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Government by Agency: Lessons from the Grants-In-Aid Experience (Quantitative studies in social relations)

Government by Agency: Lessons from the Grants-In-Aid Experience (Quantitative studies in social relations)

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Instant Sunday School Lessons

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50% Payout! 5% Conversion Ratio! 2% Return Ratio! 156 Instant Sunday School Lessons For Busy Volunteers Who Want To Give Their Sunday School Students The Best Possible Curriculum.
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Med School Admissions Secrets
The Single Most Straightforward And Comprehensive Guide To Navigating The Shortest Path To Med School. Get The Inside Scoop On Medical School Application (amcas), Personal Statement, Mcat Tips, Medical School Interviews, Post Bac Programs, Etc.
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Studying Online Teaches Lessons to Whole Family: eLearners.com Reveals Reasons Why Online Learning Enhances Families

Studying Online Teaches Lessons to Whole Family: eLearners.com Reveals Reasons Why Online Learning Enhances Families

Hoboken, NJ (PRWEB) August 28, 2007

It’s “Back to School” time again! Kids are chattering about seeing old friends and meeting new teachers. Parents are preparing them for that thrilling first day with shopping carts piled high with new notebooks, pencils and other school supplies. Now that kids are ready for their school year, it’s also time for parents to look into returning to school – online! eLearners.com today announced some reasons that parents’ experience as an online student teaches children valuable life lessons and develops parenting skills.

“The examples parents set are incredibly crucial when it comes to education,” said Carol Aslanian, President and Founder of the Aslanian Group, the national authority on the characteristics and learning patterns of adult students. “Many experts agree that children who have parents going to school benefit in countless ways, including better time management skills, a stronger work ethic and an awareness about the importance of an education.”

What Children Learn…

How to use time wisely

Online learners know that distance education is NOT easier than traditional schooling and that the same time commitment must be given to an online degree as an on-campus program.

Time management is a crucial skill that successful online learners must possess. As such, online learners must be able to identify and, more importantly, eliminate time wasters.

When children see their parent pass up a favorite TV show because of homework, they’ll be more willing to turn off the tube, too.

When children hear a parent tell her best friend that she’ll have to call her back later because she’s studying for a test, children see how to set (and stick to) priorities.

Online learners also demonstrate how to focus and work effectively in the short blocks of time carved out each day. In between the demands of work and family, children will emulate how to wake up early, stay on task, and make time during the day to complete assignments.

How much their parents value education

Being an online student demonstrates to children that learning is a lifelong process. It models the importance of education, and it illustrates how more education leads to more choices.

Instead of watching their father wish for a different job or position, they will see him earn a certificate or gain new skills in an area that helps a parent achieve his or her career goals. Lesson learned: Education enables you to have dreams, set goals and work hard to attain them.

Instead of hearing the complaint that technology changes too quickly, children will see the initiative to learn new software programs and use new tools. Lesson learned: Education enables people to meet the demands of a changing workplace and increasingly technical environment.

Instead of hearing, “Reading is important,” children will see their parents actually reading. When making time to read, kids will learn that reading is a valuable activity. Research shows that daily exposure to books and writing makes children better prepared to become readers and writers when they are kindergarten-age, and older children who read are more likely to become lifelong readers. Lesson learned: Education expands a reader’s world, and reading leads to success in education.

The computer is a valuable learning tool

Most children know that computers can be used to play video games or surf favorite websites. Online learning shows kids that computers are not just for games, but for going to school, conducting research, and collaborating with fellow classmates.

It is a great parent-child exercise to conduct research online. By going to a website, such as Discovery.com, kids can pick a topic of interest. Parents can share tips for locating information and encourage kids to talk about what they have found.

Also, parents’ cognizance of children’s familiarity with the Internet is important for their safety. Spending time with them early on allows parents to keep track of the websites their children visit and who they are talking to online.

Family teamwork

Getting an online degree means more time hitting the books. This means more time for family members to pitch in and help with cleaning, shopping, and childcare duties.

     Older children can help entertain younger ones during study time.
     Elementary age children can grab a dust cloth or broom.
     Children will benefit from helping Dad take charge of the weekly grocery shopping.

