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Leadership Profile
Eric Hilldorfer
Western Michigan University

Leadership can take many forms and people can lead in different ways and be successful
leaders. Through the course and though my time enrolled in the Higher Education and Student

LEADERSHIP PROFILE

Affairs program I have reflected and explored my leadership abilities from past and present
experiences. There are theories that can be applied to my leadership style and there are theories
to show my growth as a leader in the various roles that I have held or I am currently holding.
One of the first assignments was to list and explain the various leadership roles that I
have held. The toughest part for me was to keep the list to the required page limit since I have
held multiple leadership roles before my undergraduate schooling, during, and after and now in
my graduate program. Each role I have had has allowed me to develop and grow to become, in
my opinion, a more successful leader.
Undergraduate Experience
My largest leadership role in my undergraduate experience was as president of my
fraternity. I had led small group efforts before but I had never led the entire group. I feel that
these small efforts are what led to me becoming president of the organization. I had all sorts of
ideas how the chapter could be improved but I learned that I need to get support from the
members before I could move forward and I could effectively lead them. There were different
techniques that I used as leader of the fraternity and I was using Kouzes and Posners five
practices of exemplary leadership (2007) without actually knowing or reading about these
techniques.
Out of the five practices, I used model the way the most in my leadership. An effective
leader must be able to demonstrate their values and principles (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). I would
never ask my members to do anything that I would not do myself. We had to have a certain
percentage of members attend a number of small functions as one of the requirements to being a
recognized organization on campus. They were not the most exciting events and members
typically did not enjoy going to them. The past leadership would only require first year and

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second year members to attend. There was essentially no accountability within the group, so to
counteract that I required that every member needs to attend unless they had class or work. I
would attend each event as a way of showing that even though I was the leader I was still an
equal member just like any other member. By modeling the way I was also able to build trust
among the members.
By building the trust of my members I was enabling others to act. I was fostering
collaborations and building trust among team members. Command and control techniques are
not conducive to creating strong relationships within the group (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). I had
to be more relational with my group members. This meant taking more interest in my members
personal lives, ad really getting to know them. I had known most of the members for at least a
year or two if not more before I stepped into the role, but I had to find out their goals and values
and how the aligned with the mission of the fraternity. By finding this out I was able to delegate
certain tasks or projects that aligned with others goals. Since they were partaking in activities
that focused on their interests it was easy for them to want to help out the organization. The
members enjoyed the projects and were able to trust my abilities of selection; therefore, they
were putting trust in me and my leadership.
This allowed me to lead an effective organization and persuade the group to improve and
become better because they could see and feel my passion. Anita Roddick said that, We
communicate with passion-and passion persuades. (Kouzes, 1996). I was showing being true to
myself and this honesty was able to be reflective amongst the members. This honesty and
knowing my leadership was able to transfer into my work after my undergraduate experience.
Work Experience

LEADERSHIP PROFILE

After graduating with a Bachelor of Art degree in Criminology from Indiana University
of Pennsylvania I did not go into law enforcement or corrections like many of my classmates. I
ended up working my summer job as an artificial turf installer and eventually moving to San
Francisco and managing and bicycle tour and rental company. In both of these positions I
carried over my transformational leadership from the use of Kouzes and Posners five exemplary
practices of leadership (Northouse, 2013). I was also able to use more authentic leadership and
aid in problem solving and using my critical thinking skills.
The breakdown of Terrys (1993) authentic leadership approach consists of two
components. The first step in this theory is identifying what is taken place. Once that is
identified the leader must then figure out how to correct or act on the identified situation
(Northouse, 2013). I was constantly using Terrys approach to figure out solutions because they
were always arising every day. Whether it was equipment breaking down or employees not
finishing their work in a timely fashion I would identify the problem then figure out how to
correct. I was able to do this while also building strong relationships with my team members and
co-workers using transformational leadership method I had used in previous positions.
For example when I would work for the artificial turf installation company, equipment
would break down all the time because the work we were doing was not easy. Naturally the stuff
had to be repaired but it was not always the same problem. Equipment broke down for many
reasons. There might be sand or water in the shearers to cut the turf down or they were simply
overheated. As an assistant supervisor I would have to identify the situation and find out how to
repair the equipment so my crew could finish their task. I would also train my crew members to
so they could make the corrections and become leaders themselves. I would do similar work as

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the manager of the bicycle and rental company too. Be able to encourage others, correct
situations, and train others to be leaders have led me to my position today.
Graduate School
All of the positions that I have held have shaped me into the leader that I am today in
Western Michigan Universitys Higher Education and Student Affairs program. I have combined
my past leadership experiences as well as incorporated new ones to be an effective leader in my
program. I currently work in Career and Student Employment Services as the Co-Leader of the
Career Zone. I work with students on developing their resumes, cover letters, interview
preparation, and other topics surrounding career development. I also supervise the other advisers
in the Career Zone that work with the students. In this rule I would say I use a few of Golmans
(2000) leadership styles (Fullman, 2001).
My leadership really reflects two of the styles. The first style that is reflective in my work
is democratic. The leader forges consensus through participation and asks the individual on their
opinion before providing their advice (Fullman, 2001). The majority of my assistance with the
other advisors comes when they are working with a student and there is something on a resume
they have not seen before and how it should be corrected. Before I give direct answer I will ask
the advisor what they have done so far and what they think the correction or formatting change
should be made. By presenting them with the question I am allowing their opinion to have value
and allowing them to still be an active participant in the conversation. The advisor can then
continue to work with the student knowing they have the confidence to conduct great work.
The next style that I have modeled my leadership after has been through coaching. In
this style the leader attempts to develop their subordinates by preparing them for future situations
(Fullman, 2001). Typically after I have used my democratic leadership style and the advisor has

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finished working with the student I will switch over to the coaching style. We will walk through
their last appointment and discuss what worked and what did not work for them. I will ten
provide them with a scenario from my experience and explain how I handled the situation. I will
then give them other options to handle a situation and maybe provide them with a handout or
other resources to assist them for certain situations. That way the student will be prepared for
any future scenarios. I am helping them prepare just like a coach does with their team before the
big game. Our practice is me working with the advisors and their big game is when the work
with the students. They have to execute their directions to students to secure the victory of
knowing that a student will be prepared to develop a resume or other career materials when they
leave our office.
Looking to the Future
As a leader I have developed a leadership style that is a hybrid of multiple models. Being
an effective leader means that being able to adapt to certain situations. This is essential to
fostering success within the group (Northouse, 2013). Even though I have developed into a
different leader from my undergraduate to my experience today I am not complete leader. Each
day allows for new experiences and learning more techniques to become an effective leader. I
still have more growth and development in my leadership journey and I look forward to it every
day.

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7
References

Fullan, M. (2001). Understanding change. In Leading in a Culture of Change. ppg. 31-49.


Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA.
Kouzes, J. M. (1996). Finding your leadership voice. In Leader to Leader. 1996(1), ppg. 37-42.
Kouzes, J. M. & Posner, B. Z. (2007). The five practices of exemplary leadership. In The
Jossey-Bass Reader on Leadership (2nd ed.). ppg.63-74. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA.
Northouse, P. G. (2013) Leadership: Theory and practice (6th ed.). Sage Publications Inc.:
Washington, D. C.

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