Richard T. Marcy is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour at the School of Public Administration, University of Victoria. He has expertise in leadership and leadership development, creativity, and social innovation. He holds a M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the University of Oklahoma (areas of concentration included leadership, social innovation, and creativity in dynamic, complex environments) and a B.A. in Media Study from SUNY Buffalo (areas of concentration included video art and experimental documentary, with an emphasis on the analysis, interpretation, and development of media as a catalyst for social change).
He has authored or coauthored a number of publications on these topics, to include: Leadership of socio-political vanguards: A review and future directions (Leadership Quarterly); Breaking Mental Models as a Form of Creative Destruction: The Role of Leader Cognition in Radical Social Innovations (Leadership Quarterly); and Not Only What, But How: The Role of Expertise in Developing Public Sector Leadership (Routledge).
His current research is focused on the strategic leadership and radical social innovation of non-violent, avant-garde groups on the Left and the Right, from a political, cultural, and psychological perspective. As part of community service, Richard is also conducting research on employment for adults on the Autism Spectrum.
Public and Non-Profit Sector Leadership and Management
Cognition in Organizations
Social Innovation
Non-violent avant-gardes on the Left and Right
Autism and Employment
Graduate Supervisions
I welcome graduate students interested in studying topics linked to any of my primary research areas above. More broadly, I further encourage applications from students interested in the following topics: Leadership, Leadership Development, Leader Cognition, Sensemaking in Organizations, Organizational Behaviour, Organizational Psychology.
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
Marcy, R.T. (2020). Leadership of socio-political vanguards: A review and future directions. The Leadership Quarterly, 31, (1), 1-12.
Marcy, R.T. & D’Erman, V.J. (2019). The European ‘New Right’ as Radical Social Innovation. Journal for the Study of Radicalism. 13(2), 65-90
Lindquist, E.V. & Marcy, R.T. (2016). The competing values framework: implications for strategic leadership, change and learning in public organizations. International Journal of Public Leadership. (This paper won the IJPL Best Paper Award for 2016)
Marcy, R.T. (2015). Breaking Mental Models as a Form of Creative Destruction: The Role of Leader Cognition in Radical Social Innovations. The Leadership Quarterly, 26 (3), 370-385.
Kligyte, V., Marcy, R. T., Waples, E. P., Sevier, S. T., Godfrey, E. S., Mumford, M. D., & Hougen, D. F. (2008). Application of a sensemaking approach to ethics training for physical sciences and engineering. Science and Engineering Ethics, 14(2), 251-278.
Marcy, R.T., & Mumford, M.D. (2007). Social innovation: Enhancing creative performance through causal analysis. Creativity Research Journal 19 (2-3), 123-140.
Books, Chapters, Monographs
Marcy, R.T. (2020). Why the Alt Right is not going anywhere (regardless of what we call it). In P. Gottfried (Ed.), The Vanishing Tradition: Perspectives on American Conservatism. Dekalb, Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press.
Marcy, R.T. & Berze, O. (2016). Public Sector Leaders as Early Detectors of Crises: The Role of Mental Models, Expertise, and Development. In Galavan, R. and Sund, K.J. (Eds.), New Horizons in Managerial and Organizational Cognition. London, England: Emerald.
Marcy, R. T. (2015). Not Only What, But How: The Role of Expertise in Developing Public Sector Leadership. In D. Alexander and J. M. Lewis (Eds.), Making policy decisions: Expertise, skills and experience. London, England: Routledge.
Mumford, M. D., Blair, C., & Marcy, R. T. (2006). Alternative knowledge structures in creative thought: Schema, associations, and cases. In J. Kaufman & J. Baer (Eds.), Creativity and Reason in Development (pp. 117-136). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Mumford, M. D., Licuanan, B., Marcy, R. T., Dailey, L., and Blair, C. (2006). Political Tactics – Getting Ahead: How charismatic, ideological, and pragmatic leaders use influence tactics. In M. D. Mumford (Ed.), Development in pathways to outstanding leadership: A comparative analysis of charismatic, ideological, and pragmatic leadership. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Press.
Other Publications (book reviews, reports, etc)
Marcy, R.T. & Bayati, A. (working paper). The Identification, Selection, and Training of Individuals with HFASD
Marcy, R.T., Gentry, W.A., & McKinnon, R. (2008). Thinking straight: New strategies are needed for ethical leadership. Leadership in Action 28 (3), 3-7.
