Excellence University Journal

The “Journey Into Excellence” Radio Podcast Series (Episode 3)

by Dr. Brian Higley

I was recently a panelist on the third episode of “Journey Into Excellence,” a radio podcast series focused on the promotion of evidence-based life, liberty, and happiness pursuit through the facilitation of clear thinking and civility in our family, education, and leadership/management systems. I was asked to be a regular panelist on the show of because of (a) my work focused on the integration of the science of learning, change, and growth into the family, education, and leadership/management systems and (b) my connections with some of the best minds working within these systems in the world, including my co-panelists. Here’s an overview of Episode 3 of the series (click on this link to listen to the episode: Journey into Excellence Episode 3).  Please feel free to (a) have a listen to it, (b) send it to anyone who you believe might enjoy it, and/or (c) provide any feedback about the show you would like to provide in the comments section below:

Journey Into Excellence (Episode 3)

In this episode, we continue our exploration into how some common thinking errors (or, “logical fallacies”) interfere with optimal functioning (e.g., civility and clear-thinking) across a variety of dimensions.  We  cover the importance of  helping ourselves and others to flourish within the family, education, and leadership/management systems and how all three of these systems are negatively affected by logical fallacies.  In this episode, our experts cover the following fallacies: (1) appeal to emotion, (2) personal incredulity, and (3) appeal to anecdotes, along with specific activities that listeners can use to minimize the negative impact of these barriers to happy and healthy families, satisfying and useful educational experiences, and profitable and helpful organizations.

Our regular panelists are:

Jack Malcolm: President of the Falcon Performance Group, an organization dedicated to improving the professionalism, preparation, and productivity of sales professionals in the complex-sale environments. For more on Jack, visit: http://jackmalcolm.com/about-jack/

John Spence: One of the top business thought leaders and leadership development experts in the world who has done extensive work on business and personal excellence, has written several books on the topic, blogs regularly on these topics, has been a TedX speaker, and regularly produces seminars on business leadership skills. For more on John, visit: https://johnspence.com/johns-bio/

Martin Heesacker Ph.D.: Dr. Heesacker is a professor of psychology at the University of Florida. He has served as chair of UF’s Department of Psychology, as well as numerous other boards and committees, and is a highly published author in many scientific journals. For more on Marty, visit: http://martin-heesacker.squarespace.com/brief-biography/

Brian P. Higley Ph.D.: Dr. Higley is President and CEO of The Building Blocks to Excellence, LLC, a company that focuses on promoting team excellence, personal effectiveness and work/life satisfaction in individuals, teams, and organizations. Dr. Higley has worked with a wide range of organizations, has served as an executive coach to individuals across a variety of industries, and has taught psychology at colleges and universities across the nation. For more on Brian, visit: http://www.thebuildingblockstoexcellence.com/history.php#higley

The “Journey Into Excellence” Radio Podcast Series (Episode 2)

by Dr. Brian Higley

I was recently a panelist on another “Journey Into Excellence” episode. Journey Into Excellence is a series focused on the promotion of evidence-based life, liberty, and happiness pursuit through the facilitation of clear thinking and civility in our family, education, and leadership/management systems.  I was asked to be a regular panelist on the show of because of (a) my work focused on the integration of the science of learning, change, and growth into the family, education, and leadership/management systems and (b) my connections with some of the best minds working within these systems in the world, including my co-panelists.  Here’s an overview of Episode 2 of the series:

This is the second episode of an ongoing monthly series entitled “Journey Into Excellence.” In this series, a panel of experts in leadership, management, sales, personal effectiveness, and life satisfaction explore how life, liberty, and happiness pursuit requires both clear thinking and civility in our family, education, and leadership/management systems. In this episode, we’ll explore how some specific thinking errors (or, “logical fallacies”) can interfere with optimal functioning across a variety of dimensions.

Our experts will start by reviewing the importance of civility and clear-thinking in helping ourselves and others to flourish within the family, education, and leadership/management systems. They will then define three specific logical fallacies that often disrupt flourishing by promoting abuse, confusion, and lack of trust: (1) false cause, (2) strawman arguments, and (3) ad hominem attacks. Finally, our experts will provide listeners with some specific activities that they can engage in to minimize the negative impact of these three huge barriers to (a) happy and healthy families, (b) satisfying and (c) useful educational experiences, and profitable and helpful organizations.

