resume examples of leadership

30 Examples: How to List Leadership Skills on Your Resume

Leadership skills on your resume showcase your ability to manage teams, projects, and organizations effectively. These skills indicate that you can assume responsibility, guide others, and make informed decisions.

Here’s a quick breakdown of key leadership skills to include:

• Communication : You need to articulate your ideas clearly and listen effectively.
• Teamwork : Collaborate well with others and build strong team synergy.
• Problem-solving : Find solutions to issues and think critically to overcome challenges.
• Innovation : Show creativity and the willingness to try new approaches.
• Reliability : Demonstrate dependability in completing tasks and maintaining work ethic.
• Mentoring : Guide and support the development of peers or team members.

Highlight the skills that align closely with the roles and responsibilities of the position you’re applying for. This customization will help your resume resonate with potential employers.

Identifying Your Leadership Qualities

To effectively showcase your leadership skills on a resume, start by pinpointing what you bring to the table as a leader. This will help tailor your resume to highlight your unique strengths.

Self-Assessment

• Begin with some honest self-reflection.
• Consider your previous experiences where you took charge—whether formally or informally—and think about the skills that helped you succeed in those roles.
• Were you good at setting clear goals, or perhaps your strength lay in motivating a team? List down these instances and skills.
• Try categorizing them under relevant skill sets like communication, problem-solving, or team motivation.

Feedback from Peers and Mentors

• Next, reach out to colleagues and mentors who’ve seen you in action.
• Ask them to share their perspectives on your leadership abilities. This step not only gives you additional insights but also validation for the skills you’ve identified through self-assessment.
• Compact these insights into clear bullet points, such as “recognized by team for effective conflict resolution” or “commended by manager for strong project vision and execution”.

Showcasing Leadership Skills in Different Resume Sections

Professional summary.

Your professional summary is a teaser of your capabilities and accomplishments. Mention a standout leadership achievement or characteristic here. For example, if you spearheaded a project that exceeded targets, you could start with, “Dynamic team leader who successfully drove project X to completion, exceeding goals by 20%.”

Work Experience

In your work experience section, quantify leadership accomplishments with specific results. Under each relevant job title, describe how you guided teams or projects. Use bullet points like:

• Led a sales team to a record-breaking year, increasing revenue by 30%.
• Managed cross-departmental collaborations to streamline the product development process.

Your skills section should concisely list leadership qualities that match the job description. You can focus on skills such as:

• Critical thinking
• Team building
• Strategic planning
• Effective communication
• Decision making
• Conflict resolution
• Emotional intelligence
• Adaptability
• Problem-solving
• Accountability
• Visionary thinking
• Influencing others
• Cultural intelligence
• Time management
• Performance management
• Change management

Categorize them as ‘Leadership Skills’ to make them easily identifiable.

Education and Certifications

Include any leadership roles you held during your education or mention relevant certifications. If you were a club president or coordinated a major event, it’s worth mentioning. For example:

• President of the Student Council, managing a team of five to organize school events.
• Certified Project Management Professional with expertise in agile leadership practices.

Quantifying Your Leadership Impact

When listing leadership skills on your resume, showcasing the tangible impact you’ve had in past roles can make a significant difference. Employers value candidates who can demonstrate their leadership skills with clear evidence of success.

Example Achievements:

Project management.

• Coordinated a team of 10 to deliver a web development project, resulting in a 30% increase in user engagement within three months.

Team Development

• Mentored five junior staff to advance into mid-level positions, enhancing team productivity by 20%.

Using Specific Metrics:

Revenue growth.

• Spearheaded a new market strategy that led to a revenue boost of $100K in the first quarter.

Cost Reduction

• Implemented operational efficiencies that cut supply costs by $50K annually.

Tailoring Leadership Skills to the Job Description

When crafting your resume, aligning your leadership skills with the specific requirements of the job description can make a significant impact. This customized approach shows employers that you’re not just a great leader, but the right leader for their team.

Researching Job Postings

Start by thoroughly reading job postings in your field, focusing especially on the responsibilities and qualifications sections. Here you’ll find keywords and phrases that companies use to describe their ideal candidate. Make a list of these terms, particularly those related to leadership.

Matching Skills to Employer Needs

Once you have your list, match your own experiences and skills with the needs of the employer. Did you spearhead a successful project? That’s a great opportunity to highlight your strategic planning abilities. Have you overseen a team? Mention your supervisory experience and how you’ve fostered team productivity and morale. Ensure each skill you list is presented in a way that’s directly applicable to the job you’re aiming for. Use bullet points for clarity:

• Strategic Planning : Organized a fundraiser that exceeded goals by 30%, illustrating strong strategic planning and execution abilities.
• Team Leadership : Led a team of 10 sales associates to a record-breaking quarter, demonstrating effective team motivation and leadership skills.
• Conflict Resolution : Resolved interdepartmental conflicts by mediating discussions, resulting in improved communication lines and a 15% increase in project efficiency.

Tailoring your leadership skills to the job description not only positions you as a qualified candidate but also demonstrates your attention to detail and your commitment to the role.

Writing Compelling Bullet Points

Crafting your bullet points with clear action verbs and specific outcomes will make your leadership skills shine on your resume.

