Strengths are defined loosely as the ways individuals capitalize on their natural and unique talents while at the same time minimizing their weaknesses. To date there have been a handful of books written about strengths that focus primarily on assisting the business manager. Yet, colleges and universities have begun teaching the principles of strengths to students to help them make the most of their college curriculum, career opportunities and life experiences. Additionally, strengths principles are being used for staff training and development. And leadership development programs have begun infusing strengths training into their curriculum as well. The purpose of this study was look at how the academic leader uses strengths in their leadership roles. Twenty four leaders were interviewed for this case study. The leaders are broken into four categories: six participants are executive leaders (presidents, chancellors, provosts, etc.), six participants are second-tier executives (deans, vice-presidents, executive officers, etc.), six participants are mid-level leaders (divisional and program chairs, etc.), and the remaining six participants are de-facto leaders. These are individuals who do not have a formal leadership position but have taken it upon themselves to lead strengths-based initiatives that are producing change at their institutions. The leaders shared answers to ten questions: to what extent does each leader use his/her strengths in their current role; to what extent does his/her understanding of strengths allow him/her to collaborate with colleagues; to what extent do they believe their strengths relate to his/her effectiveness as a leader; to what extent does he/she identify strengths in peers, colleagues and supervisees; to what extent does he/she devise support systems, find complementary partners or alternative positions for employees struggling to utilize their strengths within the organization; to what extent does each leader talk to his/her staff about their strengths, weaknesses, goals and dreams; how does each leader use his/her understanding of strengths to bring about a shared vision; to what extent does each leader understand the shadow side of strengths; and, if the leader understood the shadow side, then he/she was asked how they tried to minimize shadow effects in your leadership.