What is the Better Life Group?
The Better Life Group (BLG) has associated itself with the premier organization in Axiological study, The Value Source Group (TVSG) and Better Life Training (BLT). TVSG is a value engineering & business organizational consulting firm using products and services developed in the new field of applied formal axiology. They specialize in sports performance development and professional evaluation services in many different areas, deploying axiological-based assessments, selection, training, and coaching. BLG came about as a result of a previous successful association with BLT, that continues to this day. BLG now partners with BLT to help our clients achieve the greatest results possible from the fruit of the work done by TVSG.

TVSG clients include professional team and individual sports organizations (Pro Soccer, Baseball, NFL, NHL, NBA, Olympic teams, as well as minor and youth leagues) golf and tennis clubs, manufacturing companies, sales organizations, financial service providers & institutions, hospitality services (hotel chains), health care organizations and dental practices, among many others. They have also worked with several non-profits over the years, including Easter Seals, the holistic Habichtswald Cancer Clinic in Kassel, Germany, the JTPA (Joint Tennessee Partnership Act), United Way, and the Tennessee State Corrections system.

What’s the History of TVSG?

TVSG was originally founded in 1979, and has undergone several name changes since then – but its history really began years earlier, when Chairman Dr. David Mefford was a philosophy undergraduate at the University of Tennessee. He was fascinated by the new science of value, Axiology, which was developed by his major professor and mentor, Dr. Robert S. Hartman. Hartman, who also taught at the National University of Mexico and was a visiting professor at both Yale and MIT, argued that this new science enabled the precise measurement of human values. Before his death in 1973, he developed the first instrument to do just that – the Hartman Value Profile (HVP).

After completing their degrees, Dr. Dave and his wife Vera, along with CEO Gregory Woods have incorporated Hartman’s theories into a series of innovative tools, including numerous interest-specific assessments to help individuals, businesses and sports teams around the world evaluate potential and current personnel and players, and to train and develop managers and coaches. The company’s products and services are distributed globally through an SME (Subject Matter Expert) network. The company is a leading axiological service provider with a management team that has 80+ years combined experience. Our business purpose is to provide leading-edge axiological products and services to special interest groups in our society. TVSG is managed by Dr. David Mefford, Gregory Woods and Vera Mefford with offices in Charlotte, North Carolina, Morristown, Tennessee and Brielle, New Jersey. TVSG is the world leader in innovative applications of formal axiological science.

What’s Better Life Training (BLT) and how does it fit in?

Better Life Training (BLT) was started by Mike and Patty Hartman.

Mike Hartman
Lifestyle Coach and National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified

Mike had a 16-year professional career playing with the Buffalo Sabres, Winnipeg Jets, Tampa Bay Lightning and the 1994 Stanley Cup Champion New York Rangers. Mike also played for and coached Team USA and has played in Europe.

Mike started off-season coaching schools with a focus on coaching the importance of the little things and details for hockey players. Over the years he has expanded to include other sports and corporate America. Mike brings to his clients the expertise and discipline learned through his years as a professional athlete and has coached thousands of athletes and professionals over the years. He has also worked with the 2002 U.S. Women's Olympic Hockey Team and USA Hockey Development camps.

Mike is an Axiological Practitioner & National Academy of Sports Medicine coach. He has been training athletes & corporate executives by providing goal-focused coaching programs designed to meet their needs of his clients of all ages. Mike delivers a comprehensive lifestyle package for life, business, sports, fitness and nutrition.

Patty Hartman
Life Coach and Certified Personal Trainer

Patty is a certified personal trainer and coach. She has been involved in coaching and teaching for several years. Patty has worked with hundreds of athletes at all levels and knows what it takes to get them to the next level. Patty was the head instructor of the off-ice training school in Michigan. She is an inspiration for all levels of fitness and athletics and brings a lot of energy to the camps and fitness center.

What is Axiology, Formal Axiology & Axiological Profiling?

Axiology is the name for “value theory.” It is derived from the Greek word “axios” meaning “worth.” Formal axiology is the logic-based science of value anchored in a “hierarchy of meaning” from the most meaningful or richest value to the most destructive or greatest value loss. The logic specifies 18 different levels of richness. Hartman’s “hierarchy of value” is the mathematical measuring standard for human evaluative judgment and decision-making in life and in all social sectors of life in our culture.

Axiological profiles are constructed by selecting linguistic examples for each of the 18 levels of the mathematical hierarchy. These examples are mixed up and the respondent is asked to rank them from best to worst. Their ranking of the items is then compared to the mathematical value norm, producing a pattern representing the mental clarity and emotional quality of their decisions.

When people make value judgments, they use both their mental and emotional capacities to arrive at their decision. Some people have very solid and reliable decision-making abilities – while others routinely make wrong or inaccurate choices. Our profiles measure the quality of the respondent’s judgment and decision-making by gauging both their mental clarity and their emotional orientation & conditioning.

Research has shown that using the targeted profiles marketed by TVSG via Better Life Group present very strong face validity, because respondents recognize and identify with language pertaining to their specific field(s). Our profiles also fulfill the great market need for industry-specific applications. For example, a sports coach is mainly interested in finding out how an athlete will play the game and engage with teammates on the field, court or ice, especially under pressure, versus how they may feel, act or think about life in general. The same principle applies to business, finance, relationships, fitness, tennis, golf, dentistry and health care, among other industries.

How do we Target Success?

These days, the rules for work engagements are changing – employees are being judged by a new standard – not just by how smart and talented they are, or by their training or expertise, but also by how well they handle themselves and each other. As Daniel Goleman, author of Working with Emotional Intelligence, 1998, says, “the new measure takes for granted having enough intellectual ability and technical know-how to do our jobs; it focuses instead on personal qualities, such as initiative and empathy, adaptability and persuasiveness.”

