Closing Chapters

Closing Chapters attempts to explain the disintegration of urban parochial schools in Youngstown, Ohio, a onetime industrial center that lost all but one of its eighteen Catholic parochial elementary schools between 1960 and 2006. Through this examination of Youngstown, Welsh sheds light on a significant national phenomenon: the fragmentation of American Catholic identity.

“Always be closing!” —Glengarry Glen Ross, 1992 “Never Be Closing!” —a sales book title, 2014 “?????” —salespeople everywhere, 2017 For decades, sales managers, coaches, and authors talked about closing as the most essential, most difficult phase of selling. They invented pushy tricks for the final ask, from the “take delivery” close to the “now or never” close. But these tactics often alienated customers, leading to fads for the “soft” close or even abandoning the idea of closing altogether. It sounded great in theory, but the results were often mixed or poor. That left a generation of salespeople wondering how they should think about closing, and what strategies would lead to the best possible outcomes. Anthony Iannarino has a different approach geared to the new technological and social realities of our time. In The Lost Art of Closing, he proves that the final commitment can actually be one of the easiest parts of the sales process—if you’ve set it up properly with other commitments that have to happen long before the close. The key is to lead customers through a series of necessary steps designed to prevent a purchase stall. Iannarino addressed this in a chapter of The Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need—which he thought would be his only book about selling. But he discovered so much hunger for guidance about closing that he’s back with a new book full of proven tactics and useful examples. The Lost Art of Closing will help you win customer commitment at ten essential points along the purchase journey. For instance, you’ll discover how to: · Compete on value, not price, by securing a Commitment to Invest early in the process. · Ask for a Commitment to Build Consensus within the client’s organization, ensuring that your solution has early buy-in from all stakeholders. · Prevent the possibility of the sale falling through at the last minute by proactively securing a Commitment to Resolve Concerns. The Lost Art of Closing will forever change the way you think about closing, and your clients will appreciate your ability to help them achieve real change and real results.\

Book & CD. One of the most striking demographic changes over the last century in Western countries has been the rapid growth, both absolute and relative, of the oldest-old population, to such an extent that living beyond the age of 80 years constitutes a new stage of life. But what is life like after 80? Rather than scrutinizing the pathologies of very old age, this book enquires into the normal aging of the oldest old, their health trajectories, their socio-demographic inequalities; it analyses their daily life, including their social relationships, social support, and activities, and observes how the oldest old adapt to the multiple stresses and challenges of very old age. The book reports major results obtained from Swilsoo, a long-term longitudinal study based on two cohorts of octogenarians. The two cohorts were assessed on an approximately yearly basis, the first for 9 waves from 1994 to 2004, with 340 participants at inception, and the second for 5 waves from 19v9 to 2004, initially with 377 participants. The book demonstrates that many common stereotypes concerning the oldest old are false. For examples, their main shared characteristic is not sickness, but frailty, which affects them in different ways. A long life does not necessarily culminate in dependence. Dependence is a risk -- especially among persons of lower socio-economic status -- but not an ineluctable outcome. It also helps to bring out the importance of social and psychological resources in the lives of the oldest old. Although multiple stresses such as negative health-related changes or self-reported bereavements of a loved one often occur in the life of the elderly and affect their health and well-being, the very old can take advantage of various resources or adjustment mechanisms to help preserve their well-being and robustness. The book shows for instance that the preservation by the elderly of a positive and active role within the family is a boon to their health and that the continuation of leisure activities or the effective use of psychological resources counters the negative effects of frailty on well-being.

In life, how we begin and continue is important. But ultimately, it is how we finish that really matters. Some of us have begun well. Some of us have continued well. But how will we finish? Will we finish well, or will we finish badly? "This book highlights the fact that biographical study is highly profitable for leadership insights. David Wong writes well, using apt illustrations, appropriately using humor, sharing his personal experiences, and identifying insightful leadership principles. "He does so while examining thirteen biblical characters, deriving both positive and negative observations from incidents in their lives. The overarching theme involves the concept of finishing well-chapters in a life and/or the entire life. "I recommend this book as a highly valuable leadership book." -Professor J. Robert "Bobby" Clinton, Professor of Leadership, Fuller Theological Seminary

This engaging and highly regarded book takes readers through the key stages of their PhD research journey, from the initial ideas through to successful completion and publication. It gives helpful guidance on forming research questions, organising ideas, pulling together a final draft, handling the viva and getting published. Each chapter contains a wealth of practical suggestions and tips for readers to try out and adapt to their own research needs and disciplinary style. This text will be essential reading for PhD students and their supervisors in humanities, arts, social sciences, business, law, health and related disciplines.

For better or for worse Tired of being wooed for her dowry, Lady Madeleine Castleigh has given up on finding true love. But on her way to elope with a boring but honorable philanthropist, her carriage is seized by a nobleman on the run. Maddie is alarmed, especially when she catches sight of Jack Martingale, Marquess of Blackthorne, exactly the sort of wickedly attractive man she's sworn to avoid. Chased by a powerful duke with revenge on his mind and a private army in tow, Jack has no choice but to confiscate Madeleine's carriage. He promises to take his leave once they arrive at the wedding in Gretna Green, but he doesn't count on his growing desire for the blue-eyed beauty. When the unexpected appearance of Maddie's father and the mistakes of a drunken priest alter everyone's plans, Maddie is furious—until she discovers that Blackthorne's kisses arouse a passion in her she'd long ago stopped praying for.

A recovery book providing encouragement and support and leading to healing for those whose loved ones have committed suicide.

Praise for Fast Close: A Guide to Closing the Books Quickly "Steve captures the essence of the problems affecting the financial close process within corporations of all sizes; from the period close of subledgers and general ledger through financial reporting, and the relationship and interdependencies of governance, people and technology. A must-read for the corporate controller." —David Taylor, ACMA, MBA, VP Strategy, Trintech Inc. "Fast Close: A Guide to Closing the Books Quickly, Second Edition is a must-read for today's busy controllers. Steven Bragg points out everything that can be done outside the close that you just never realized didn't actually have to be part of the month-end close process! Very commonsensical approach!" —Kathleen Schneibel, mba, cpa, Controller/CFO for Hire, KMAS Consulting LLC "A well-executed 'fast close' can bring many valuable benefits to any company, from improving organizational performance to transforming accounting executives from financial historians to trusted advisors. In Fast Close, Second Edition, Steve systematically breaks down the steps required to achieve a fast close in both public and private companies, providing financial executives with tips, checklists, and a cost-effective road map to implement fast close procedures in virtually any company." —Matthew Posta, Esq., CPA, Vice President of Finance, Key Air, LLC FROM THE FIRST EDITION "This is an outstanding book in which Steve reveals his secrets to a fast close. Having personally experienced his (one-day) fast close for years and enjoyed the beneficial impact on my company, I highly recommend this book for all financial officers who desire to have a large, favorable impact on their company." —Richard V. Souders, President and CEO, Kaba Workforce Solutions

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.