Six months of change.

This edition of Real Estate Weekly, the half-year review, coincides with significant changes at Trans World Maintenance Services (TWMS).

It is the six-month anniversary of the untimely death of my husband Joel Stanislaw, the founder and president/-CEO of TWMS.

We have seen in the past six months, as have many readers of REW, a continuation of an unsteady marketplace, uneven cash flows and an uncertain timeliness to the economic recovery of New York. This is coupled with the general concern of what will be the impact of Washington's economic policies regarding lagging reduction in government spending and expansionary taxes on income, energy and consumption on an already hard hit market.

Well, if that were not enough to think about and strategize for, we at TWMS were forced to look at the restructuring of the company, and all that entails.

The first thing I had to look at was my commitment and tenacity to continue what Joel started 35 years ago. Even though I have been told on numerous occasions that this is a man's business, and without meaning to be as sexist as that hypothesis I always answer: "Who knows cleaning better than a woman." Thus my commitment was established.

I appointed my daughter Lisa as president of TWMS. She was, so to speak, joined at the hip with her dad for four years before his death and always knew that someday she would be at the helm of the company. In these past months she has made a significant impact upon. the operations of the company.

I was impressed when I read Charles Garfield's Peak Performance. He discusses the difference between peak performers and ordinary performers. The differences do not stem from situations in which they operate, but, they appear in the attitudes and skills peak performers bring to situations. Peak performers show their understanding of urgency to customers needs through their approach to their work, perfecting their technical skills and their commitment to results.

We at TWMS are fortunate to have a team-dedicated to those ends. Flo Smith is senior executive for Sales, Mike Carlin is vice president of Finance and Administration and we are very happy to have Nick Bonatoo back with us as vice president of Sales and Marketing. Between the three of them we have nearly 80 years of experience to bring to TWMS and to our customers.

Sometime back in January I happened to be doodling with the TWMS logo and come up with a slogan based upon those letters. Team Work Means Success. Team work is the organizational philosophy upon which we are continuing to build our organization. Sales, operations and administration meet daily so that each of us can use our skills to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. How is it to be heard? How essential to have a forum to be heard? The peak performers come to the surface because mutual respect, attitudes, skills are encouraged and developed. The most intriguing quality of peak performers is that no matter how rough "it" gets out there and how heavy the assault on mind and body, they always feel something can be done especially if they work as a team. Peak performers are found exploring possible solutions, finding expanding opportunities and marketplaces. Their confidence develops based upon their productive human capacities rather than wielding personal power.

They are not like the captain of the ship who saw at ,sea one night what looked like the lights of a ship coming toward him. He had his Signal man blink to the other ship, "Change your course 10 degrees south". The reply was, "Change your course 10 degrees north. The captain answered, "I am the Captain, change your course south." To which the reply was, "I am seaman first class change your course north." The captain was infuriated and signaled in return, "I am a battleship. Change course south." The reply came hack, "I am a lighthouse change course north".

Peak performers are always checking the signals. I always ask these questions, "Who do you work for? Who pays your salary?" the answer of course is our customers. We better get our signals straight.

Lost tenants are difficult to replace just as lost customers are difficult to replace. In this soft market there is a more cost conscious, knowledgeable tenancy, one that knows what it wants and expects it. They want service, they are looking at details.