In this very special series of exclusive articles for the Property Chronicle, Australian property legend Norman Harker reflects on his extraordinary 50-year life in real estate. He will pull no punches partly because, as he freely admits, Norman has a limited life expectancy of five years from December 2018 due to a diagnosed terminal blood cancer, which he has cheerfully accepted in preference to (in his words) “kicking the bucket without notice”. We are honoured he has chosen us to publish these brilliant, funny and incisive reflections of a lifetime in property.
Chapter 10: biblical approach to promotion – or, how I accidentally landed on the fast track
!!!Health warning!!! Do not try this method without considering the very high probability of failure.
At the end of the last chapter, I was getting a reputation. It wasn’t the one I wanted, which was the one enjoyed by my flatmate as a ‘go-to man’, but rather that of a problem solver.
Although now working in different departments, Phil Newmark and I shared a flat. We had got on extremely well when he was being trained up. He appreciated my ‘deep end’ approach and was clearly from the same type of sado-masochistic school as me. I thought my school was unique in this quality in Britain. It was! I had developed mine at Colchester Royal Grammar School (CRGS) in south-east England. His sado-masochism was learned at Trinity College Dublin.
Sado-masochistic educational institutions: Colchester Royal Grammar School and Trinity College Dublin
Infamous graduates: me and Bram Stoker