Victoria M. Calkins, Principal

 I believe great leadership starts with recognizing what people already have within them.

My career has centered around helping people become better leaders and helping organizations build the capabilities they need to succeed. I've had the opportunity to see leadership from several perspectives—as a corporate HR and talent development professional, a management consultant, an award-winning speaker, an adjunct professor, and a guest lecturer.

Each experience has shaped the way I think about leadership, learning, and what it really takes to create meaningful change.

But the philosophy behind Strength Leaders began with a simple realization.

Early in my career, while working in talent development, I was introduced to the research of Donald Clifton and the work that became StrengthsFinder. It stopped me in my tracks.

I realized that so much of our approach to development was focused on identifying what people needed to improve—our "opportunities" and weaknesses. We spent considerable time trying to fix what wasn't working, but far less time celebrating, understanding, and capitalizing on what people already did exceptionally well.

I remember thinking: What would happen if we spent as much time developing people's strengths as we do correcting their weaknesses?

That question changed the way I approached leadership development, and it ultimately became the foundation for Strength Leaders Advisory.

I believe people don't become extraordinary leaders by trying to become someone they're not. They become stronger leaders when they understand their unique strengths, learn how to use those strengths intentionally, and continue building the capabilities that allow them to have greater impact.

And when organizations learn to recognize and leverage those strengths, individual growth becomes organizational capability.

That's what I love about this work. Whether I'm speaking to a room full of professionals, teaching college students, working one-on-one with a leader, or partnering with an organization on a larger challenge, I'm energized by the same thing: seeing people recognize something in themselves that they can build upon—and then watching what happens when they put it into action.

That's why I founded Strength Leaders Advisory.

I don't believe leadership development is about fixing people. I believe it's about strengthening them.