Action Verbs

When you start your bullet points, kick off with a strong action verb that showcases your leadership skills. This approach brings energy and clarity to your experience. Check out these verbs to strengthen your resume:

• Coordinated
• Implemented
• Streamlined
• Facilitated
• Revolutionized
• Spearheaded
• Transformed

Concrete Outcomes

Highlight the results of your leadership using concrete numbers and outcomes. These specifics will paint a picture of your effectiveness. Here are examples showing how to do this:

• Boosted sales by 20% through strategic leadership of a cross-functional team
• Cut costs by 15% by streamlining in-house training processes
• Increased team productivity by 30% by implementing a new project management system
• Developed a new employee engagement program that reduced turnover by 25%
• Led a marketing campaign that generated a 40% increase in qualified leads
• Improved customer satisfaction scores by 35% as a result of a team restructuring initiative
• Enhanced operational efficiency by redesigning the workflow, saving the company 1000+ hours annually
• Closed deals with 3 major clients, resulting in a revenue increase of $1.5M
• Drove the company’s expansion into two new international markets within a year
• Oversaw a budget of $500,000 while cutting unforeseen expenses by 10%
• Guided a project team to deliver all projects within deadline, 95% of the time
• Achieved a record low employee turnover rate of 5% through improved morale and leadership engagement
• Raised $200,000 in funding for a community service project by leading fundraising efforts
• Completed a company-wide audit leading to a reduction in operational waste by 20%
• Accelerated the company’s growth by 200% in three years through strategic partnerships
• Revamped the onboarding process, resulting in a 50% decrease in new hire ramp-up time
• Delivered a cloud migration project that improved system uptime by 99.9%
• Successfully coached a team of junior managers to achieve their KPIs six months in advance
• Pioneered a new customer feedback system that improved product development cycles by 30%
• Secured a 98% client retention rate through effective team leadership and problem-solving strategies
• Launched a diversity initiative that increased minority representation in leadership roles by 40%
• Orchestrated a department merger without disruption in services or employee satisfaction
• Built a volunteer program that contributed over 500 hours of community service per year
• Engineered a supply chain logistics plan that saved the company $250,000 annually
• Cultivated a culture of innovation that resulted in filing 10 new patents
• Designed a comprehensive risk management strategy reducing liability exposure by 20%
• Consolidated multiple legacy systems into a singular platform, enhancing productivity by 15%
• Commanded a national conference with over 300 delegates, showcasing organizational leadership
• Initiated a quality control protocol that improved product quality by 22%
• Masterminded a program that positively impacted over 10,000 local residents

Leveraging Extracurricular and Volunteer Experience

When detailing your leadership skills in a resume, don’t overlook extracurricular and volunteer experiences. These activities are fertile ground for showcasing your leadership qualities, especially if your professional experience is limited.

Organize Your Points Start by listing leadership roles in clubs, sports teams, or community groups. Did you captain your soccer team or head a fundraising event? This shows commitment and the ability to manage a group towards a goal.

• Led practices and strategy sessions.
• Coordinated team logistics for traveling to matches.

Highlight Achievements Quantify your impact where you can. If you raised a notable amount of money for a cause or increased club membership, include these achievements. This demonstrates the tangible outcomes of your leadership.

• Increased club membership by 20% through targeted recruitment campaigns.
• Organized a charity run, raising $5,000 for local food banks.

Showcase Soft Skills Volunteer work often requires collaboration, problem-solving, and communication. Reflect on instances where you used these skills during your extracurricular activities.

• Coordinated with a team of 10 volunteers to optimize the adoption process.
• Fostered communication between the shelter staff and potential pet adopters.

Use Strong Verbs Employ action verbs to convey your role in leading the effort.

• Chaired the annual book fair, managing over 50 volunteers.

Highlighting extracurricular and volunteer work can fill in the gaps and project a well-rounded image of your leadership capabilities. Tailor these experiences to align with the job you’re applying for, reinforcing the relevance of your skills.

Fine-Tuning and Proofreading Your Resume

Before you hit send on your application, take a moment to double-check your resume. Ensuring every detail is accurate and polished reflects your strong attention to detail—a vital leadership trait.

Start with these steps:

• Spell-check : Use tools like spellcheck to catch any typos or misspellings. However, don’t rely solely on this; some mistakes can slip through.
• Grammar check : Programs like Grammarly are a second pair of eyes, but again, they aren’t foolproof. Read through each line to catch errors a computer might miss.
• Consistency : Review for uniformity in font size, type, and heading styles. Consistent formatting is key for a professional look.

Hand your resume to a trusted friend or mentor for feedback. They might spot errors you’ve overlooked and provide suggestions to enhance your leadership descriptions.

Finally, print out your resume: sometimes, physical copies reveal mistakes that aren’t as obvious on-screen. Scan each section carefully, checking for proper alignment and spacing, and be certain that all of your leadership skills shine with precise, clear language.

Avoiding Common Mistakes

• Not specific enough: Rather than claiming you have “excellent leadership skills,” illustrate this with concrete examples. Showcase situations where you guided a team towards a goal. For instance, “Led a team of six in developing a new marketing strategy, resulting in a 20% increase in sales.”
• Overloading your resume with clichés: Terms like “outside-the-box thinker” and “team player” are vague and overused. Reveal how you breathe life into these phrases. Instead of “team player,” you might say, “Collaborated with cross-functional departments to streamline project processes, enhancing productivity by 15%.”
• Ambiguity about your role in a team achievement: Clarify your contributions to a team success. Instead of “Contributed to a project that won an industry award,” detail your specific actions: “Designed the key product features for an award-winning mobile app.”
• Avoid listing leadership qualities without context. Your skills should tie back to actual results or improvements made. Also, resist the urge to embellish achievements, as this can lead to a lack of credibility if questioned during an interview.
• Using too much jargon or technical language can make your leadership skills unclear to the reader. Explain your accomplishments in straightforward terms that anyone can understand.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some examples of leadership skills to put on a resume.

