Angela Oakley: Strengths-Based Coaching Fuels Engagement | MOVE Like This

“When people see their strengths clearly for the first time, they feel seen, and that changes everything.”

MOVE Like This
With Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk
For CPA Trendlines

At Clark Nuber, developing talent is more than a bullet point on a strategic plan; it's woven into the fabric of how the firm operates. Angela Oakley, director of the firm’s Talent Advisor Program, sits down with the Move Like This podcast to share how her team has successfully embedded the CliftonStrengths assessment into nearly every phase of the employee life cycle. From onboarding to performance conversations, strengths-based coaching has become a core tool for helping individuals grow and for building stronger, more connected teams.

• More MOVE

Oakley describes how the initiative began in 2016, after one of the tax teams had already explored strengths to improve internal collaboration. That early success, along with a culture already committed to learning and people-first leadership, laid the foundation for broader adoption. With support from key influencers and her own certification in the assessment tool, Oakley began integrating CliftonStrengths into the firm's coaching framework, building buy-in organically, one conversation at a time.

The launch of the Talent Advisor Program shortly before the pandemic created a timely opportunity to scale this approach. Meeting regularly with employees at all levels, Oakley and her team were able to personalize development using strengths as a shared language. Whether coaching new associates or partnering with team leads, the focus remains the same: help people understand what they do best and how to use those strengths to navigate challenges, build relationships, and succeed at work.