Leadership Portfolio

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Content

Personal Introduction 4

Statement of Leadership 5-6

Vision Statement 7

Code of Ethics 8-9

Speaker Assessment, Dr. Paul G. Stoltz 10-11

AQ Profile 12

AQ Profile Results & Improvement Plan 13

The Real Deal Cards 14-15

Leadership Wordle 16

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Action Plans

Social Action Plan 17

Academic Action Plan 18

Professional Action Plan 19

Accenture Consulting Case Study 20

Proposed Solutions 21-22

Leadership Video 23

Final Thoughts 24

Personal Experience 25-26

Closing 27

Personal Brand 28

Content

My Personal Introduction

Hello there,

My name is Ryan Hakes, an enthused student who attends one of the most prominent and amazing schools in the whole country: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. I have been given one of the best opportunities of my life to further my education and find a prominent role in the difficult market that we all face today. To do this though, I realize that it is necessary for me to excel and become a stand-out individual.

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I have created this portfolio in recognition of my development as a leader. Over the past 10 weeks of my life, I have had the greatest opportunity to become a part of the Leadership Summit class in the Orfalea College of Business, taught by the one and only Ronda Beaman. In regards to Ronda, I just wanted to say that you have allowed me realize my potential as a leader and an individual, and I could not thank you enough for everything that you have taught me throughout the time that I have known you.

Throughout this class, me and a group of inspiring colleagues have encountered numerous CEOs, inspiring individuals, and motivating leaders who have all taught me about different aspects of leadership and my potential as a leader. I can not be more grateful for everything that has been given to me during this time. I am sure to utilize everything I have learned in this class for all aspects of my life, whether it be at a job, in the classroom, playing sports, or within personal relationships.

I will take it upon myself to say that I had a rather vague definition of leadership in my past. I recollect it being along the lines of “Those in a higher position who have control over others and can make important decisions that affect everyone.” I look back at this now and realize that I was completely wrong.

A leader is someone who has any position where they can not only benefit themselves, but help others. Giving up oneself is a very important characteristic because those who follow leaders look up to them for advice, suggestions, or even just a friendly smile every once in a while. In addition, I believe that leaders should be charismatic, as well as responsible, in every aspect of what they do. People will recognize when someone is giving it their all on a task or opportunity and this is sure to be rewarded to that individual, whether it is tangible or not.

Definition What it takes to be a leader is not something that is simply attained by an

individual. This sort of self-fulfillment is acquired through something much more than that. Extensive time commitment, hard work, dedication, courage, understanding; all of these and others unmentioned are traits that every leader possesses and incorporates in their daily lives. These quality characteristics will always be apparent in leaders, no matter where you find them.

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Statement of Leadership

“Leadership is achieved by developing a genuine sense of character that can persevere through adversity and

remain confident, but still humbly give yourself up to help others.”

-Ryan Hakes

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Leadership Hard Work

Honesty

Courage

Understanding

Strength

Responsibility

Commitment

Vision Statement

“I want to be successful in creating and keeping personal relationships, and enjoy life growing as

an individual and helping others.”

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My vision statement describes what I expect of myself to achieve as a leader. This is significant to me because it provides me with a clear direction and motivates me to get out of bed and improve myself each and every day. I have clarified my statement

by bringing together four of my significant life domains: Professional life, personal life, social life, and spiritual life.

Code of Ethics

My personal code of ethics consists of a couple of important traits that I strive to live by every single day. Whether it was an opportunity or a problem, a dire situation or an easy task, they all have influenced me as an individual and led

me to develop a code of three different traits that I choose to define who I truly am: honesty, perseverance, and responsibility.

Honesty

I think that honesty is a key aspect of character. Through it, people are able to interact more efficiently, complete tasks more thoroughly, and learn more about themselves. I have found that when I tell the truth, I can feel confident in myself whether that truth was of good or bad nature. Honesty has also led me to create some of the best relationships in my life. By being honest to others, they recognize that they can be honest with me too, and this mutual connection builds some of the strongest relationships both inside and outside of the workplace.