This measure has been referred to as “soft skills” in the past, but emotional intelligence is no passing fad. We now have 35 years of empirical studies that tell us precisely just how much emotional intelligence matters for success, especially in management and leadership positions. Although many are still skeptical of “soft skills measurement” in psychology, neuroscience makes crystal clear why emotional intelligence matters so much. The skills necessary for managing ourselves effectively and for being socially adept are grounded in our evolutionary history for survival and adaptation. To quote Goleman again, “Our research reveals deplorable weaknesses in how businesses train people in skills from listening and leadership to team building and handling change. Most training programs have embraced an academic model – but this has been a drastic mistake, wasting millions of hours and billions of dollars. What’s needed is an entirely new way of thinking about what it takes to help people boost their emotional intelligence.”

TVSG assessments can and do measure the following traits associated with emotional intelligence, as well as standard competencies for specific jobs, management skills, job identification, problem solving, and compliance, among others. They include social competencies, like empathy and sensitivity to others, understanding and developing others, service orientation, listening capacity, communication, conflict management, collaboration and cooperation, team capabilities, etc. Personal competencies include: self management, emotional stability, self-worth awareness, self-assessment, self confidence, self-regulation, self control, self discipline, personal accountability, adaptability, motivation, drive, commitment, initiative and optimism, among others.

How are Axiological Assessments different from Psychological assessments?

Psychology has been very valuable in our culture and is based on inductive logic grounded in empirical foundations. It is an instance of reasoning from a part to the whole, from particulars to generals, or from the individual to the universal. The general validity of a “law” is inferred from its observed validity by showing that if a proposed law holds true in certain cases, it must also hold in the next and succeeding cases.

Axiology, on the other hand, has the distinctive difference of being based on deductive reasoning, a method by which concrete applications and interpretative detail are deduced from axioms, definitions and postulates. Hartman’s “Axiom of Value” provides us with a formal mathematical norm which can be applied to any field of study to structure the value parameters of that field. It then weighs or measures individuals or teams against that scientific norm. Dr. Leon Pomeroy in his book, The New Science of Axiological Psychology (Pomeroy, 2005), has shown that formal axiology is also empirically valid. Thus, in our axiological assessment profiles we have the solid support of both scientific methods: the deductive logic-based axiomatic method and the inductive, empirical method. Dr. Pomeroy spent over 20 years collecting statistical data for his book cross-nationally, from numerous and diverse eastern and western countries and cultures, and proving that cultures all over the world make value judgments in the same way.

Formal axiology is a discipline that can enhance and improve the effectiveness of psychology – by merging it with the axiomatic method. We see the marriage of psychology and axiology as the very best approach to coaching and improving the skills and talents of teams and individuals. TVSG’s targeted Value Assessments are consistent and non-discriminatory. Since the value profiles are based on formal value science, rather than psychology, responses are compared to mathematical norms, rather than to group or population norms. Race, sex, age, and creed have no bearing on these instruments whatsoever.

How are the Value Assessments Administered?

Usually, the assessments are taken on-line through TVSG or one of our Master Distributors’ websites using a designated pass-code. This facilitates quick turn-around for our clients. TVSG also offers the assessments in paper and pencil self-administered format, if the client desires, or in various “special needs” contexts, such as in court-room/juror evaluation usage. To obtain the best results that satisfies all sides, we recommend in-house validation, because this enables employers to introduce the axiological assessment profile to a job applicant by informing them that completing the assessment is routine procedure for all prospective employees, and should they be hired, the results will be shared with them.

Why do Most Client Companies use the TVSG Assessments that Better Life Group represents?

Most managers use the profiles to help determine which job applicants are best suited for a particular position, and which employees would make the best supervisors, as well as who may need training or coaching to better develop and apply their potential. TVSG can also help you determine the “can do”- “will do” factor – many people have the talents and skills necessary to do the job, but lack the internal desire and motivation to follow through (this is the distinction between talent and emotional stability).

This process will improve the retention rate and reduced employee turnover. Our profiles should not be considered “tests” because there are no right and wrong answers; but a person’s judgment responses do reveal his or her strengths and development areas. Our assessments have proven to be astonishingly effective in evaluating individual professional and personal value areas, such as drive, ambition, loyalty, capacity for work, people skills and honesty. In fact, our profiles have been termed “linguistic polygraphs” by several of our clients. Both the polygraph and the value profiles work by measuring emotional responses to questions and phrases. Polygraphs generally reveal whether a person has formerly engaged in dishonest activity, but the value profiles can reveal the degree of a person’s emotional programming and intellectual regard for law, order and authority, which can point to a person’s potential for illegal activity. In addition, our profiles will tell you how much stress a person may be under, how well they are coping with it, and the degree to which they may be accident-prone.

On Validity and Reliability:

Concerning reliability, each axiological assessment has a built-in rank order correlation (Rho) measure indicating the consistency of the responses. If the life and working conditions of the respondent have not changed significantly from one completion to another, the “test-retest” reliability is extremely high.

The validity of the Robert S. Hartman’s original Hartman Value Profile (HVP) upon which the TVSG parallel forms for special applications are based has been confirmed by extensive research at the University of Tennessee, Vanderbilt University, and at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in New York. The two main sources of validity information are the following.

1. Billie Cannon Elliot, Ph.D., “Factor and Cluster Analyses of The Hartman Value Inventory: A Study of Item Homogeneity and Factorial Invariance for Normative and Ipsative Scales,” a doctorial dissertation presented in the Department of Education at the University of Tennessee, June, 1969.

2. Leon Pomeroy, Ph.D., The New Science of Axiological Psychology, Rodopi Press, 2005.