Consider adding skills such as conflict resolution, team building, strategic planning, and effective communication. You might also highlight your ability to delegate, your decision-making prowess, and your knack for inspiring others.

How can I describe my team leadership experience in a resume?

When you describe your team leadership experience, start with a strong action verb followed by the scope of your responsibilities and the impact made. For instance, “Led a team of 12 in completing a cross-departmental project ahead of schedule, increasing efficiency by 15%.”

What kind of leadership achievements should I highlight on my resume?

Showcase achievements where you’ve had a measurable impact. This could be project completions under budget, improvements in team performance metrics, or successful launches of new initiatives. Quantifying these with percentages or dollar figures makes your contribution more tangible.

How would I write a resume headline if I’m applying for a leadership position?

Think of your headline as your professional tagline. If targeting a leadership role, a powerful headline could be “Innovative Team Leader with Proven Record of Elevating Operational Success” or “Visionary Manager with 10+ Years of Experience in Team Growth and Strategic Planning.”

What’s a good way to illustrate leadership skills during an interview?

During an interview, use specific stories that demonstrate your leadership skills. Discuss challenges you’ve faced, how you addressed them, the actions you took, and the results that followed. This method paints a clear picture of your leadership style and effectiveness.

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10 Leadership skills to include on your resume + examples

1. Creativity

2. planning, 3. people management, 4. adaptability, 5. communication, 7. decisiveness, 8. change management, 9. delegation, 10. influencing skills.

Leadership skills are always at the top of a hiring manager’s priority list. 

It doesn’t matter how experienced you are or what function you work in, making things happen with others is central to most roles. Demonstrating these leadership skills on your resume and cover letter is therefore an important step to securing that interview.

You bring value if you have a top skill set, but you multiply that value if you are able to level up the performance of those around you. Great leaders raise the output of the collective. That is a valuable commodity indeed.

With the variety and nuance of leadership skills that you could mention, how do you decide which are most important and how you might include them in your resume? What are the leadership needs of those that will be around you? What would make the most difference to the company? Let’s consider the following:

What are leadership skills?

• Which leadership skills do employers value most?
• How to include leadership in your resume?
• 10 leadership skills with examples for your resume
• How to tell your leadership story in your cover letter

Developing your leadership skills will make a difference to you, your employer, and those around you. Leaders are not born; they are made. Tell your future boss the story of how you became the leader that you are today. Leadership is a journey, and they will hope that you will grow further in your leadership abilities with them. They will be keen to nurture you in this endeavor.

I’m not a manager. Why are leadership skills important for me?

You don’t have to be a manager to be a leader. If your colleagues look to you for guidance, you are a leader. If you make a decision that other people respect, you are a leader. If you volunteer for a difficult task and set an example, you are a leader. If you can talk through such situations in your resume and during your job search, your future employer may see you as a leader too.

Great leaders take their people with them on a journey of personal development and business success. Both the challenges and makeup of their teams will vary, so the suite of leadership skills that any leader will be required to deploy at any one time will change with the demands of the situation that they face.

Each leadership skill (as with any behavior) comprises a great deal of nuance and its effectiveness will greatly depend on how it is delivered. 

Delegating a task politely, while offering a reason and making sure that there is a benefit for the person doing it is likely to be successful. Bluntly telling someone to do it may not be.

Every leader is different and there are certain aspects of leadership that you will naturally gravitate towards. As with cultural fit, if the leadership fit is right between you and your future employer, your chances of getting the job will increase significantly.

Which leadership skills do employers value most? 

Every employer will place a different value onto each leadership skill. Some cultures will be strong on creativity and vision, while others will center around planning and change management. If you do your homework, you will be able to write a leadership-led resume that reflects the sort of qualities that your future employer values. Great resumes get down to this granular level of detail. 

Showing off your promotion doesn’t have to be hard. In this blog, we reveal three of the simple ways you can list this achievement on your resume.

How to highlight leadership skills when applying for jobs

One of the simplest signposts to your leadership capabilities on your resume comes in your job title . In terms of how future employers will perceive you, having the word manager or team leader at the end of your title will create a favorable impression. It is well worth negotiating impressive sounding titles with employers for exactly this reason, but you should resist the temptation to make them up on your resume. It is not hard to check.

Surprisingly, the place where you should never list your leadership skills is in the resume skills section . You need to be able to show off the behaviors and impacts of your leadership, so a brief “influencing skills” description won’t cut it. Resume skills should be reserved for the harder technical skills that will make you stand out from your competition.

The best places to organically weave leadership skills into your career story are in the resume summary and employment history section . Your future employer will know what is involved with your various achievements, so although you may not be explicit about the skills that you utilized, they will be able to read between the lines.

What is the most important leadership skill?

If a leader is not proficient in written and oral communication, then all the other skills are suddenly so much less effective. Creativity is no use if you cannot translate your vision to others. Planning is pointless if no one understands their role. Change management will fall at the first hurdle, as there won’t be a clear direction. Communication underpins everything about leadership.

10 Leadership skills with examples for your resume

These top ten leadership skills form a part of every leader’s interpersonal toolkit.

When people have a leader who is happy to hear their diverse ideas and give them a chance to prove their validity, they will be more creative in their decisions and push the boundaries further than the competition. Varied perspectives bring unexpected solutions in a creative team—you never know when the next bright idea will come along. 

This leadership skill makes you someone to follow for breakthrough ideas. Encouraging creativity also involves creating a safe environment where team members feel comfortable experimenting and taking risks without fear of failure. By championing creativity, leaders can drive continuous improvement and keep the organization ahead of the curve.