They will have fun scouring the pantry and fridge, creating a list, and coming home with a few surprising choices for dinner. Releasing some control over these tasks will grant Mom more time to devote to school.

With a little planning and lot of cooperation, each family member can play an important role in making education a priority for everyone and in the process make their family stronger.

About eLearners.com LLC

Since 1999, eLearners.com® — Where Learning Begins — has been successfully connecting learners to online education, including degree and certificate programs, specialized training, and a variety of courses. For prospective students, eLearners® provides a powerful search engine of online offerings as well as extensive educational resources, available at no cost. For colleges and universities, eLearners® performance-based marketing services offer a low-cost, high quality method to increase enrollment and exposure to their programs. For more information on eLearners.com LLC., visit http://www.elearners.com.

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Figuring Out When Kids Are Ready For Music Lessons

Many parents do not know when to sign their child up for music. The fact is that some people actually put their babies in music classes. Lessons can begin at any age and can have a great impact on the child who starts early. While there is no age restriction for instruments, any age is a great one. Some instruments may be recommended for particular age groups. Find out what instruments are the easiest to play and which ones may take some more maturity to figure out.

Babies and toddler love singing and movement classes. These classes take place with their parent with them and in a group setting. The babies and parents will participate in many action songs, and listen to the instruments played by the central instructor. Children seem to love hearing live instruments play and watch someone actually work an instrument with their hands or mouth.

The fascination with music and instruments may expand from there. As a child turns into a preschooler, there parent may put them in piano lessons. This type of instrument is ideal for a younger group of kids. It is fairly easy to learn the keys and the piano keys are large for small hands to play around with. Early lessons involving the piano have shown to be successful for the child down the road. With so many skills to learn in this area, small steps can be taken toward learning the entire instrument.

When a child wants to take singing lessons, there parents may not know when to start. Many kids will begin this type of lesson in a band at school. This type of singing is guided by a music teacher and each student receives training as well as group instruction.

Most experts agree that when a child begins to show interest in singing, that it doesn’t hurt to sign them up for singing classes. They will work one on one with a coach who can teach them how to sing. These coaches are also experts at training the voice and exercising the various notes.

Using drum lessons for kids is an instrument that may be harder to learn. Some studios will suggest to wait until they are old enough to have lots of patience. Children should be able to read and read notes. They should also be able to follow instruction and play a drum on a serious note.

When guitar lessons is desired by a child, they may also need to be an older child. That is because the strings and notes are complex and will need an older child to figure them out. The stings are also small with many of the chords involving tricky hand positions. Holding the guitar can also be hard to manage and control unless the right height and weight is available.

Starting children off early with lessons can be a great idea. The more instruments a child can learn the more rounded they will be when it comes to music and singing. Parents can find classes at local music stores and community centers.

Tags: Figuring, Kids, Lessons, Music, Ready

Figuring Out When Kids Are Ready For Music Lessons

Many parents do not know when to sign their child up for music. The fact is that some people actually put their babies in music classes. Lessons can begin at any age and can have a great impact on the child who starts early. While there is no age restriction for instruments, any age is a great one. Some instruments may be recommended for particular age groups. Find out what instruments are the easiest to play and which ones may take some more maturity to figure out.

Babies and toddler love singing and movement classes. These classes take place with their parent with them and in a group setting. The babies and parents will participate in many action songs, and listen to the instruments played by the central instructor. Children seem to love hearing live instruments play and watch someone actually work an instrument with their hands or mouth.

The fascination with music and instruments may expand from there. As a child turns into a preschooler, there parent may put them in piano lessons. This type of instrument is ideal for a younger group of kids. It is fairly easy to learn the keys and the piano keys are large for small hands to play around with. Early lessons involving the piano have shown to be successful for the child down the road. With so many skills to learn in this area, small steps can be taken toward learning the entire instrument.

When a child wants to take singing lessons, there parents may not know when to start. Many kids will begin this type of lesson in a band at school. This type of singing is guided by a music teacher and each student receives training as well as group instruction.

