Dr. Bradford Spencer is Founding Partner of SSCA. He is recognized as an original and deep thinker in the field of organizational psychology and a leader in the applications of the behavioral sciences industry. Brad is a trusted advisor to Fortune 500 CEOs and executives from a wide variety of industries including healthcare, technology, sports, and financial management.
If you ask Brad, what he really considers himself to be is a lifetime student. He will tell you that he often learns more from his clients than they do from him. (And yes, he still charges them!)
Brad received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from Hillsdale College in southern Michigan, which (unbeknownst to Brad at the time) was at the forefront of leadership and organizational development. Upon graduation, he altered his plans to attend law school and took a job marketing Hillsdale’s then underutilized Dow Leadership Conference Center. It was there that Brad received his initial introduction to the field of organizational behavior, working with and learning from management legends like Dr. David McClelland and Dr. Rensis Likert. Brad never looked back.
After a stint at Bank of America early in his career, Brad worked his way up to Director of Employee and Organizational Development at Mattel, Inc. where he initiated groundbreaking programs backed by extensive research. Observing that organizations fostered managers not leaders, Brad continued his quest to better understand what it takes to be an exceptional leader and founded (what would later become) Spencer/Shenk/Capers & Associates in 1978.
En route to founding his own consulting firm, Brad earned an MBA from Pepperdine University, where he met his future business partner Tom Shenk. Brad subsequently earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from International College, where he studied under the tutelage of the renowned Dr. Hedges Capers, whose son later became Brad’s third business partner.
