Julie Lynne Courtnage

Position and company name: Mandela Mining Precinct (MMP) Executive Director

Main activity of company: Facilitating research development and innovation for mining through a public-
private-partnership structure between the Minerals Council of South Africa, the Department of Science and Innovation, and co-hosted by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

Date and place of birth: Johannesburg, mid-1969: I’m 55.

Education: Post Graduate degrees in earth and life sciences. PhD on hold with the title “Small Stories of Love and Sustainability in the Boardroom”. 

Leadership style: Highly participative, with active mutual feedback, while taking full accountability for decisions and taking action as needed. I have experienced that when people accept the invitation to step up, they feel empowered and confidence inevitably grows. This style has not always been welcomed in the mining sector, which is more used to a 
command-and-control dynamic. Focusing on building and maintaining healthy, robust and kind relationships with people supports delivery and accountability. Care about, and take care of people: without them, you don’t have a business.

Personal best achievement: Maintaining a thoroughly upbeat outlook on life, probably because of being close to death multiple times. Cycling an extremely long (for me anyway) race and still being able to walk afterwards, albeit tentatively. Being one part of a 35 year friendship.

Person you would most like to meet: I love meeting people who just keep going, no matter their circumstances. It is humbling to understand what drives them, and how they get through the tough times. When I compare my blessings and challenges with others, my load is light.

Philosophy of life: We are all equally human, with our own insecurities, strengths, ideas and experiences, and all of that is valid. A favourite reflection of mine that I use to bust out of a downer mood is “Take things seriously and hold them lightly”. What we focus on, grows, so focus on the good while attending to the other stuff. Life is like gardening: you don’t only tend the flowers; you also have to dig the soil and remove what you don’t want. 

Message for other women leaders in the South African business community: It’s somewhat trite, but the main message is to be authentically yourself. You do you, which is an ever-evolving understanding and growth of self-awareness. Although this comes at a price in a society that trumpets conformity, the price of inauthenticity is so much higher in the long run. 

My vision for the MMP: We are a thriving team who shape the face and faces of modernising mining.

An Invitation: We are starting an open and free mentoring webinar programme – “Mine My Past” – where once a month, I share what I’ve learned in my career. This is not only for women. The first session will be held towards the end of August, on the topic of “Communication – How Words Become Reality”. Please follow us on LinkedIn for more information on this.

jcourtnage@mandelaminingprecinct.org.za

https://mandelaminingprecinct.org.za/

Tel: 011 358 0000