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Perseverance

I consider perseverance to be an imperative quality for myself to live by as a leader. When I am faced with the decision to take a challenge at hand, I will most likely take it. And when I do, I do not give up. There are always difficulties and obstacles that will get in the way of finishing my final goal, but I do not let it get the best of me.

Responsibility

Most importantly though, I think that responsibility trumps any other aspect of one’s true character. I like to think of responsibility as owning up to your actions, and completing the tasks and goals that are on your plate at any given time, with no exceptions. Based on my experience, I have found that people, and more specifically superiors, are more appreciative of someone who can explain a bad choice that they made. This is better than having that person lie about the situation, then the superior finds out about it at a later time. My accomplishments have all been traced back to my responsibility, and I hold it close to my personal code of ethics.

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Dr. Paul G. Stoltz

Adversity Quotient (AQ) This resilience factor is what all true leaders deal with every day. Top

CEOs and leaders all have high AQs because of the adversities they face each day. It affects performance, learning, health, innovation, change, and a bunch of other characteristics. At this point, I can embrace my resilience and let it better me, not tear me down. I continue to inspire myself to take initiative, become more positive in life, and get through the toughest adversities to raise my AQ and live a more fulfilling life.

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Dr. Stoltz is quite an amazing individual. I was honored to have him as a guest speaker in my Leadership Summit class and learned valuable lessons about the mindset of individuals. He is one of the world’s leading experts on measuring and strengthening human resilience, and does this through a theory he developed called the Adversity Quotient, or AQ. He is also the founder of PEAK learning, Inc., a global research and consulting firm for top leaders and thinkers across the world. His insight on the subject of resilience and the human mindset has given me the knowledge to shape myself to become a great leader.

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Core Human Drive Dr. Stoltz explained to me how the core human drive is to ascend. It is

not possible to win by just being average. It is proven that the longer you camp out at a certain point, the easier it is for motivation to deplete and turn into fear of change. That’s why I have taken it upon myself to achieve the highest aspirations that I have. I do not want to settle for what I already have. What I want is to deliver results and better myself so that I do not get stuck on the way up to the peak of the mountain.

Inspiration What inspired me about his speech was that I did not realize that

adversities played such a key role in leadership. He shared that all the factors of my life are affected by my adversity quotient. This is important to me because now I can truly embrace the adversities I face in a normal day and use them to my personal advantage. His speech made me think about the different obstacles I encounter in life, and it seems the best way to handle these adversities is to optimally respond to them by keeping calm and collective by means of my true character and commitment.

AQ Profile

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The Adversity Quotient is a real world indicator of how I respond to adversity, and also the way I react when faced with complex and difficult situations in life. It has been proven through this test that the best leaders have the highest AQ scores. I have explained the CORE categories of AQ below.

Control

• Measures the extent to which you feel you can influence difficult situations

Ownership

• Measures the extent to which you tend to "step up" and take the initiative to improve difficult situations, regardless of their cause

Reach

• Assesses the extent to which you let a setback in one area of your life reach over and affect other areas

Endurance

• Assesses how long you perceive adverse events will last or endure

My AQ Results

AQ 154 = Average

I see my average AQ score as a means for me to improve in all the resilient situations which

come up in my life. Certain conditions that are difficult, demanding, or stressful seem to have been a prior factor which affected my overall performance of any task at hand. That’s why I

am focusing on these categories to progress my mindset and become more resilient:

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Average Score My Score

C 41 44

O 45 39

R 32 34

E 36 37

AQ 154 154

AQ Improvement Plan

1. Understand How I React When Adversity Strikes: It is beneficial for me to identify when my performance or effectiveness weakens so that I understand what caused the problem, and in turn learn when to naturally respond in a more positive manner when things get tough.

2. Ask Myself the CORE Questions: By asking these questions each time adversity strikes, I will recognize how to contain myself to get past and work through previously impossible situations.

The Real Deal

Commitment – Achievement-Oriented I chose commitment because it is always important for leaders to stay

on task with everything at hand. By dedicating my work to an assignment at large, I know I will get it done efficiently and effectively. As others see my commitment to my work, they will be inclined to excel and do the same.