Most experts agree that when a child begins to show interest in singing, that it doesn’t hurt to sign them up for singing classes. They will work one on one with a coach who can teach them how to sing. These coaches are also experts at training the voice and exercising the various notes.

Using drum lessons for kids is an instrument that may be harder to learn. Some studios will suggest to wait until they are old enough to have lots of patience. Children should be able to read and read notes. They should also be able to follow instruction and play a drum on a serious note.

When guitar lessons is desired by a child, they may also need to be an older child. That is because the strings and notes are complex and will need an older child to figure them out. The stings are also small with many of the chords involving tricky hand positions. Holding the guitar can also be hard to manage and control unless the right height and weight is available.

Starting children off early with lessons can be a great idea. The more instruments a child can learn the more rounded they will be when it comes to music and singing. Parents can find classes at local music stores and community centers.

Tags: Figuring, Kids, Lessons, Music, Ready

Figuring Out When Kids Are Ready For Music Lessons

Many parents do not know when to sign their child up for music. The fact is that some people actually put their babies in music classes. Lessons can begin at any age and can have a great impact on the child who starts early. While there is no age restriction for instruments, any age is a great one. Some instruments may be recommended for particular age groups. Find out what instruments are the easiest to play and which ones may take some more maturity to figure out.

Babies and toddler love singing and movement classes. These classes take place with their parent with them and in a group setting. The babies and parents will participate in many action songs, and listen to the instruments played by the central instructor. Children seem to love hearing live instruments play and watch someone actually work an instrument with their hands or mouth.

The fascination with music and instruments may expand from there. As a child turns into a preschooler, there parent may put them in piano lessons. This type of instrument is ideal for a younger group of kids. It is fairly easy to learn the keys and the piano keys are large for small hands to play around with. Early lessons involving the piano have shown to be successful for the child down the road. With so many skills to learn in this area, small steps can be taken toward learning the entire instrument.

When a child wants to take singing lessons, there parents may not know when to start. Many kids will begin this type of lesson in a band at school. This type of singing is guided by a music teacher and each student receives training as well as group instruction.

Most experts agree that when a child begins to show interest in singing, that it doesn’t hurt to sign them up for singing classes. They will work one on one with a coach who can teach them how to sing. These coaches are also experts at training the voice and exercising the various notes.

Using drum lessons for kids is an instrument that may be harder to learn. Some studios will suggest to wait until they are old enough to have lots of patience. Children should be able to read and read notes. They should also be able to follow instruction and play a drum on a serious note.

When guitar lessons is desired by a child, they may also need to be an older child. That is because the strings and notes are complex and will need an older child to figure them out. The stings are also small with many of the chords involving tricky hand positions. Holding the guitar can also be hard to manage and control unless the right height and weight is available.

Starting children off early with lessons can be a great idea. The more instruments a child can learn the more rounded they will be when it comes to music and singing. Parents can find classes at local music stores and community centers.

Tags: Figuring, Kids, Lessons, Music, Ready

Online English Lessons Using WebEx – The Most Efficient Way for the Business Professional

If you’re a business professional and you would like to enter the global marketplace, then you need to make sure that you can communicate with people from all over the world. You know how many different countries and cultures there are out there. This means that there are many different languages. If you want to be able to communicate effectively and clearly with all members of the global marketplace, then you need to make sure that your English speaking skills are up to par. If you are like other business professionals, then you have probably tried classes and learned that you just didn’t have the time. Books and tapes probably didn’t offer the in depth education you need. In this article, you will learn about online English lessons using WebEx.

If you are unfamiliar with online English lessons using WebEx, then you should certainly look into this exciting new way to learn the language. All you need to get started is a computer, access to the WebEx program, and a headset. WebEx is an online program that allows you to speak with a live native speaker over your headset. On your desktop you can actually sit through a real time visual presentation. In other words, it’s just like sitting through a conference or classroom presentation from the comfort of your own home or office.

Online English lessons using WebEx are the most efficient, affordable, and convenient way to improve your English language speaking abilities. You can work with a live native speaker who will correct your punctuation and teach the jargon and terminology you need to know. You will able to ask questions and watch the presentation while receiving in depth explanations. Using WebEx is just like getting one on one training without having to leave the house. It’s also a more specialized form of education than conventional books, tapes, and CD’s, which don’t provide extra assistance.