“Developed a totally new way of recruiting customer service staff by advertising to our loyal customers. People love the brand—45% increase in applications.”

Leaders who excel in planning are adept at setting clear goals, outlining actionable steps, and anticipating potential obstacles. This skill ensures that the team has a clear direction and roadmap to follow, which enhances productivity and focus. A well-structured plan also allows for better resource allocation and time management.

Additionally, planning involves regular monitoring and adjusting strategies as needed to stay aligned with objectives. Leaders who plan well can manage resources optimally, avoid bottlenecks, and ensure that projects are completed on time and within budget.

“Facilitated a planning session for a project with over 30 internal and 10 external contributors. Managed the critical path and finished 15% ahead of schedule.”

Great leaders recognize individual talents and align them with the right tasks. They also foster a positive work environment where employees feel valued and motivated. By providing constructive feedback, addressing concerns, and supporting professional growth, leaders can build a cohesive and high-performing team.

Effective people management also includes conflict resolution , building trust, and promoting a culture of collaboration and inclusivity. Leaders who excel in this area can inspire loyalty and drive higher levels of engagement and productivity within their teams.

“Developed a group of young graduates into the most successful sales team in the company’s history. 70% of them have now been promoted and moved on.”

Adaptability in leadership means being flexible and open to change. In today's fast-paced and ever-changing business landscape, leaders must be able to quickly pivot strategies and approaches. Adaptable leaders can manage unexpected challenges effectively and turn potential setbacks into opportunities. 

Moreover, adaptable leaders are better equipped to handle diverse team dynamics and shifting market demands. They can foresee trends and prepare their teams to meet future challenges, ensuring long-term success and sustainability for the organization.

“Realizing that our project was not achieving our goals, so we reset our ambitions, changed scope and sourced a new partner to eventually hit our budget target.”

Clear and effective communication is crucial for successful leadership. Leaders who communicate well can convey their vision, expectations, and feedback in a way that is easily understood and actionable. Good communication also involves active listening, which helps leaders understand their team's needs and concerns. 

By fostering open and transparent dialogue, leaders build trust and ensure that everyone is aligned and working towards common objectives. Effective communication also means being able to tailor your message to different audiences and contexts, ensuring clarity and reducing misunderstandings. 

“I was the go-to bid writer for our procurement team, winning over 60% of tenders. 2,000 words can make the difference—if they are the right words.”

Visionary leaders can see the big picture and set long-term goals that inspire and motivate their team. They communicate this vision with passion and clarity, making it easy for team members to understand and buy into the future direction. A strong vision provides a sense of purpose and direction, guiding the team through challenges and driving sustained success. 

Visionary leaders also encourage innovation and strategic thinking , enabling their teams to anticipate and capitalize on future opportunities. By continuously reinforcing the vision, leaders can keep their teams focused and aligned with the organization’s long-term objectives.

“Spotted a client management trend in the FinTech area that allowed us to increase our marketing touch points with clients by 75%”

Decisiveness is a key leadership trait that involves making timely and informed decisions. Effective leaders analyze available information, weigh the pros and cons, and make confident choices that move the team forward. Decisiveness helps to avoid delays and keeps projects on track. It also demonstrates a leader's confidence and commitment, instilling trust and respect within the team. 

Additionally, decisive leaders are capable of managing risks and uncertainties, making adjustments as needed to navigate complex situations. This ability to make quick and well-informed decisions ensures that the team remains agile and responsive to changing circumstances, maintaining momentum towards achieving their goals. 

“Facing a deadline of a week to decide on the final brand direction, we worked nights to enable us to make the best possible decision.”

Leaders who excel in change management can guide their team through new initiatives, processes, or organizational shifts smoothly. They communicate the reasons for change, provide the necessary resources and support, and address any resistance or concerns. 

Effective change management minimizes disruptions and ensures that changes are implemented successfully and sustainably. Leaders skilled in change management also engage and involve team members in the change process, fostering a sense of ownership and commitment. By managing change effectively, leaders can help their teams quickly adapt and maintain high levels of performance during periods of transformation.

“Having 60% of the team change after a business merger was no simple proposition, but we recovered and were beating our budget within 4 months.”

Delegation is about entrusting team members with responsibilities and tasks that match their skills and strengths. Leaders who delegate effectively empower their team, foster trust, and enhance productivity. Delegation also allows leaders to focus on strategic priorities while ensuring that day-to-day operations are efficiently handled. 

By providing clear instructions and support, leaders can ensure that delegated tasks are successfully completed and contribute to overall team objectives. Effective delegation involves monitoring progress and providing feedback, ensuring accountability and continuous improvement. Leaders who master delegation can optimize team performance, develop future leaders, and create a more dynamic and capable organization.

“Needing to find $300k of cost savings before the budget round, we brought a procurement expert into the team who then worked with us to deliver $425k.”

Presenting critical information to a group of people is a skill that will bring countless benefits to your career. Which of your presentation skills need a little more polish?

Effective leaders use a combination of communication, empathy, and strategic thinking to gain buy-in from their team and stakeholders. By building strong relationships and demonstrating credibility, leaders can influence outcomes positively and drive collective action towards achieving goals.

This skill is essential for gaining support and navigating complex organizational dynamics. Leaders with strong influencing skills can create alignment and foster collaboration, ensuring that everyone works together towards common objectives. By effectively influencing others, leaders can drive change, achieve strategic goals, and enhance overall organizational effectiveness.