Responsibility – Achievement-Oriented To be responsible is imperative for those who are looking to exceed

beyond expectations. Leaders will assume many different roles and positions in their work, but they will achieve success because of their motivation to that work. Also, I believe responsible individuals can influence their followers by owning up to mistakes they made, but still push forward to fix it and continue with excellence.

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The Real Deal cards were given to me by Dr. Jeff Thompson in an exercise that allowed me to decide which 5 cards are most important to me as a leader. Of the 75 cards in the deck, the 5 below best represented how I believe a leader should be defined. Each card had a letter that represented the response into 4 categories: Achievement-Oriented (A), Extrinsic (E), Intrinsic (I), and Relational (R).

Relationships – Relational This value is critical to me as a leader because relationships are the foundation

of progress. By having the capability of interacting professionally and personally with others, I know I can be more capable of innovating and completing tasks because I can organize our success with minimal drawbacks.

Honesty – Relational An honest individual will most likely be the guy who made the mistake, owned

up to it, and still maintained his position at his job. I see honesty as a central characteristic of all leaders because they must be transparent so that others can know and understand their intentions in everything they do. This transparency will in turn boost morale of others and allow them to inherent the same traits.

Health/Strength – Intrinsic I consider this trait to be vital for a leader’s own performance. By being

healthy, a leader will call in for sick days less, be more inclined to work, and all around just feel better. This is in correlation to strength because it allows the individual to push through the toughest times. I feel that others can see this determination in a leader and aspire to become more like them.

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Leadership Wordle

This Wordle I created represents the Real Deal cards that emphasize the different aspects of a leader. The largest words highlight what I believe to be

the most important qualities. I strive to live up to these qualities as I learn more about my leadership capabilities and develop my individuality.

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• Build stronger relationships with my family and friends Goal

• By doing this, I can value each and every person in my life and show them that when they need me, I will be there for them

Motivation

• Pushing people away based on judgment

• Others do not treat me well even though they are close friends with me

• Failing to reach out and meet new people

Obstacles

• Treat others as how I want them to treat me

• Respect individuals for who they are

• Receive help from others and give help to them in times of need

Action Steps

Social Action Plan

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Academic Action Plan

• To graduate with above a 3.0 cumulative GPA in my major and minor classes Goal

• It will add more depth to my resume

• It shows that I performed well in my most important classes

• It will boost my confidence when I apply for jobs

Motivation

• Difficult classes that require extensive amounts of work

• Working on projects with teams that are unmotivated

• Teachers that are tough graders on assignments

Obstacles

• Stay motivated to excel on difficult assignments

• Go to teacher’s office hours to get a clearer understanding of confusing projects

• Inspire others in group projects to stay on task and perform to the best of their ability

Action Steps

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Professional Action Plan

• Obtain a job where I can be happy going to it every single day Goal

• Gives me a peace of mind at work

• My happiness will correlate with the performance of my duties

• My life will be more fulfilled and inspiring

Motivation

• Entry level positions are demanding and difficult to work in

• I may not get into my preferred field of work

• Climbing up the corporate ladder is easier said than done

Obstacles

• Be proficient and committed to any position I hold

• Show confidence in my work and strive to make the best of any situation

• Set goals and achieve them through perseverance and resilience

Action Steps

Accenture Consulting Case Study

Client Background Accenture is self described as a global management consulting,

technology services and outsourcing company on their website. They also state their core values as being stewardship, best people, client value creation, one global network, respect for the individual, and integrity. Sam Aborne has worked for Accenture for two years now, and in that time he has reached the position of Manager, while acting as and performing the responsibilities of a Senior Manager. Sam has recently experienced a change in superiors as his previous boss was promoted to a different area, and is currently adjusting to a new Senior Manager and Executive Manager while working on a project with the same client as before.