When you are looking for online English lessons using WebEx, remember to look at quality and affordability. You should never sacrifice quality for a low price, however. What you need is an English language service that is passionate about teaching English to business professionals. This is the only way you can be sure that you will get the education and attention that you deserve. You will be able to speak confidently and fluently in English in no time. Mistakes and miscommunication will become problems of the past.

Tags: Business, Efficient, English, Lessons, Most, Online, Professional, Using, WebEx

Figuring Out When Kids Are Ready For Music Lessons

Many parents do not know when to sign their child up for music. The fact is that some people actually put their babies in music classes. Lessons can begin at any age and can have a great impact on the child who starts early. While there is no age restriction for instruments, any age is a great one. Some instruments may be recommended for particular age groups. Find out what instruments are the easiest to play and which ones may take some more maturity to figure out.

Babies and toddler love singing and movement classes. These classes take place with their parent with them and in a group setting. The babies and parents will participate in many action songs, and listen to the instruments played by the central instructor. Children seem to love hearing live instruments play and watch someone actually work an instrument with their hands or mouth.

The fascination with music and instruments may expand from there. As a child turns into a preschooler, there parent may put them in piano lessons. This type of instrument is ideal for a younger group of kids. It is fairly easy to learn the keys and the piano keys are large for small hands to play around with. Early lessons involving the piano have shown to be successful for the child down the road. With so many skills to learn in this area, small steps can be taken toward learning the entire instrument.

When a child wants to take singing lessons, there parents may not know when to start. Many kids will begin this type of lesson in a band at school. This type of singing is guided by a music teacher and each student receives training as well as group instruction.

Most experts agree that when a child begins to show interest in singing, that it doesn’t hurt to sign them up for singing classes. They will work one on one with a coach who can teach them how to sing. These coaches are also experts at training the voice and exercising the various notes.

Using drum lessons for kids is an instrument that may be harder to learn. Some studios will suggest to wait until they are old enough to have lots of patience. Children should be able to read and read notes. They should also be able to follow instruction and play a drum on a serious note.

When guitar lessons is desired by a child, they may also need to be an older child. That is because the strings and notes are complex and will need an older child to figure them out. The stings are also small with many of the chords involving tricky hand positions. Holding the guitar can also be hard to manage and control unless the right height and weight is available.

Starting children off early with lessons can be a great idea. The more instruments a child can learn the more rounded they will be when it comes to music and singing. Parents can find classes at local music stores and community centers.

Tags: Figuring, Kids, Lessons, Music, Ready

Figuring Out When Kids Are Ready For Music Lessons

Many parents do not know when to sign their child up for music. The fact is that some people actually put their babies in music classes. Lessons can begin at any age and can have a great impact on the child who starts early. While there is no age restriction for instruments, any age is a great one. Some instruments may be recommended for particular age groups. Find out what instruments are the easiest to play and which ones may take some more maturity to figure out.

Babies and toddler love singing and movement classes. These classes take place with their parent with them and in a group setting. The babies and parents will participate in many action songs, and listen to the instruments played by the central instructor. Children seem to love hearing live instruments play and watch someone actually work an instrument with their hands or mouth.

The fascination with music and instruments may expand from there. As a child turns into a preschooler, there parent may put them in piano lessons. This type of instrument is ideal for a younger group of kids. It is fairly easy to learn the keys and the piano keys are large for small hands to play around with. Early lessons involving the piano have shown to be successful for the child down the road. With so many skills to learn in this area, small steps can be taken toward learning the entire instrument.

When a child wants to take singing lessons, there parents may not know when to start. Many kids will begin this type of lesson in a band at school. This type of singing is guided by a music teacher and each student receives training as well as group instruction.

Most experts agree that when a child begins to show interest in singing, that it doesn’t hurt to sign them up for singing classes. They will work one on one with a coach who can teach them how to sing. These coaches are also experts at training the voice and exercising the various notes.

