Tim Ripper

Country of origin: United Kingdom

Operations Business Improvement Manager, BAE Systems

I’ve been working in the manufacturing and construction industry for about five years, mainly in operations management. Prior to that, I worked in the outdoor industry and time in the outdoors is still really important to me – I spend most weekends out running in the fells.

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

Leadership, and the practice and development of it, is something that has interested me for a long time and the opportunity to study this topic in detail seemed perfect. The responsibility aspect is only going to become more important in society and it’s great to be able to study this in more detail.

What are you hoping to gain from the programme?

Initially, ways to improve my own leadership practice and to better understand the leadership actions I see around me. Who knows where it will lead in the future?

How are you finding the programme so far?

I’m really enjoying it – it’s very thought provoking and good at challenging concepts and ideas, and in turn encouraging me to view the world around me in different ways. 

Integrating learning into an already busy life has been challenging, particularly getting assignments completed on time, but I really enjoy the challenge.

Some of the change management models are already really useful in guiding our current change project and have helped with a number of conversations around the direction of the project.

The course is very different to any type of learning I’ve done before and has certainly taken some getting used to – particularly the WebEx sessions and action learning, which have required some different approaches to traditional face-to-face working. Overall I still prefer meeting in person, but I have grown to like the online approach as an easier way to integrate learning into everything else that is always going on!

I like the online resources (module notes, Panoptos and the library) and they have all really helped with the assignments.