Veterans Day Spotlight: John Engel

In celebration of Veterans Day, we invited members of the Douglas Elliman community who have served in the U.S. armed forces to reflect on how their service experiences have shaped their lives and careers in the real estate business. John Engel, Real Estate Agent, New Canaan, Connecticut Please briefly describe your military service. I served as a Second Lieutenant in the Army. First, in Arizona, I studied at the Intelligence School with Top Secret clearance. Next, I jumped out of planes in Georgia. Finally, I served in a tank battalion in Stuttgart, Germany, before and after deploying to the desert during Operation Desert Storm. I commanded a collection-and-jamming unit on the front lines of the main attack in order to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussain’s invasion. In what ways, if any, has your service experience shaped the way you approach your life and career in real estate? I learned early the importance of effective and constant communications. The best realtors are constantly communicating as deals ebb and flow, setting expectations with their clients, with the other side, with other realtors, attorneys and vendors as the situation evolves. As a young lieutenant, you learn it’s not enough to give an order, you’ve got to follow up. You have to learn how to motivate those around you. And you have to respect the chain of command. What would you like your colleagues to know or understand about your service experience and what it means to you? Sitting in the desert, day after day, waiting for the attack to begin, felt like a waste of time. I really thought maybe I should be back in school or in some corporate training program, something really worthwhile. It took a long time to appreciate what the Army taught me about leadership, communications, problem-solving and mission-planning. As a 24-year-old responsible for 50 soldiers and probably $50 million in equipment, I was getting a different but important education.