Using drum lessons for kids is an instrument that may be harder to learn. Some studios will suggest to wait until they are old enough to have lots of patience. Children should be able to read and read notes. They should also be able to follow instruction and play a drum on a serious note.

When guitar lessons is desired by a child, they may also need to be an older child. That is because the strings and notes are complex and will need an older child to figure them out. The stings are also small with many of the chords involving tricky hand positions. Holding the guitar can also be hard to manage and control unless the right height and weight is available.

Starting children off early with lessons can be a great idea. The more instruments a child can learn the more rounded they will be when it comes to music and singing. Parents can find classes at local music stores and community centers.

Tags: Figuring, Kids, Lessons, Music, Ready

Real Estate Lessons from Trammell Crow

When you hear the term “America’s real estate magnate,” who comes to mind? Donald Trump, of course. But don’t believe everything you see on TV. There’s a real estate developer whose empire . . . well . . .trumps that of “The Donald.” And because he shuns the spotlight instead of seeking it out, the average person has never heard of him. (If you’re a resident of Texas, a real estate developer, or a student of business, you can exclude yourself from that list.) But chances are good that this man has left his mark somewhere you have lived, worked, shopped, stayed, or visited.

His name is Trammell Crow, and he’s the real estate mind behind such landmarks as the Dallas Market Center, Atlanta’s Peachtree Center, San Francisco’s Embarcadero Center, and monuments across the nation and the world from Brussels to Hong Kong. He’s had his tireless hands in apartments, office buildings, hotels, retail stores, and developments of every stripe. And because his legacy is so deep and broad–and his life and personality are so colorful–his story is well worth reading.

William Bragg Ewald, author of the new biography
Trammell Crow: A Legacy of Real Estate Innovation
(Urban Land Institute, 2005, ISBN: 0-8742093-5-8, $34.95), follows Crow from his humble birth in a tiny frame house at 1318 Fitzhugh Street in Dallas to his rise to wealth and power in the real estate world to the bitter years of financial woe, reorganization, and bare-knuckled litigation–and makes the reader come to truly know this compelling man.

Trammell Crow: A Legacy of Real Estate Innovation
is filled with valuable insights on the Crow business formula, his unorthodox partnership-based plan, the changes in government, policies, and society that impacted his company, and the nature of the man himself. Here are a few excerpts from the book:

The origins of Crow’s work ethic:

He took all kinds of jobs. From the age of ten he had mowed lawns, caddied, pumped gas, even jerked sodas on Sunday until his father put a stop to it. Years later he passed a filling station with journalist A.C. Greene, pointed to it and said, “That’s where I got my start.”

By 1932, as the Depression deepened, he was plucking chickens and cleaning old bricks for reuse in new houses. He worked on a construction site for 15 cents an hour, clerked in grocery stores, helped unload Clabber Girl baking power and Spreckles sugar from railroad boxcars, wheeled them into the warehouse, and stacked them up. For a dollar or two he would drive a new car from the Dallas Ford plant over to Fort Worth. From his earnings he gave his mother half to run the house and paid off his father’s $600 grocery bill.

All of this did not leave him embittered. “The whole attitude of the world today toward poverty, particularly that of socialists and writers who have never been there, is out of sync with reality,” Crow wrote. “We didn’t suffer any personal, emotional, or educational injury from our circumstances. We also learned things that many people never know. We learned desire. We learned the benefits of unity. We learned that you can do without. We learned that you can aspire and work and achieve without being fed from the outside. We learned not to feel sorry for ourselves. That might be the biggest lesson of all.”

The birth of the speculative warehouse:

The building John McFadden built to fill the 135 Cole Street plot measured exactly 11,250 square feet. And in that measurement can be found another significant Trammell Crow feature–speculation. Ray-O-Vac needed only 6,750 square feet. That left 4,500. “Taking chances already,” Crow said as he looked for a second tenant for the empty space and found Decca Records. Before the building was finished, they had signed up for the remaining 4,500 square feet, and Trammell Crow had become, in his own words, a “confirmed gambler, a speculative builder.”

