October Luncheon - Where Are All the Great Leaders? And what you can do to help!

The desire for effective leadership has seemingly been growing across society for several years. In August 2025, U.S. News & World Report published troubling results from a Harris Poll conducted on public views of leadership. First, 60%+ of Americans didn’t see leaders they wanted to emulate in public service, health care, education, or business. Second, and most troubling for organizations, is that “72% of adults agree that the U.S. is experiencing a business leadership crisis.” Additionally, well-known authors such as Stephen M.R. Covey and John C. Maxwell have focused on leadership deficiencies in their most recent books. Given significant quantitative evidence and expert opinion that paint a poor picture of leadership across society, what can we do about it?

This presentation will initially focus on defining leadership and, more importantly, distinguishing it from management. Unfortunately, the two terms are often incorrectly used interchangeably. Leadership is a function of management, but not all managers are good leaders. Otherwise, this discussion wouldn’t be necessary. Then, we’ll examine what organizations can do to improve the state of leadership. Some options that may come to mind are surprisingly limited, yet others are simple and cost-effective.

SPEAKER BIO

Professor Loafman graduated with a BBA in Management from Abilene Christian University and a Doctor of Jurisprudence and Master of Business Administration from Texas Tech University. He’s completed twenty-one years as a full-time faculty member and eighteen years at Texas A&M University-Central Texas, where he is a tenured Professor of Management. He served for almost 10 years in various administrative roles, including as Chair of the Management and Marketing Department, Associate Dean, and twice as Interim Dean of the College of Business Administration. Among many publications on law and education, he’s published two articles in the prestigious American Business Law Journal (ABLJ) and another in the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy. He is a past President of the Employment Law Section of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business and active in community service, having served on the Board of Directors of the Killeen ISD Education Foundation, Bell County Sportsman's Club, Slice of Heaven Educational Farm, and was the Merit Badge Coordinator for the Chisholm Trail District of the Boy Scouts of America. He continues to do numerous community service activities with First Baptist Church of Salado.