New York Times Best-Selling Author Named Barton School’s Newest Executive-in-Residence

The W. Frank Barton School of Business at ɫƵ has announced Curt Coffman as its Fall 2023 Executive-in-Residence. Coffman is the founder of The Coffman Organization and co-author of New York Times bestsellers, “First Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently” and “Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch.” As Executive-in-Residence, Coffman will provide mentorship opportunities to students, exchange ideas with Barton School faculty and staff, and host a conversation with industry leaders. The theme of his residency and title of his keynote presentation is “The Power of You: New Formula for Growth!” Following the keynote, Coffman will distribute and sign two of his books to those in attendance.

“Curt is a global strengths-based thought leader and one of the most dynamic individuals I have had the pleasure of meeting,” said Dr. Larisa Genin, Dean of the Barton School. “He is going to make a transformational impression on Barton students, faculty, staff and ɫƵ community this Fall. You don’t want to miss an opportunity to interact with and be inspired by him.”

“My entire work has been studying success and business psychology,” said Coffman. “Building culture around people is the new competitive advantage. During my semester as Executive-in-Residence, I will be diving into amplifying strengths and how we can make decisions based on those strengths. There are incredible outcomes when you combine those two things and I hope to showcase their importance and ignite a passion in people who will participate.”

As founder of The Coffman Organization, Coffman provides premier workplace consulting to help organizations around the world engage and focus their talent to create enduring competitive advantage. Through employee engagement, management development, talent selection and retention solutions, Coffman combines a deep understanding of data with a psychology expertise to elevate companies in more than 30 industries and for companies such as 3M, Red Bull, Ritz Carlton, Charles Schwab and many others. Prior to starting his own company, Coffman worked for The Gallup Organization for 22 years serving as its Global Practice Leader for Customer and Employee Consulting and a senior vice president.

“Having Curt serve as the Barton School’s executive-in-resident is a great opportunity for our students and community,” said Dr Shirley Lefever, executive vice president and provost at ɫƵ. “His insights on utilizing people’s strengths and its impact on culture are learnings we can all take back with us to amplify ourselves and our businesses or institutions.”

For more information on the Barton School, visit www.wichita.edu/academics/business/.

Executive-in-Residence Keynote

Location: Woolsey Hall Auditorium, Room 110A / 110B

Our Executive-in-Residence keynote presentation is September 13. Curt Coffman will present the "Power of You: The New Formula for Growth" as part of the James Schwartz Lecture Series. 

Doors open at 9:15 a.m. Presentation is from 9:30 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. Afterward, join us at 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 AM for book signing and networking in the Woolsey Hall Atrium.

RSVP at