Leadership Challenge Previously, Sam Aborne ran a project and the client saw an increase in

profit and desired more from Accenture. After the change in leadership, this same client is now facing loss and is frustrated and slowly withdrawing. Sam Aborne was given the new title of “Business Architect” although that is not a specific role in the company, and is up for promotion based on performance but is wondering what to do to reestablish leadership, institute a role and add value to the company and client, and whether or not he should do something to stop the decline in business.

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First of all, Sam Aborne should focus on being a leader to those he is superior to: the consultants and analysts, as well as his peers in the company. He can do this by assigning essential tasks to them, helping them with any problems they incur, and developing strong relationships to acknowledge he is a friend, and a leader. By leading through example, he can help gear their work to the goals and methods that previously worked to increase the profit of the client. The next course of action we recommend is making the most of the resources available. By leveraging the personal relationship with his old boss, Sam can ask for specific advice about how to move forward. Additionally, speaking with the client can determine their feelings and needs with respect to the business relationship. Sam should meet with his new boss, prepared with specific recommendations in mind, and suggest, humbly action items that keep the client’s value in mind.

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Proposed Solutions

Based on thorough discussion of the problem Sam Aborne is facing, and after analyzing the different courses of action he may take, my consulting group created a plan that we believe is the best course of action in this particular

scenario.

Finally, the most important action we believe Sam Aborne should take is to use his abilities to become the best Business Architect imaginable. While it could be considered a demotion of sorts, Sam has an opportunity to take advantage of the ambiguity of the new position, react optimally, and use his new job to continue adding value to the customer. This vague role gives him the chance to define goals and tasks that would be of best interest to the company. He should resist feeling hurt and blaming a superior for not recognizing his potential, as only he can prove his own value to others. By being the best he can be at this new role, he will be able to put the customer first, and will be rewarded for truly helping the client achieve the desired outcome.

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Leadership Video Link

This video was produced by my fellow climbers and I in the Leadership Summit class. It was our intention for the video to highlight the key aspects of leadership and to motivate others

to lead their own lives to the peak.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdvjzC4yI3g

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I can honestly say that this Leadership Summit class has changed me into a renewed individual. What I have taken away from it is nothing that I have ever experienced before, and it is great because all of it is for the betterment of me. After listening to some of the world’s top CEOs, inspiring leaders, and proficient speakers, I will utilize many of these talked about values and qualities every day from here on out. Some of them include commitment, honesty, communication, responsibility, and resilience, but are not limited to only these. I plan to pursue greatness and all that it has in store for me.

I also just wanted to give a special thanks to my amazing teacher Ronda Beaman, my leadership Sherpa Andrew Bui, and the rest of my climbing team. Without these people, my journey to the peak would have been a troublesome quest. Their knowledge and advice helped me push through the tough tasks I faced and strive towards the long term goal of improving myself as a leader.

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Final Thoughts

Teamwork Experience

Marketing Projects ValuePulse Marketing Promotion Plan September 2011 – December 2011

Organized an advertising plan for the ValuePulse social media site, specifically conducting primary and secondary research, creating SWOT analyses, developing marketing strategies, and allocating costs among internet sites and mobile applications.

My Cal Poly Executive Marketing Plan March 2012 – June 2012

Prepared a comprehensive marketing plan for the ITS department at Cal Poly by conducting secondary and primary research, including observations, interviews, questionnaires, and focus groups, to better segment and organize the My Cal Poly website for all current students.

Co-curricular Activities Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity April 2011- Present

Social Chair

Coordinated multiple social events by contacting local businesses and organizations, establishing reasonable dates, and organizing large groups of people, all with tight budgets and limited time.

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Leadership & Work Experience

Leadership Experience Leadership Summit January 2013 – March 2013 Developed personal growth in the areas of leadership, ethics, and resilience, and

consolidated these accomplishments into a leadership portfolio. Gave free leadership and management consulting to an employee of Accenture,

a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company.

Work Experience Beach Butlerz June 2012 – Present Manager Promoted from butler to manager within 3 months and took on new

responsibilities including managing parties, scheduling employees, and handling internal conflicts.

Provided quality service and addressed any concerns to clients attending weddings, bonfires, and parties.

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“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal;

Nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”

-Thomas Jefferson

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