“Traditionally, the sales and marketing departments had not been close, so we did employee swaps for a three month period to appreciate a different perspective.”

8 more characteristics of a good leader

• Motivation – The ability to push your people above and beyond impossible tasks.
• Self-Awareness – Knowing yourself is key to understanding your impact on others.
• Time Management – If you are not in charge of your day, chaos will follow in your wake.
• Focus – Leaders have 101 priorities—deal with the ones that matter most.
• Responsibility – Being a leader is the ultimate responsibility. Can you handle it?
• Organization – When you have a team, you have countless spinning plates to keep in the air.
• Consistency – People will trust you when you deliver on a consistent basis.
• Honesty – This is rare in senior management, but if you are honest, you will be followed.

Your resume may be the most important page you write in your life. Follow our top 20 resume writing tips to make yours a success.

Mentioning leadership skills in a cover letter

The free-flowing nature of a cover letter allows for more of a human aspect to your leadership story. While a resume is traditionally more factual, a cover letter covers more of the behavioral side. 

The stories that you choose to tell should closely align with the types of leadership situations that you will face in your new role. Don’t hesitate to change your cover letter if you feel that certain types of behavior might not be common. There is nothing worse for a potential employer than reading a cover letter and thinking “Well, that sort of thing doesn’t happen here often.” Leadership skills are great if they are the right leadership skills.

Choose suitable action verbs to give your leadership stories some extra weight and make sure that you quantify your contribution as clearly as possible (at the same time as highlighting the role of those around you). True leaders don’t make it all about them.

Key Takeaways

Leadership skills are some of the abilities that hiring managers care about the most, so pay attention to where and how you include them in your application.

The resume skills section is ironically the least effective place to show leadership skills—try backing up your achievements in the employment history section instead.

Your cover letter allows you to go into even more detail regarding situations in which you demonstrated leadership skills.

The opinions expressed are solely those of Find My Profession. Click to see our Advertising Disclosure.

45 Key Leadership Skills for a Resume (All Industries)

Show that you are an effective leader on your resume. Find top leadership qualities and synonyms and how to include them on your resume (with examples).

What are leadership skills and why do you need to include them on your resume?

The answer to this question is simple. You need to show your potential employers that you can manage a team and get results.

Companies like Amazon are very serious about leadership skills.

They won’t hire you if you don’t have leadership capabilities.

This is true even if you are applying to non-leadership positions!

In this article, we will explain the 9 most important leadership skills for your resume.

We will also share 45 leadership skill synonyms that you can sprinkle into your resume.

Let’s define leadership and get a deeper look into the nature and reality of leadership itself.

What Are Leadership Skills?

Leadership skills are the abilities that allow you to direct, supervise, and guide a group of people to achieve goals in unison. It’s not only being able to give direction to subordinates. It’s being able to inspire your team members to achieve the objectives of the organization.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

Leadership traits are essential for management, executive, and supervisory roles. But most positions required them in some form.

Leadership ability is also essential for rapid and desirable career growth.

For quick reference, here are 45 leadership skills and adjectives for a resume. Pick the skills that best describe your abilities.

Don’t use too many leadership adjectives throughout your resume. This will increase each one’s impact!

Where To Include Leadership Skills on Your Resume

Above is a list of the top leadership skills.

Now it’s time to get them added to your resume.

To include the best leadership traits on your resume:

• Analyze the job posting. Determine the most important leadership skills for the position you are applying for.
• Compare those skills with the ones you have.
• Weave these skills into various sections of your resume.

Here is a sample resume with leadership skills used throughout the resume:

We’ll walk you through each section of your resume and how to include the skills that make you a great leader.

Leadership Skills in Your Resume Title

Take your resume to the next level by adding leadership skills to your resume title.

Your resume title should tell the hiring manager what role you are applying for, but you can do more than that.

Including leadership skills here will set you apart from your competition.

You can add 3 – 5 skills to your title such as:

• Sales Leadership
• Team Development & Coaching
• Executive Leadership
• Turnaround Strategy

Remember to check the job description to know which skills to include in your title.

Leadership Qualities in Your Resume Summary

Your resume summary section is a great place to showcase your leadership skills.

Back up the skills you mention with a few great examples from your career.

Here’s a sample resume summary for a retail manager:

Highly accomplished Senior Retail Manager with extensive experience directing operations across multiple retail locations towards growth and profitability. Developed career track record of success in support growth results at leading retailers. Skilled in team engagement, human resource management, and training and development. Described by superiors as a winning goal-achiever in the face of obstacles.

The sample summary includes leadership traits (in bold).

Leadership Traits in Your Skills Section

The skills section of your resume is important. It will show the hiring manager that you have the necessary skills for the job you are applying for.

List your skills front and center on your resume.

Don’t leave this section off of your resume or place it at the bottom of the second page.

You can name this section with various titles like:

• Core Competencies
• Area of Expertise

Here you will list 10-15 of your best and most relevant skills for the job you are applying for. Include both hard (or technical skills) and soft skills like those listed above.

Leadership Skills in Your Work Experience

Add leadership skills to the professional experience section of your resume.

Always try to highlight your skills with examples, results, and numbers.

Here are some sample statements that include leadership skills:

Developed and managed a team of 10 call center employees, providing ongoing coaching , mentoring and feedback to ensure optimal performance.

Implemented an improved culture focused on growth and leadership development, which significantly reduced turnover and resulted in extremely high employee retention rate of 92%.

Built, developed and managed a staff of 7 sales professionals, providing coaching and mentoring to support their personal growth and achievement of challenging quotas.

