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“You build such a strong connection with the country and with the people and your last 10 years of hard work . . . you become really passionate about it,” he says. “You want to see it through, you want to see it work.”
朱伯特說：“一旦你與這個(gè)國(guó)家、這個(gè)民族和你過去10年艱苦工作的成果建立了如此強(qiáng)大的聯(lián)系……你就會(huì)深深地愛上它們。你希望看著它們發(fā)展，看著它們成功。”
Although Mr Joubert has long since swapped fatigues for a suit and tie, he still draws on his military training for everything from filing to finance.
盡管朱伯特早已脫下軍服、換上西裝和領(lǐng)帶，但在從歸檔到理財(cái)?shù)囊磺惺虑樯希廊辉趶倪^去所受的軍事訓(xùn)練中汲取營(yíng)養(yǎng)。
“I use the military principles even today in a lot of my management systems, processes and policy procedures,” he says of his disciplined approach.
在談到他嚴(yán)格紀(jì)律化的生活方式時(shí)，朱伯特說：“即便是在如今，我依然在我的許多管理體制、流程和政策程序中運(yùn)用軍事原則。
“The military has, over the centuries, developed systems that work for big organisations and they can scale it up or down. The administrative system that applies to a section also applies on a brigade level.”
“幾百年來(lái)，部隊(duì)發(fā)展出了一些對(duì)管理大機(jī)構(gòu)行之有效的管理體系，這些體系的適用范圍也可大可小。對(duì)一個(gè)部門適用的管理體制，也適用于一個(gè)旅。”
Mr Joubert had no doubt about the MBA’s potential worth when he signed up to it. He first undertook a management diploma via distance learning in 1996, even as war in Sierra Leone raged around him. Three years later he began a long-distance MBA, via Henley’s South African campus, but abandoned it due to work pressures.
報(bào)名MBA課程時(shí)，朱伯特對(duì)MBA的潛在價(jià)值毫無(wú)懷疑。1996年，盡管當(dāng)時(shí)的塞拉利昂還戰(zhàn)火隆隆，他還是第一次通過遠(yuǎn)程學(xué)習(xí)攻讀了一個(gè)管理學(xué)位。三年后，他開始遠(yuǎn)程學(xué)習(xí)亨利商學(xué)院南非分校的一個(gè)遠(yuǎn)程MBA課程，但后因工作壓力中途放棄了。
“The fact that I didn’t complete the MBA always bothered me so in 2009 I decided to take a sabbatical.”
“沒學(xué)完MBA這件事一直讓我很焦慮，因此在2009年，我決定給自己放個(gè)長(zhǎng)假。”
His year-long MBA proved the ideal place to develop his dream to expand production at the mine and two nearby sites. His thesis analysed how best to unlock their full economic potential over the next 30 years.
事實(shí)證明，這個(gè)一年期的MBA課程為朱伯特實(shí)現(xiàn)提高Koidu和附近兩家礦山產(chǎn)量的夢(mèng)想，提供了十分理想的場(chǎng)所。在學(xué)位論文中，他分析了如何在今后30年中最好地發(fā)揮這幾座礦山的全部經(jīng)濟(jì)潛力。
On his return, he put the first part of the plan into action, building a new plant and increasing the workforce from 300 to 1,500. “The economic optimisation road map for Koidu . . . enabled us to raise about $200m [from banks and Tiffany].”
從MBA課堂重返公司之后，朱伯特就開始將計(jì)劃中的第一部分付諸實(shí)施。為此他新建了一家工廠，并將員工數(shù)從300人增加至1500人。“Koidu的經(jīng)濟(jì)最優(yōu)化路線圖……讓我們得以（從銀行和蒂芙尼）籌集到大約2億美元資金。”
This year, for the first time, the mine should produce more than 500,000 carats, up from the 120,000 carats it produced before Mr Joubert studied for his MBA.
今年，Kuido礦的鉆石產(chǎn)量應(yīng)該能首次突破50萬(wàn)克拉，而在朱伯特參加MBA學(xué)習(xí)之前，該礦的鉆石年產(chǎn)量只有12萬(wàn)克拉。
“I think had I not done the MBA or the thesis, we would have been reliant on consultants –- and consultants don’t always give you an objective analysis or solution,” he says. He believes studying for his MBA saved time, money and mistakes and only regrets not doing it sooner.
