HDF 190: FIRST YEAR LEADERS INSPIRED TO EXCELLENCE LEADERSHIP PORTFOLIO Conor Fagan SPRING 2011 fagan246@gmail.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS Strengths Opening Statement SLIDE 3 Section 1: Self Leadership SLIDE 4 Section 2: Leadership Theories SLIDE 5 Section 3:Critical Thinking SLIDE 6 Section 4: Interpersonal/Organizational Leadership SLIDE 7 Section 5: Interpersonal/Organizational Leadership SLIDE 8
Signature Strengths Context: I prefer to look to the either my own past or into history to find answers to most of my questions. I also like to keep asking the difficult questions for a complete understanding. Restorative: In every day of my life I face problems that I am able to overcome. However, I often aid those with their own daily problems to make their life a little better. Connectedness: I don't follow any organized religion. This does not mean I have no religion. I follow my own morals on my own path, on which I have seen some inexplicable things. Empathy: I am able to read some people like a book. However, I don't take advantage of this, and I always try to help them, especially if they are in need. Strategic: Large work loads never really bother me. I am always able to organize the various tasks appointed to me and make them manageable and stress free. Values in Action Strengths Kindness: In my opinion, everyone's day can be made better by a simple act of kindness. I try to provide this to friends and strangers whenever possible. Bravery: "All evil needs to prevail is for good men to do nothing". Therefore I refuse to stand by while something I deem to be immoral is occurring and I always try to counteract such actions. Perspective: Honesty: Being honest allows me to meet my problems head on by not lying and trying to avoid the inevitable. Perseverance: I thoroughly believe that if you start something you better be prepared to finish it. Therefore, I always put forth my best effort and make sure I do it right.
OPENING STATEMENT Through my experiences in this class I have learned much about myself as a leader. I learned countless theories that are all very applicable. However, just because I ‘know’ a theory, doesn’t necessarily mean I know how to apply it. Now that I am approaching the end of this class, I believe that I can and have applied what I have learned. Using my strengths, I have successfully implemented self leadership, leadership theories, critical thinking, and organizational leadership in my life.
SECTION 1 SELF LEADERSHIP Outcome number 10 (Student will demonstrate the ability to lead a project from start to finish) For my leadership contract I decided to organize and lead a group of individuals on an Appalachian Mountain Trail backpacking trip over the course of three days. This process took far more organization and planning then I had originally anticipated. However, I continued and eventual had completed all of the organizational work required before the actual trip. During the course of the hike, some of the members started to become uninspired and want to give up. I was able to help him and give him encouragement in order for him as well as the rest of the group to finish the hike(See evidence #2, and #3). All in all this project began a month before it was ultimately finished. Both at the top of the last mountain (when the trip was symbolically over) and once I and my friends had finally returned home from the trip, I had an intense feeling of pride at the goal I had finally accomplished. Not only was this something to be proud of, but I was happy that we all made it home safely.
SECTION 2 Leadership Theory and Models Outcome 35( Student will describe personal application of the above theory ) Over the course of the summer, just prior to the start of the semester, a very close friend of mine was hit by a drunk driver. He very nearly died, and for several weeks we thought he might not make it. When he finally made it into the clear, he and his family faced another challenge, my friend have very minimal health insurance coverage and an enormous hospital bill. In addition, he was unable to work as he was a landscaper. I got to know this friend and his family very well in a sparring organization known as the Society of Creative Anachronism (SCA). Therefore my family and friends began organizing fund raisers in order to help my friend with his bills and raise awareness about the severity of drunk driving. Two of my friends and I hosted a sparring tournament over the course of a few days in which we were able to raise $3,500 for my friend(See evidence #5). My personal values of friendship and loyalty paired with the similar values of my close friends sparked the idea for us to come up with way to raise this money and spread the awareness. To perform this fund raiser we had to communicate with others within the SCA and let them know the importance of this fund raiser. While I didn’t do this fundraiser for personal gains, I was greatly rewarded just in knowing that I was doing something good for a good person. This experience helped me to idolize helping others and supporting noble causes.
SECTION 4 Critical Thinking Outcome 70 ( Student will demonstrate proficiency of critical thinking ) Being a college student, I am required to critically think on countless ideas and plans in order to assure my academic success and mental health. However, the most challenging instance of critical think occurred for me in the process of creating and carrying out my Learning Contract. First I had to decide what I wanted to do for my Contract. I had to decide what aspect of leadership I wished to address, and how to relate it to my strengths and capabilities. Through much brain storming, I was able to decide, due to my extensive experiences in the outdoors, to lead a hike on the Appalachian Mountain Trail(See evidence #11). Next I had to decide on whom to bring with me on this journey. I wanted to be as inclusive as possible, but at the same time I wanted to insure that everyone who came on this trip would be capable and safe over the course of the 30 mile hike. Therefore I decided that I would invite as many people that I felt would conduct themselves safely. From here I had to go over the people who I knew that had some experience and I could trust. This process took me several weeks as any individual who I was on the fence about inviting required my personal decision. Finally, I was confident with the group I had assembled and we were all able to go on our trip safely. The selection of people was a somewhat unpleasant process. I do not enjoy judging people on their abilities, especially my friends(See evidence #3). For this reason I had critically think as to whether or not my decisions were correct so as to not unjustly exclude anyone. Luckily, no individuals felt left out that I know of, this made me very happy to know everyone was happy and had their way.
SECTION 3 Interpersonal/Organizational Leadership Outcome 86 (Student will describe personal examples of organizing meetings / setting agendas / leading meetings) In any group that is constructive and productive, there needs to be a degree of organization, specifically when it comes to organizing meetings and setting the agendas. This semester I have carried out my Learning Contract where I led a group of individuals on a three day hike on the Appalachian Mountain Trail. There was a large degree of organization required for leading this trip. I had to organize the meetings, provide the materials, make an agenda of what to inform the hikers on, and lead the meetings to convey all of the required materials. The main challenge for organizing the meetings was to find time with everyone’s busy schedules where we could all meet for a consecutive hour. The agenda was also difficult to provide as I had to collect and create all of the desired information such as packing lists and informative letters. Luckily the leading of these meetings was straight forward as all I had to do in this instance was to convey the information on the lists and letters( See evidence #11). In addition I had to have a questions and answers session with the hikers in order to insure that all members were well informed and aware of what needed to be done. The logistical side of running a group is incredibly tiring. However, I found the experience to be very rewarding and almost enjoyable.
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