileges that they are have an advantage over all others. This argument is very controversial in today’s day and age. Working at Six Flags, an affirmative action employer, controversy over why some people got hired over others is always an issue. Additional Experiences HDF 190, Management at Six Flags The are both academic and co-curricular opportunities. 7

Additional Experiences SECTION 4 Critical Thinking (Student will demonstrate proficiency of critical thinking) Critical thinking is not just a leadership characteristic; everyone does it no matter what they are doing. In my philosophy class, my professor once said, “We were all thinking critically when deciding on what college to attend, but thinking critically and making the right choice are completely different things.” Basically, he says everyone thinks critically whether they are aware of it or not, but not all decisions that are made are the right ones. Critical thinking occurs every day in almost every class at URI. The class I find myself thinking critically the most is BUS 111, where we have to develop linear programming models for us to be able to analyze. We must think about all of the given info, think about the big picture and start putting the pieces together after questioning the validity of the answers. Just like with math, if you use critical thinking, you will arrive at a sound conclusion. Additional Experiences HDF 190, BUS 111, PHL 212 The are both academic and co-curricular opportunities. 8

Interpersonal and Organizational Concepts and Skills SECTION 5 Interpersonal and Organizational Concepts and Skills (Student will describe personal examples of group development in use (Tuckman, Bennis or others). When we found out who was in our group, we had already completed icebreakers and team building exercises because we had all been apart of the bigger 10-person group. From there, all we had to do is come to a general understanding of the task. We understood what we needed to accomplish, and who should take on what role. Then, the storming stage hit us out of nowhere. Although not a huge part of the process, when Robert questioned the ability of our original project to meet the criteria for the organization, we began to question ourselves. We knew we had to change it, but initially we began to challenge each other and our roles. The stress and anxiety was overwhelming. Finally, we passed that stage and reached the norming stage. We decided that we needed to work as a unit and not as individuals; we solidified our ideas and began to move in the right direction. Our performing stage was the stage that took the second longest length of time to complete. It spanned from when we began working on the proposal, paper, and presentation and ended with the completion of our speech on 4-22-14. Finally, the light at the end of the tunnel. We adjourned with praise for each other, recalling strenuous situations that we overcame to complete the project and discussion of how we thought the presentation went. Additional Experiences HDF 190, Group Proposal, Tutoring The are both academic and co-curricular opportunities. 9