The samples use numbers to quantify leadership skills (in bold). They also show what actions led to the accomplishments.

Check out our 20+ resume samples to see different formatting options for your resume.

Leadership Traits to Add to Your Resume

Now we will discuss each individual leadership trait and provide some synonyms to use on your resume.

1. Communication

Communication is the heart of effective leadership.

It doesn’t matter how skilled you are at your work and how much passion you have for it. If you do not know how to transfer your knowledge and passion to others, you can’t be a good leader.

Many other leadership skills are useless without effective communication skills.

Include the following on your resume to show that you have communication skills:

• Active listening
• Articulation
• Non-verbal communication
• Public speaking

Include examples of using your communication skills to get work done effectively.

2. Creativity

We often think that creativity isn’t learned, it’s inherent.

But that is far from the truth. You can develop your creativity through experience and practice.

And, creativity is very much required for effective leadership.

These words on your resume will show that you are creative:

• Imaginative

It is a good idea to avoid the use of the word “creative” itself due to its being overused. Instead of directly stating it, you need to show how you were creative or use the words above.

3. Dependability

A leader that is not dependable is not a leader at all.

What makes a good leader is that people know that they can rely on you and jump into action with a simple request.

That’s the magic of dependability in a leadership role. Your team must know they can count on you to tackle any issues that may come up.

These words will help you to express your dependability on your resume:

• Credibility
• Reliability
• Responsible
• Trustworthy

Don’t forget to show how dependable you were to everyone in your previous role.

“Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching,” according to C.S. Lewis.

Being ethical is an essential leadership skill. If the leader does not do what is right in every situation, how can the followers?

An ethical person will keep their commitments, take responsibility, and respect their employees.

You can show your ethical characteristics with the following words on your resume: 

Include the words above to show that you are a leader and an employee that can be trusted.

5. Motivation

The ability to motivate others is essential for effective leadership.

Motivation and productivity go hand in hand. A motivated team is a productive team.

And, the leader must keep their team motivated to achieve their goals.

The following words will help you to explain your ability to motivate others: 

• Encouraging
• Stimulating
• Influential

Include some succinct stories of your motivational skills at play and how it helped your colleagues and team members.

6. Optimism

A positive outlook is sometimes all you need to get through a tough assignment.

Optimism in a leader is a godsend. We all love to work with someone who always sees and brings out the best in us, instead of being doubtful.

Positivity as a leader will also make your leadership experience a fulfilling one.

The following words will help you to represent your positive attitude on the resume:

• Enthusiastic

Remember that positivity is not about blindly being optimistic for every solution, it’s about finding the best logical solution and keeping unfaltering faith in your discernment.

7. People Management

To be a great leader, it takes technical knowledge as well as the ability to manage people.

Keeping people aligned with your vision is the art of a true leader.

A significant part of corporate leadership is people management.

These are the words to use on your resume to show your people management skills.

• Constructive feedback
• Conflict resolution
• Team building

Include any training you have in HR management.

8. Project Management

Leading a project involves coordinating a lot of moving parts. It takes many skills to be an effective project manager.

From planning to allocating resources to monitoring progress, this skill covers it all.

Add these words to your resume to convey your project management skills:

• Agile/Scrum
• Lean thinking
• Organization
• Risk management

Be sure to quantify your projects on your resume by including your results. Include any PM certifications you have in the education section of your resume.

9. Strategic Thinking

Strategic thinking is the ability to take complex problems and determine logical solutions.

Strategic thinking requires clarity of thought and a deeper understanding of the situation.

It is an essential leadership trait.

The following words show your strategic thinking capabilities:

• Problem solving
• Critical thinking
• Decision making
• Visionary thinking

Showcase tasks you have accomplished by strategic thinking and what the results were.

Key Takeaways

What we have learned about leadership skills and how to include them on your resume is quite simple:

• Leadership qualities are sought-after skills in today’s job market.
• You must show quantifiable leadership skills on your resume. It is the first contact with a potential employer.
• Leadership traits are indispensable for management, executive, and supervisory roles. They are also essential for teamwork and career growth.
• Read the job announcement to determine the leadership skills required for the job.
• Include your leadership skills in various sections of your resume with quantifiable examples.

Keep these guidelines in mind to create a resume that moves you into your next leadership role.

Or contact a professional resume writing service to do it for you.

Find My Profession ‘s team of experts can help job seekers craft a resume that effectively showcases their leadership abilities and stands out from the competition. Contact us today!

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Leadership Resume Examples: Demonstrating Leadership Skills and Roles on Your Resume

• June 12, 2024

Job hunting is competitive, and effectively showcasing your  leadership skills  on your resume can set you apart from the crowd. Whether you’re aiming for a managerial position or looking to stand out in any team-oriented role, demonstrating your ability to lead is crucial. Leadership isn’t just about holding a title; it’s about exemplifying qualities that inspire and drive teams towards achieving organisational goals.

This blog will equip you with tips and examples to vividly demonstrate your  leadership skills  on your resume and enhance your professional appeal to get your dream job. 

Highlighting your leadership experience effectively can make a significant difference. You will learn how to emphasize leadership skills , showcase demonstrated leadership skills , and use team building examples to illustrate your capabilities.

Understanding Leadership Skills

Leadership skills are the abilities and qualities that enable an individual to influence, motivate, and guide others. These people management skills are crucial for high-level executives and essential across all levels of an organization. A strong leader with great leadership skills can make strategic decisions, communicate effectively, and inspire teamwork, contributing significantly to the organization’s success. To impress hiring managers , it’s important to quantify leadership skills and showcase organizational skills . Highlighting these essential leadership skills can set you apart as a candidate.