Kligyte, V., Marcy, R. T., Sevier, S. T., Godfrey, E. S., Beaton, M. G., Mumford, M. D., Foster, M. W., & Hougen, D. F. (2007, July). Development and evaluation of a work practices approach for ethics education in science and engineering. Norman, OK: Year two technical report for the National Science Foundation (NSF), Contract No. SES 0529910
Grants & Awards
Internal Research Grant Award, 2018
Best Paper of the Year award for The competing values framework: implications for strategic leadership, change and learning in public organizations (co-authored with Evert Lindquist) from the International Journal of Public Leadership, 2016.
Lew Wentz Graduate and Law Scholarship, 2005
Recent Speaking Engagements & Event Participation
Paper, Lectures, Addresses
Marcy, R.T. (2019, April). Leadership of Socio-Political Vanguards: a review of behavior and cognition. Conference paper presentation at 4th Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Leadership Symposium (2019). Corfu, Greece.
Marcy, R.T. (2017, April). Roundtable: Rightwing Critics of American Conservatism. Invited panelist at Western Political Science Association Conference 2017. Vancouver, B.C.
Marcy, R.T. (2016, September). Back to the Future? Revisiting Leaders of 20th Century Social Utopian Art Movements for Lessons on Leading for Social Change. Conference paper presentation at 8th Art of Management and Organization Conference at IEDC-Bled School of Management, Slovenia.
Marcy, R.T. & D‘Erman, V.J. (2016, May). The European ‘New Right’ as Radical Social Innovation. Conference paper presentation at Crisis and (re)Definition: Exploring the impacts of the 2008 global financial crisis on pan-Europeanism, nationalism, and political identity in the European Union and North America conference at University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C.
Marcy, R.T. (2015, October). Breaking Mental Models as a form of Creative Destruction: The Role of Leader Cognition in Radical Social Innovations. Conference paper presentation at SoLS Leadership Conference 2015 at Royal Roads University, Victoria, B.C.
Marcy, R.T. & Berze, O. (2015, June). Public Sector Leaders as Early Detectors of Crises: Institutions, Individuals, and Development. Conference paper presentation at Academy of Management’s “Frontiers in Managerial and Organizational Cognition Conference” at Roskilde University, Denmark.
Marcy, R. T. (2013, April). Public Sector Leader Cognition: A Review of the Benefits and Limitations of Expertise in a Public Sector Context. Conference paper presentation at IRSPM 2013, Prague, Czech Republic.
Marcy, R. T. (2012, April). Contradictions in Public Sector Leadership Development: Taking stock and looking ahead. Speaking engagement at IRSPM 2012, Rome, Italy.
Marcy, R. T. (2012, February). Desire, Ethics, and Public Sector Leadership: The role of influence in a sustainable society. Keynote speaker for BC Ministry of Environment’s Environmental Protection Division (EPD) conference, “Vision of the Future: Influencing Behavioural Change”, Victoria, B.C.
Marcy, R. T. (2011, June). Between Variables of Crisis and Long-Term Certainty: Improving the Identification of Emergent Turbulence in Public Organizations. Invited workshop member and paper presented for Working Group 3 (“The forms, processes, tools, techniques and technologies of strategic management in and of public organizations and services”). 7th TAD (Transatlantic Dialogue) on the Strategic Management of Public Organizations. Newark, NJ.
Courses Taught
ADMN 312: Managing in Public and Non-Profit Organizations
ADMN 422: Ethical Public Management
ADMN 437: Program Evaluation and Performance Measurement
ADMN 507: Public Sector Leadership: Teams, Self and Organization
ADMN 530: Increasing Organizational Effectiveness
ADMN 577: Strategic Planning and Implementation
ADMN 607: Organizational Behaviour and Analysis
ADMN 608: Innovation, Implementation, and Evaluation in Public Administration
CD 502: Leadership in an Interdependent World
CD 510: Leadership, Management and Governance within Organizations
PADR 504: Public Sector Leadership and Management
Professional Appointments & Memberships
Academy of Management
International Society of Political Psychology
Canadian Society of Industrial-Organizational Psychology
LinkedIn 
ResearchGate 
Google Scholar