Advanced Leadership Perspectives MSc

Program Overview

The MSc in Advanced Leadership Perspectives prepares high-potential managers for leadership roles through a focus on ethical and sustainable practices, inclusive talent management, and self-development. The program combines online learning, mentorship support, and practical work-based projects, allowing students to apply their knowledge directly within their organizations. By adopting a "wise compassionate leadership" approach, the program fosters a deeper understanding of employee motivation and well-being, while addressing the demands of contemporary leadership challenges.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

This MSc program in Advanced Leadership Perspectives is designed for high-potential middle managers and senior executives who want to enhance their leadership skills and create a significant impact within their organizations. The program focuses on developing contemporary leadership challenges and fostering personal leadership philosophies.

Key objectives include:

• Developing ethical and sustainable leadership practices.
• Employing compassionate approaches to people management.
• Mastering talent management strategies for inclusive and diverse teams.
• Implementing effective succession planning.
• Cultivating entrepreneurial decision-making approaches.
• Promoting self-development.
It adopts a work-based approach, encouraging practical application of learning through negotiated work-based projects.

Outline:

Program Structure:

• The program requires students to first complete the modules necessary for the Postgraduate Certificate (typically within the first year).
• Subsequently, students progress to the Master's level by completing the following:
• "Negotiating Your Professional Development" module
• "Delivering a Work-Based project" module
• Optional modules

Course Duration:

• 2-5 academic years to complete.

Modules:

Year 1

Core Modules:

• Compassionate Leadership: This module explores models, theories, and frameworks supporting compassionate leadership.
It aims to promote a healthier and happier organizational culture by examining concepts like burnout, emotional contagion, and psychological safety. Students will have the opportunity to self-reflect on their own compassion and develop practical solutions to foster a compassionate workplace. It examines inclusivity, diversity, and equality issues, encouraging critical assessment of organizational policies and practices. Students will reflect on their own inclusive leadership skills.
• Personal Learning and Development: This mandatory module serves as a foundation for the program, promoting self-awareness regarding strengths, development needs, and required skills.
Students negotiate their program of study with the guidance of a learning mentor. The module emphasizes "learning about learning" and develops critical lifelong and work-based skills.

Optional Modules:

• Business Ethics and Sustainability: This module explores the ethical, environmental, and social responsibilities of managers and leaders, examining the implications of business and management practices in an increasingly interconnected world.
• Entrepreneurial Decision-making: This module examines theories and frameworks for entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial leadership, focusing on innovation and opportunity identification within organizations.
Students analyze the impact of decision-making, data, disruptive technologies, and drivers of change while reflecting on their own entrepreneurial skills. Students develop their mentoring and coaching skills and explore key aspects such as confidentiality, values, and ethics.
• Leading and Managing People: This module focuses on effective people management practices throughout the employment lifecycle, including performance management, addressing performance issues, understanding employee motivation and behaviors, and developing effective leadership responses.
• Work-based Improvement and Innovation Project: This project-based module allows students to design and conduct practitioner enquiries that contribute to knowledge creation and organizational impact.
Students develop critical cognitive skills for questioning and challenging existing practices.

Year 2

Core Modules:

• Delivering a Work-Based project: This module requires students to undertake a substantial work-based project, involving practitioner enquiry, implementation, and review.
Students demonstrate their ability to plan, conduct, and evaluate a complex project that contributes to their organizational context.
• Negotiating your Professional Development: This module helps students customize their postgraduate program by establishing learning objectives, updating their personal development plans, engaging with stakeholders, and negotiating their future program modules.
It also involves outlining a proposal for a work-based project to meet personal, organizational, and university requirements.

Optional Modules:

• Accounting and Finance: This module provides a general understanding of financial issues, particularly the use of financial information and analysis in strategic decision-making.
• Developing Emotional Intelligence: This module explores the concept of emotional intelligence and its application in the workplace.
Students analyze different EI models and develop their ability to perceive, understand, and manage emotions effectively.
• Enhanced Coaching Skills: This module builds upon the "Introduction to Coaching and Mentoring" module by exploring more advanced coaching theories and strategies.
It examines a range of approaches, including Gestalt, solution-focused coaching, and cognitive behavioural coaching, and its application in different workplace settings.
• Future-proofing your Career: This module guides students in making informed career choices for job satisfaction and well-being.
It encourages self-assessment, career development planning, and identifying opportunities for career growth.
• Negotiating and Influencing Skills: This module provides an understanding of key negotiation and influence principles, including communication modes, persuasion techniques, appreciative inquiry, negotiation strategies, self-management, and win-win strategies.
• Operations Management: This module improves understanding of operations management and its role in organizational success.
It examines the connection between strategy, product or service delivery, and customer satisfaction.
• Systems Thinking: This module is designed for individuals grappling with change in complex environments.
It explores complexity science theory, human system dynamics, and tools for identifying efficient solutions to problems.

Assessment:

General Assessment Approach:

• Most modules are assessed through applied work-based assessments rather than traditional theory-based essays.
This means students typically apply their learning to their workplace context, evaluating concepts for their usefulness and applicability.
• Assessment formats may include reflective accounts, project reports, presentations, or portfolios of evidence.

Specific Module Assessments:

• Personal Learning and Development: Assessed through a learning portfolio demonstrating the student's progress throughout the module.
• Delivering a Work-Based Project: Assessed through a project report, with an executive summary and reflections, encompassing practitioner enquiry, implementation, and review.
• Negotiating your Professional Development: Assessed through a negotiated development plan and supporting rationale.
• Other modules: Typically assessed through applied work-based assessments, such as reflective accounts, project reports, presentations, or portfolios of evidence.
The word count for these assessments is generally around 2000 words or equivalent.

Teaching:

• Teaching Method: The program primarily uses a blended learning approach, incorporating online learning, self-study, reflection, discussion forums, and practical application.
• Mentorship Support: Students receive mentorship support throughout the program, with mentors providing guidance and feedback on individual projects and learning progress.

Other:

• Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL): Students can potentially gain credits for exemption from some modules through an APL process.
• Progression Route: This MSc program is a progression route from the Postgraduate Certificate.
• Employer/Stakeholder Endorsement: Employer/stakeholder endorsement is required for applications, as students engage in work-based projects.
• College Fees: Students pay a small college membership fee to support college events and activities.
• IT Requirements: Students need access to a computer and reliable internet connection.
• Financial Support: Limited financial support is available for students lacking the necessary IT equipment or broadband access.

Home and International: £500 MSc/MA = 180 credits PGDip = 120 credits PGCert = 60 credits