The Leader - November/December 2008 - (Page 87)

C A R EER D EVEL OPEM ENT By Jennie Lazarus Paul Huston, Real Estate Advisor, Shell Company in Oceania Shell’s Paul Huston: AROUND THE WORLD WITH SOME OF THE LARGEST CORPORATIONS For Paul Huston, Real Estate Advisor for Shell Company in Oceania, returning to Australia in 2005 after working in Asia, North and South America, and the United Kingdom for over ten years has paid off professionally. With Shell since 2006, Huston has created an integrated, business approved strategic property plan for Shell Company of Australia’s non-operational property portfolio with specific emphasis on risk mitigation, value creation, diversity and flexibility. As an advisory business, Shell Real Estate (SRE) provides strategic, functional and technical competency in the proactive management of Shell’s non-retail property portfolio to enhance shareholder value through effective cost management, business focused strategic advice and effective implementation of innovative and best practice value solutions. In a career that has taken him around the world with some of the world’s largest corporations, Huston suggests that if 15 years of professional engagement is boiled down to a single key learning experience, he identifies it as “recognizing that corporates view real estate purely as a factor of production, a necessary commodity to produce a good or service which is viewed purely from its impact to Balance Sheet and P&L. This may sound simple, but during the economic crisis in Asia, this was the key point that I learnt.” Huston also recognizes that the field of Corporate Real Estate is changing dramatically, and on a global scheme. When asked how he would advise a new CRE professional in his region of the world on how to get ahead in corporate real estate, Huston offers, “I would segment or compartmentalize my advice as follows: (a) Academically – be skilled in finance and accounting, so you understand the impact decisions have on group performance; (b) Professionally – be patient and recognize that real estate and decisions around real estate are about ‘incremental change;’ and (c) Socially – build strong internal relationships with executive management because knowledge and connectivity is the most powerful tool a CRE executive will have.” ment in emerging Asia Pacific markets, project management and strategic analysis, property valuation, cross-cultural business communications, and global account management, to name a few areas of his expertise, Huston has taken a career path that may well appear to be unique and unusual to many CRE professionals. In speaking about working in Australia and how it differs from other parts of the world, Huston offers, “I think CRE in Australia is very much in its infancy stages. Practitioners need to be able to sell a broader skill set rather than what is currently on offer. Australia is centered on ‘functional’ specialization and therefore corporate do not understand what a CRE professional does in comparison to a commercial agent, property manager, etc. probably because of its small corporate base, but the Americas and Europe are driven by strategy and connectivity.” A member of CoreNet Global on and off since 2000, Huston considers CoreNet Global “a great organization that brings like minded professionals together. In addition, the research papers, and other CoreNet Global knowledge assets have been invaluable in drafting mid to longer term strategic direction.” Huston views his immediate and long term future in Asia Pacific or North America by continuing to engage and deliver business focused solutions to corporations, be it on a global, regional or sub regional scale. “Build strong internal relationships with executive management because knowledge and connectivity is the most powerful tool a CRE executive will have.” Huston states that there have been no unusual aspects or turns in his career path. However, in reading his resume’ one might think differently. With over 10 years’ specialist experience in portfolio manage- 2 0 0 8 TH E LE ADE R 87 NOVEMBER / DECEMBER

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Leader - November/December 2008

The Leader - November/December 2008 Leadership Contents Message from the CEO Real Estate in the News Leveraging Business Geography My Work @ Bank of America Blending the Old with the New A Tool for Growth Creating Real Estate Value Nokia-Siemens Networks’ Peter Doran DTZ’s James Maddock Annual Economic Development Directory The Georgia Report Location Profile: Magdeburg, Germany Linking Corporate Real Estate to the Enterprise 3rd Quarter 2008 Adding Value in Challenging Times Australia and New York Shell’s Paul Huston Economic Development in the News A Look Ahead In our Next Issue Calendar of Seminars Index of Advertisers Chapter Learning: The Global Perspective

The Leader - November/December 2008

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