A former employee remembers Joseph Schlang (1911-1999). (Profile of the Week).

JOSEPH SCHLANG, FORMER OWNER BANK LOCATIONS

A profile of Joseph Schlang in Real Estate Weekly captured my attention. A retired real estate broker, he started Bank Locations, an innovative company dealing with bank leasing and sales. That was the beginning of my association with Joe.

I had entered the real estate world by the back door - over-trained, over-experienced and over-age from my life's work in the health field. I needed the money. My first brokerage job was a dismal failure. With no mentor I was shut out: No offerings, no listings, no sellers, no buyers.

In response to the Real Estate Weekly article, I called Joe. He invited me to meet him Downtown in his John Street office. Macy's at 34th Street and Broadway was the furthest Downtown I had ever worked. Nassau/Fulton was another world. Pedestrians blocked the streets; buses, and taxis could hardly move. Getting around was by foot or subway. The narrow streets and tall buildings shut out most of the sunlight.

Joe, seated at his cluttered desk, eyed me skeptically. A short man, nattily attired in navy suit, white shirt, red tie, and sporting a diamond pinky ring, he looked alien in the disorder of his office. "I hadn't thought of working with anyone," he started, "and anyway, I would want a young attractive woman to deal with bankers."

Well, I thought, at least he was honest about it. "Sorry," I said, "but here I am. I can't fill that bill." Joe's blue eyes darkened. "Let me think about it. I'll get back to you." He called me that evening and asked me to come in for a real talk. A friend from my failed job instructed me to ask for a full partnership. "A partnership of what?" I asked, "All of nothing?"

"Well," he answered, "you never know what can develop."

At our next meeting, Joe asked me to join him. What he didn't say, was that he was counting on my being a secretary for free. When I told him I wanted to be a partner, his enthusiasm was visibly diminished. Being practical, as I would later learn was his style, and with no one else in sight, he agreed. "After a year, okay?" He drew up a letter. I typed it and we both signed it. We were in business. That marked my 55th birthday.

I began to learn immediately:

* Lesson #1, don't be afraid to speak up. He was forthright, honest and gave his opinions freely. He had the skills of gentle persuasion, persistence and flexibility. He knew how to negotiate, when to pursue and when to be conciliatory. In dealing with an Asian bank, he likened the chairman of the board to the head of an empire in its expansion planning.

* Lesson #2, keep quiet when situations arise Don't roil the waters. Listen, before speaking. Always listen and keep quiet. He learned of a bank interested in moving downtown, in the course. of a conversation about changes in the industry. If there were rumors, just listen and learn.

* Lesson #3, never judge a book by its cover. Appearances can be deceiving. A man came to his office in the 30s, wearing a straw hat and looking like a country farmer. None of the brokers would take him on, except Joe. It turned out this client had sold his farm in New Jersey for a profit and wanted to buy a building in New York City. Joe closed a deal with him for a sizeable sum, all cash, the following day.

* Lesson #4, play your cards close to your chest Never let on what you're about to do, til you're ready to act. I was working on selling a Delancey Street. branch to an interested bank. Another broker tried to intervene. I kept my negotiations quiet and made a successful deal, my first.

* Lesson #5, always drink something at a business lunch. During a lunch meeting to negotiate a branch acquisition with bank executives, the waiter came to take drink orders. Joe ordered Perrier water. I said, "Nothing, thank you." I felt a swift kick under the table from Joe. I amended my "nothing" to "Perrier water, please." Drinks were served to all the others, I noticed.

* Lesson #6, send only a one page letter. Joe made the one page letter his criterion. He believed people never read more than the first page. He was ahead of his time for e-mail.

My years with Joe were better than an MBA. I called them my MJS, from my master/mentor. He taught me how to succeed as we developed the strategies of initiating a business based on creativity and ingenuity. You have to believe it will happen, to make it happen. No idea is too wild or too tame to set aside. Let it fly, and see if it takes off. His teaching was unorthodox, oscillating between mentor, patriarch and devil's advocate in style and substance.

We started working together when Joe was 74 years young. We worked at facing partner desks for four years. We made exciting deals, shared the give and take of success and the frustration of failure.

Joe was brilliant, enthusiastic, creative, talkative and crafty; a most remarkable man. Despite many health problems, nothing stopped him.

Joe was philanthropic; he gave freely of himself as one of the founders of the Metropolitan Opera Patrons, the Young Singer Auditions and the New York Opera Ensemble.

He was the tireless unpaid administrator of the Elias Cohen Foundation, that sponsors a camp for underprivileged children and supports medical programs.

Joe loved life, loved women, loved opera and loved gambling. As his health failed, he never lost his enthusiasm. Joe was my master/mentor. He taught me that life can be wonderful when you learn to make the most of it.