Leadership involves interpersonal skills, strategic thinking, and personal attributes that foster a positive and productive environment. Here are several key aspects of leadership:

Interpersonal Skills: The ability to interact effectively with others, understanding and motivating individuals and teams.

Strategic Thinking: Planning and executing strategies that achieve long-term team goals while navigating organisational challenges.

Communication: Clearly and persuasively conveying ideas to a variety of stakeholders.

Decision-Making: Making choices that benefit the organisation, often under pressure and with incomplete information.

Emotional Intelligence: Understanding and managing one’s own emotions and those of others to enhance engagement and productivity.

Effective leadership skills are transformative and can lead to increased employee satisfaction, higher productivity, and, ultimately, the achievement of business objectives. By developing and demonstrating these skills, individuals can enhance their career prospects and contribute more significantly to their organisations’ success.

Leadership capabilities encompass a range of qualities, including human resource management , positive attitude , and technical skills , all of which are essential for effective leadership.

Key Leadership Skills And Their Importance

Leadership extends beyond the mere ability to manage tasks and teams—it requires a dynamic set of skills that inspire people, adapt to changing environments, and resolve conflicts while fostering growth and development. Here are five important leadership skills required to set you apart as an effective leader:

Communication

Communication skills are the cornerstone of effective leadership. They involve more than just disseminating information; they’re about opening dialogue, inspiring trust, and ensuring that team members are aligned with the organisation’s goals. Great leaders must master both verbal and nonverbal communication to motivate teams, negotiate with stakeholders, and present ideas compellingly. For instance, a great leader might use storytelling to connect with the team on a deeper level during presentations, ensuring messages are understood and resonate with the audience.

Decision Making

A good leader makes decisions that steer the organisation towards long-term success. This requires a blend of intuition, rational analysis, and strategic foresight. Leaders face choices that often have far-reaching consequences, so they must assess risks, anticipate impacts, and make informed decisions swiftly. For example, a leader might use a decision matrix to evaluate various options during a critical project, considering cost, time, resources, and potential ROI to guide their final decision.

Adaptability

In today’s fast-paced business world, adaptability is a critical skill for leaders. This means being flexible in your approach and pivoting strategies in response to changing market conditions, technologies, or team dynamics. Innovative leaders are not only resilient in the face of setbacks but also proactive in leveraging new opportunities. An example of adaptability in action is a leader navigating a company through a sudden shift to remote work by quickly implementing new tools and processes to maintain productivity.

Conflict Resolution

Conflict is inevitable in any group dynamic, and how a leader handles conflict can significantly affect team morale and productivity. Effective conflict resolution involves understanding the root causes of conflict, remaining neutral, and facilitating a solution-focused dialogue. Good leaders skilled in conflict resolution can transform potentially disruptive disagreements into opportunities for growth and innovation. For instance, a leader might mediate a dispute between two team members by encouraging them to view the issue from each other’s perspectives and collaboratively find a compromise.

Leadership is not just about leading; it’s also about lifting others as you climb. Mentoring involves guiding less experienced colleagues through coaching, feedback, and support. This not only helps team members grow professionally but also strengthens the overall talent within the organisation. Effective mentoring might include setting up regular one-on-one coaching sessions to help team members develop their skills, providing constructive feedback, and supporting them in achieving their career goals.

Identifying Leadership Skills For Job Profile

When applying for a job, it’s essential to tailor your resume to highlight the leadership skills most relevant to the position for the job seekers. This involves carefully analysing the job description and aligning your skills with the employer’s needs. Here’s how you can identify which leadership skills to emphasise:

Analyse the Job Description

Carefully read the job posting to identify key skills the potential employer is seeking. Look for specific leadership qualities mentioned in the listing, such as “ability to lead a team,” “strong decision-making skills,” or “excellent communication abilities.” These phrases give you direct insights into what the employer values in a candidate.

Match Your Skills With Requirements

Compare your own leadership experiences and skills with those mentioned in the job description. Make a list of your relevant skills that match the employer’s needs. For example, if the job requires “strong problem-solving skills,” think about times when you successfully resolved issues or led your team through challenging situations.

Prioritise Relevant Experiences

Once you’ve matched your skills to the job requirements, prioritise these regarding relevance and impact. Focus on experiences directly related to the tasks and responsibilities of the job you’re applying for. This will help you create a resume that resonates with the hiring manager by demonstrating your suitability for the role.

Use Keywords 

Incorporate keywords and phrases from the job description into your resume. This not only tailors your resume more closely to the job but also optimises it for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), which many companies use to screen resumes. Using the right keywords can help ensure that your resume gets noticed.

Highlight Achievements

Instead of just listing tasks you’ve managed, focus on what you’ve accomplished through your leadership. For instance, if the job emphasises “team leadership skills,” you might highlight a project you led that resulted in significant team development or a notable increase in productivity.

Example for Tailoring Leadership Skills to a Job Profile

Suppose you’re applying for a managerial position emphasising innovation and team management. The job description highlights the need for someone with strong motivational skills and a record of fostering innovation within their teams. You might write:

Leadership Skills Examples For A Resume

Articulating your leadership abilities on a resume requires more than just listing attributes. You need to demonstrate how you’ve applied these organisational skills in practical scenarios to drive organisational success. Here’s how to effectively adding leadership skills in various sections of your resume:

Resume Summary

Begin with a compelling summary that highlights your years of experience, key leadership competencies, and major achievements. This section should quickly establish you as a strong candidate by succinctly presenting your leadership narrative.

