I'M VICKY, founder of spark space

I've spent over two decades in HR and recruitment, mostly in specialist-heavy environments. And I kept noticing the same pattern.

Technical specialists were being promoted into leadership because they were excellent at their craft. Then they were left to work it out.

Little guidance, unclear expectations, and systems that were never designed for people leadership in the first place.

The ones who struggled weren't short on capability. They were operating inside environments that didn't support consistent leadership, and defaulting back to what had made them successful: their expertise.

Over time, one thing became clear. Leadership effectiveness isn't a talent problem; it's a design problem. How organisations define roles, structure decision-making, and reinforce expectations determines whether people thrive or struggle once they step into leadership.

I built Spark Space to solve that. First as advisory work, helping organisations get the structures right. Then as SPARK — an operating system that makes leadership behaviour visible and reinforces it in the day-to-day work.

The focus is simple: help people thrive at work by building better leaders, and building the environments that let them lead.

I work best with leaders who are open to being measured and challenged, and with organisations willing to look at how leadership actually shows up, not how they assume it does. 

The work isn't always comfortable. That's usually where the shift happens.