朱伯特說：“我想，如果我沒有念這個(gè)MBA，或沒有寫這篇論文，我們可能會(huì)依賴咨詢師的意見。而咨詢師并不總能為你提供客觀的分析或解決方案。”他相信念MBA幫他省去了不少時(shí)間、金錢和錯(cuò)誤，他只后悔沒有早點(diǎn)開始念。
“I should have done the MBA 10 years earlier when I had a lot less experience and I could learn more from others. But I also think that everybody who wants to move into very senior management positions in the corporate world must do an MBA.”
“我10年前就應(yīng)該念MBA，那時(shí)候我的經(jīng)驗(yàn)要少得多，也可以從別人那里學(xué)到更多東西。但我還認(rèn)為，若有志于進(jìn)入商界頂級(jí)管理層，念MBA是必須的。”
He’s so sold on its effect he has sent one of his Sierra Leonean staff to the UK for the same programme. “That guy has got a huge future,” says Mr Joubert. “You don’t see the change [immediately]. It’s as projects or as problems arise; how you find solutions.”
MBA課程的效果令朱伯特如此滿意，以至于他又派了手下一名塞拉利昂?jiǎn)T工去英國(guó)，念了同樣的MBA項(xiàng)目。朱伯特說：“那家伙前程遠(yuǎn)大。你不會(huì)（立刻）看到改變。在面對(duì)項(xiàng)目或遇到問題的時(shí)候，你就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己尋找解決方案的方式變了。”
While the focus on communal discussion initially rankled, it soon became the most important element of what he eventually found to be “an unbelievably powerful course”.
MBA課程把重點(diǎn)放在集體討論上。這種授課方式最初讓朱伯特痛苦不堪，但他最終認(rèn)定，MBA課程是“極其有用的課程”，而促使他得出這個(gè)結(jié)論的首要原因，就是這種集體討論的授課方式。
“What I learnt the most . . . is the power of different views and opinions from different people, each one coming with his own perspective . . . that is, I think, the biggest power of doing an MBA.”
“我體會(huì)最深的一點(diǎn)……是不同人的不同觀點(diǎn)和看法蘊(yùn)含力量，每個(gè)人都有自己的視角……我認(rèn)為這是MBA課程最大的魅力所在。”
One different perspective came from a 50-year-old graphic designer on the course, whose approach was initially anathema to Mr Joubert.
其中一個(gè)不同的視角來(lái)自課程中一名50歲的平面設(shè)計(jì)師，而起初他的思維方式令朱伯特深惡痛絕。
“His thought process [was] just completely all over the place; where I would like to see structure . . . he would just start vomiting ideas. I just couldn’t cope with that.”
“他的思維過程完全是天馬行空，而我則喜歡條理化思考……他會(huì)一股腦吐出各種想法。我根本無(wú)法招架。”
It was only after the fifth week he began to realise alternative views turned up “extremely valuable and powerful” ideas. They are still “very close friends” today.
直到5個(gè)星期后，他才開始意識(shí)到，轉(zhuǎn)換視角能夠產(chǎn)生“極有價(jià)值、極為有力”的想法。如今他們?nèi)允恰胺浅ＳH密的朋友”。
“He writes emails that are very soppy and emotional and I will send him a one-liner or two words back . . . He tells all his friends about this blunt, rude South African who helped him through his MBA and I tell everybody about my dreamer friend that did the MBA with me.
“他會(huì)寫非常傷感和煽情的電子郵件給我。而我會(huì)回復(fù)他一封只有一句話或兩個(gè)單詞的郵件……他跟他所有的朋友說，他認(rèn)識(shí)一個(gè)直言不諱、大大咧咧的南非人，幫助他完成了整個(gè)MBA課程。而我則告訴所有人，我認(rèn)識(shí)一個(gè)跟我一起念MBA的夢(mèng)想家朋友。
“He’s a bit more structured now because of the MBA and I’m a little bit more open to creative thinking.”
“由于這個(gè)MBA課程，他現(xiàn)在變得有條理一點(diǎn)了。而我對(duì)創(chuàng)造性思考的態(tài)度更開放一點(diǎn)了。”
Mr Joubert, who plans to stay in mining, says the MBA has changed the way he communicates and views others’ opinions for good.
朱伯特打算繼續(xù)從事采礦業(yè)。他說，MBA課程永久性改變了他與別人交流的方式、以及對(duì)別人意見的看法。
“Previously, if I felt confident that I’ve thought about something enough, and I’ve given an instruction, then I would expect people to follow that instruction. Now, I realise that you can never know everything.”
“過去，如果我信心十足地認(rèn)為我已充分考慮好某件事，并且已發(fā)出指令，我就會(huì)希望別人能遵循這一指令。如今，我意識(shí)到，人永遠(yuǎn)無(wú)法知曉一切。”
