Sue Minten

Country of origin: United Kingdom

Senior Lecturer, University of Central Lancashire

I have lectured in sport management in HE for the past 23 years, following a career in sport facility management. I completed my PhD in 2007, which was titled "Graduate employability in the sport industry: the transition into the sport industry". Consequently, I have a passion for the development of students to enable them to make the transition into the workplace and I have particular responsibility, within the sport management undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, for personal and professional development modules. I am also a community director for Burnley Leisure Trust.    

What attracted you to the MSc in Leadership Practice and Responsibility?

An outcome of my PhD related to the need to develop the leadership attributes of sports graduates. As I have worked with the students on this through the modules I teach, I felt that I needed to develop my understanding of leadership much more.

What are you hoping to gain from the programme?

A stronger understanding of leadership, in particular the development of new career leaders. From this, I hope to enhance my modules and also undertake research into the development of leadership attributes within undergraduate courses.

I also wish to develop my own leadership skills.

How are you finding the programme so far?

I am really enjoying the programme; it has challenged, broadened and deepened my knowledge of leadership. 

It has given me greater understanding of my leadership role within my subject team – particularly with the notion of shared leadership. This has particularly made me think about my interaction with less experienced staff within the team.

I have reviewed some of the activities I undertake with the students based on the learning from the course – particularly useful was the timeline approach to reflecting on leadership and the need to make leadership more salient so that students analyse how they are being led and their key influencers. I have also been considering how we prepare students for internships.

WebEx and Panoptos have been invaluable for developing/reinforcing learning. The discussant pairing has been extremely beneficial for reflective learning. E-learning access has been very useful.  

Action learning has been a little hit and miss due to trying to get students together for sessions (including myself). However, the UK-based students have formed a strong social group and have met once for a meal and communicate via email. The two on-campus weeks were extremely beneficial for establishing these relationships.