He was leaving behind an old world in which a developer found a tenant, built a warehouse to meet only his specifications, and gave him a 20-year lease, in that order. “Who ever heard of calling a Ford or a Buick a speculative car?” a big developer asked. “But that’s what they are: cars manufactured for Ford or GM that have no buyers signed up. Well, Trammell Crow invented the speculative warehouse–a general-purpose building that he could offer to a prospective tenant not next month or next year, but now.” And it all began with those 4,500 square feet he leased to Decca.

Openness as a business philosophy:

Another component of the Crow method was his belief in open partnerships. Openness–a combination of trust, generosity, sharing, and optimism–permeated all of his activity.

It permeated his conduct with lenders. He didn’t go after the last dollar in every deal. He wanted his counterpart to walk away feeling he had made the best bargain ever.

It permeated his conduct with builders. A colleague once dropped by a construction site and asked the foreman to see the blueprint for the new building. “Blueprint? Hell, Mr. Crow says put a stake in the ground, go 200 feet west, then turn north.” Johnny McFadden and Edgar Miller were Trammell Crow’s good friends, the colleague reflected, “and he just turned them loose.”

Openness permeated his conduct with his brokers, on whom he depended to find lenders and tenants. “Other owners,” one former broker has declared, “tried to exclude or circumvent the brokers.” Or hammer them down on price. Trammell Crow didn’t. So brokers would bring prospects to him first. And as he left on a trip, he could sign a blank loan contract, leave it with a trusted broker, and tell him to go ahead and make the deal.

Most landlords try to avoid tenants, afraid they might ask for something. Not Trammell Crow. He aggressively pursued tenants’ problems. What did they need? He wanted to know. And he delivered more than he promised.

The Crow management style:

By 1970, Crow had branched out into one avenue after another, of varying promise. Recognizing that real estate demands local knowledge and expertise at its core, he had for the first time in history assembled a nationwide organization–an organization that would lead people in the future to express surprise that the Trammell Crow Company was headquartered in Dallas rather than in their own neighborhoods. He had assembled a bright and energetic team. He used no headhunters, no batteries of psychological tests. Most–Shutt, Simmons, Shafer, Mack Pogue–were very young. He hired many of them right out of school. And as one of his older associates said, “I trained them–how to read blueprints, how to go about leasing–and in three months they’d be telling us what to do.” He trusted them. “To get off Trammell’s team,” one associate said, “you either had to steal from him or quit.” If he wanted to reprimand a partner, he would begin by congratulating him.

He gave with great generosity, made his partners millionaires and multimillionaires, working the 50/50 magic. “Over the years,” he reflected later, “I probably was more giving than I needed to be. But on the whole I wouldn’t change.” He had built the greatest organization in this field in America by giving leadership to the man on the site. The more you give, the more you get back–a conviction he calls “generous pragmatism.” He always believed real estate on a nonpartnership corporate organization would be doomed to fail. Through “selfish generosity” he believed his partners would make money, and he would make money.

From this formula what resulted? First, a brain trust, a far-flung organization of diverse people around the country capable of supplying their leader with varied creative ideas. Second, diversification–of location and of product, from specialists, who knew every nook and cranny of every local market; who knew every type of building they were putting up. And third, an organization national in scope, with geographic diversity that permitted economies of scale in borrowing and in construction . . . This diversity protects the national organization from cyclical downswings in individual economic areas and individual products.

His eccentricities . . . and his genius:

As ever, he had small peculiarities displayed. He once climbed an eight-foot fence in a black overcoat and derby hat. Riding in his car, dictating and eating cookies at the same time, he could leave the dictation tape an indecipherable jumble. Becoming too hot in the midst of his guests at an upscale restaurant, he removed his jacket and cut off his shirtsleeves. While his secretaries tried to tell a particularly objectionable visitor that Crow was out of the office, he walked by shielding his face with a sheaf of papers, pretending to be invisible.

All to intelligent purpose. He could do economic feasibility studies in five minutes on the back of a placemat. He could summarize complicated presentations on a single sheet of paper. Taking dictation, Barbara Collins has remembered, “You can’t predict the end of the sentence with Mr. Crow.” He can, Bill Cooper observes, see through the details of a project to the bottom line; can walk into a town like a homing pigeon and say, “Here’s the project site.” “Exxon would take a hundred professional people to plan its building in New York City,” Cloyce Box observed; “Trammell Crow would do the same thing all by himself.”

