A strength is the mastery created when one’s most powerful talents are refined with practice and combined with acquired relevant skills and knowledge

Educational psychologist, Donald O. Clifton first designed the interviews that
subsequently became the basis for the Clifton Strengths Finder, he began by asking, “What would happen if we studied what is right with people?” 

What emerged is the philosophy of using talents as the basis for consistent achievement of excellence (strength). Specifically, the strengths philosophy is the assertion that individuals are able to gain far more when they expend effort to build on their greatest talents than when they spend a comparable amount of effort to remediate their weaknesses (Clifton & Harter, 2003).