Our regular panelists are:

Jack Malcolm: President of the Falcon Performance Group, an organization dedicated to improving the professionalism, preparation, and productivity of sales professionals in the complex-sale environments. For more on Jack, visit: http://jackmalcolm.com/about-jack/

John Spence: One of the top business thought leaders and leadership development experts in the world who has done extensive work on business and personal excellence, has written several books on the topic, blogs regularly on these topics, has been a TedX speaker, and regularly produces seminars on business leadership skills. For more on John, visit: https://johnspence.com/johns-bio/

Martin Heesacker Ph.D.: Dr. Heesacker is a professor of psychology at the University of Florida. He has served as chair of UF’s Department of Psychology, as well as numerous other boards and committees, and is a highly published author in many scientific journals. For more on Marty, visit: http://martin-heesacker.squarespace.com/brief-biography/

Brian P. Higley Ph.D.: Dr. Higley is President and CEO of The Building Blocks to Excellence, LLC, a company that focuses on promoting team excellence, personal effectiveness and work/life satisfaction in individuals, teams, and organizations. Dr. Higley has worked with a wide range of organizations, has served as an executive coach to individuals across a variety of industries, and has taught psychology at colleges and universities across the nation. For more on Brian, visit: http://www.thebuildingblockstoexcellence.com/history.php#higley

Here is a recording of the next Journey into Excellence episode; please feel free to (a) have a listen to it, (b) send it to anyone who you believe might enjoy it, and/ (c) provide any feedback about the show you would like to provide in the comments section below: Journey into Excellence (Episode 2)

The “Journey Into Excellence” Radio Podcast Series (Episode I)

by Dr. Brian Higley

I was recently a panelist on the first “Journey Into Excellence” radio podcast series. This is a series focused on the promotion of evidence-based life, liberty, and happiness pursuit through the facilitation of clear thinking and civility in our family, education, and leadership/management systems.  I was asked to be a regular panelist on the show of because of (a) my work focused on the integration of the science of learning, change, and growth into the family, education, and leadership/management systems and (b) my connections with some of the best minds working within these systems in the world, including my co-panelists.  Here’s an overview of the entire group:

Jack Malcolm: President of the Falcon Performance Group, an organization dedicated to improving the professionalism, preparation, and productivity of sales professionals in the complex-sale environments. For more on Jack, visit: http://jackmalcolm.com/about-jack/

John Spence: One of the top business thought leaders and leadership development experts in the world who has done extensive work on business and personal excellence, has written several books on the topic, blogs regularly on these topics, has been a TedX speaker, and regularly produces seminars on business leadership skills. For more on John, visit: https://johnspence.com/johns-bio/

Martin Heesacker Ph.D.: Dr. Heesacker is a professor of psychology at the University of Florida. He has served as chair of UF’s Department of Psychology, as well as numerous other boards and committees, and is a highly published author in many scientific journals. For more on Marty, visit: http://martin-heesacker.squarespace.com/brief-biography/

Brian P. Higley Ph.D.: Dr. Higley is President and CEO of The Building Blocks to Excellence, LLC, a company that focuses on promoting team excellence, personal effectiveness and work/life satisfaction in individuals, teams, and organizations. Dr. Higley has worked with a wide range of organizations, has served as an executive coach to individuals across a variety of industries, and has taught psychology at colleges and universities across the nation. For more on Brian, visit: http://www.thebuildingblockstoexcellence.com/history.php#higley

Here is a recording of the first episode; please feel free to (a) have a listen to it and (b) provide me with any feedback you would like to provide me with about the show in the comments section below. I’m looking forward to a great Journey into Excellence with you! Journey into Excellence (Episode 1)

Promoting Education Excellence: H2O for Education’s Primary Objectives and Values

by Dr. Brian Higley

I was recently asked about the objectives and values of the “H2O” (or, Help to Ourselves/Others) educational approach.  Here are some of the primary objectives of the H2O for Education approach (Part I) and the values represented by the objectives (Part II):

Part I: Primary Objectives of the H2O Educational Approach

Promote “Education Excellence.”  The major objective of the H2O approach is the promotion of “education excellence” (or, education that results in an increased ability to live one’s personal and professional visions in life in high-quality ways).  For more specifics on how it does so, see Part II below (comments on the values of the H2O approach).

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Education Excellence: Excellent Work in the Field of Meaningful Change (and Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness)

by Dr. Brian Higley

Over the years, I’ve been asked by many people about the influences of our team’s H2O for Education program, so I thought I would post many of them here.  This list represents a sample of what we believe to be some of the most relevant work over the past 100 years or so in both (a) the field of long-term, meaningful learning and change and (b) the promotion of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness:

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