The trying years (the 1980s):

Even in its glory years, the company had an abundance of go-getters. But now, more than ever, it was becoming a company of mercenaries. These were not the young men of varied backgrounds who joined in the days of the roll-top desk and foolscap financial summaries and found themselves in an organization “intimate, small, and fun.” Crow had grown big and become streamlined, rife with young MBAs with signature rights. One of Crow’s oldest partners, Tom Simmons, summed up the change in a striking metaphor: the old company was a tattered old goose that had laid golden eggs; the new company was a streamlined goose that didn’t. Traveling around the country, Mack Pogue would from time to time find himself appalled at the young MBAs lacking experience and left in charge of the local turf. A couple of blocks away, from their office at 2001 Bryan, old-timers Tom Shutt and Bart Brown watched this change with sadness. They had built for the market, not to pile up volumes. The company they knew in the old days responded to genuine customer needs, not to a get-rich-quick formula.

The legacy (circa 1994):

With the roll-ups shifting assets from the partners to the family, its chief, Harlan Crow, now sat atop an empire that, in 1993, had a gross value, before debt, of some $7 billion, including some $4 billion in the Trammell Crow Commercial Company. Equity in this empire came to about $1 billion, including the equity of the Crow family, $370 million. Outside partners–principally insurance companies and smaller investors like Ehrenkranz–had equity totaling $844 million. All these enterprises together produced annual revenues of about $2 billion and employed more than 5,500 people. The commercial company, the biggest component, managed more square footage than anyone else in the United States–some 240 million square feet, half of it owned, half of it managed for other owners. Harlan would soon remarry. He and his new bride would have his first child, a boy. They would undertake the purchase of the palatial Adirondacks home of the former Ms. Meriwether Post near Lake George.

And like Prince Hal, Harlan looked forward to following honorably, effectively, and humbly in the footsteps of a distinguished and delighted father.

The big lesson from
Trammell Crow is that action–undertaken with unflagging energy and unyielding determination–is a magic elixir for both triumph and disaster. Crow is a living example of that truth. That’s reason enough to pick up Ewald’s book. And if that’s not enough, well, the story of Trammell Crow is just darn good reading.

“Why write about him?” queries Ewald in the preface. “Because as a one-of-a-kind individual–in his character, personality, surprises, speed of mind, convictions, compulsive optimism, shortcomings, energy, and, above all, his singular ethics–he far out-fascinates most billionaires, most CEOs, indeed most people. Because he rose farther in his business–real estate development–than anyone else ever has, and because he therefore had farther to fall. Because his features as an individual mesh inexorably with the driving buoyancy and the treacherous economic follies of our time.

“This is therefore a story of dramatic tensions: between the forces within a man and his country that powered an egregious business ascent and the undertow forces within a man and his country that propelled him earthward,” he continues. “It is a morality play about transcendence–about what remains when both a business and a society founder. This is a story that recounts how a man, though the heavens may seem to fall, can sometimes still come through triumphant.”

About the Author:

An accomplished author, William Bragg Ewald, Jr. has written eight books, including a biography of former President Eisenhower. He served as a member of the White House staff during the Eisenhower administration and assisted the President in writing his two volumes of White House memoirs. Dr. Ewald received his doctorate from Harvard University. He is also the author of two books on eighteenth-century English literature.

About the Book:
Trammell Crow: A Legacy of Real Estate Innovation

(Urban Land Institute, 2005, ISBN: 0-8742093-5-8, $34.95) is available at bookstores nationwide and major online booksellers or direct from the publisher at uli.org.

The Urban Land Institute

(uli.org) is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide responsible leadership in the use of land in order to enhance the total environment. Each year, the Institute honors a land use visionary through the Urban Land Institute J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionary Urban Development. Established in 1936, the Institute has more than 25,000 members representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.

Tags: Crow, Estate, From, Lessons, Real, Trammell