Senior Project Manager:

Chief Operations Officer:

Marketing Director:

Work Experience

Under each relevant job title, highlight your leadership experiences using action verbs and quantifiable achievements. Be specific about the outcomes and impacts of your leadership.

IT Project Manager:

Human Resources Director

Sales Manager

Skills Section

Tailor your resume skills section to include specific leadership skills that are relevant to the job you’re applying for. Use bullet points to list these skills, and match them to the keywords found in the job description.

General Management Role:

Technology Leadership Role:

Non-Profit Executive Role:

Achievements And Certifications

Include any relevant certifications or awards that demonstrate your leadership abilities or knowledge. If you’ve participated in  leadership training programs  or workshops, list them here to further validate your skills.

Achievements for a Senior Executive Role:

Achievements for an IT Director Role:

Achievements for a Non-Profit Leadership Role:

Additional Sections To Showcase Leadership Skills

Beyond the standard sections of your own resume, there are numerous ways to highlight leadership skills. Here are some strategic approaches to using additional sections effectively:

Volunteer Work:

Including volunteer experiences where you held leadership roles can significantly bolster your leadership credentials. This is especially effective if you can show how your efforts led to tangible outcomes.

Professional Organisations:

Participation in professional organisations, especially in a leadership capacity, demonstrates your commitment to your industry and your ability to take on leadership roles outside your immediate professional environment.

Publications and Presentations:

If you have authored industry publications or delivered presentations at conferences, these can be highlighted to show thought leadership and your ability to influence others in your field.

Training and Development:

Leading training sessions, workshops, or courses not only underscores your expertise but also your ability to mentor and educate others, which is a critical aspect of leadership.

Awards and Recognitions:

Any awards or special recognitions related to leadership can be included to provide concrete proof of your capabilities and achievements.

These additional sections can make your resume stand out by providing a fuller picture of your leadership abilities and contributions. By strategically including relevant activities and accomplishments, you can effectively communicate the breadth and depth of your leadership skills.

Common Mistakes To Avoid 

When crafting a resume that highlights leadership traits, certain pitfalls can detract from the effectiveness of your presentation. Being aware of these common errors can help you create a more polished and professional resume:

Being Vague Rather Than Specific

Listing leadership skills without backing them up with specific examples or quantifiable results. Always pair skills with clear evidence of how they were applied. For example, rather than stating “excellent leadership skills,” specify “led a team of 10 in a project that increased company revenue by 20% within a year.”

Overloading With Jargon

Overusing terms like “synergy,” “wheelhouse,” or “streamline” without concrete context can make your resume sound generic and unoriginal. Use industry-specific terms appropriately and ensure that every buzzword is supported by actual data or examples that demonstrate your competency.

Failing To Tailor The Resume

Submitting a one-size-fits-all resume that doesn’t align with the specific leadership qualities sought by the employer. Customise your resume for each application, emphasise leadership skills that are most relevant to the job. Use keywords from the job description to make your resume resonate with the role and pass ATS filters.

Ignoring The Importance Of Soft Skills

Focusing solely on hard skills and neglecting soft skills that are essential for effective leadership, such as empathy, adaptability, and communication. Integrate soft skills throughout your resume, particularly in the summary and work experience sections, showing how these attributes have contributed to your successes.

Lack of Professional Formatting

Using an inconsistent or overly elaborate format that distracts from the content of your resume. Employ a clean, professional format that makes your resume easy to read and navigate. Use bullet points, bold headings, and ample white space to enhance readability.

Not Highlighting Leadership Progression

Presenting leadership experiences without indicating growth or progression in your roles and responsibilities. Structure your work experience to clearly show the trajectory of your leadership development, emphasising promotions, expansions of responsibility, or increasing complexity in your roles.

Crafting a resume that effectively showcases your strong leadership skills is more than a strategic necessity—it’s a compelling way to distinguish yourself in a competitive job market. Remember, specificity, relevance, balance, and professionalism are the key to a successful leadership resume. Clearly articulate how you’ve applied your good leadership skills with concrete examples and measurable outcomes, tailor your resume to match the leadership qualities sought by the employer, integrate both hard and soft leadership skills to provide a holistic view of your capabilities, and maintain a clean, readable format that highlights your achievements without overwhelming the reader.

Rishabh Bhandari

Rishabh Bhandari is the Content Strategist at Kapable. Rishabh likes to transform complex ideas into captivating narratives relatable to the target audience. He loves telling stories through his content. He believes that stories have the power to shift mindsets and move mountains. He has 3 years of experience in educational blog writing and copywriting.

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8 Leadership Skills to Include on Your Resume

A typical corporate job posting receives about 250 resumes Glassdoor reports . So how can you stand out from a sea of applicants? If you want to move into a management or executive position, adding leadership skills to your resume is a good way to get noticed. 

This article offers a definitive list of eight leadership skills examples for your resume. 

1. Analytical Decision Making

Employers ranked analytical/quantitative skills high in the Job Outlook 2019 survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). Nearly 72% said they look for this characteristic among potential employees. Analytical decision makers use facts from a variety of sources to inform their choices. To appeal to employers, highlight job roles and workplace wins that required research and analysis.  

2. Communication

Communication is one of many important leadership skills examples for your resume. Effective communication is essential to present a company’s mission, vision, and goals to employees. Written communication skills were the top ranked attribute in NACE’s survey; 82% of employers value these skills. Verbal communication skills weren’t far behind; 67% of employers ranked verbal communication skills. Convey your communication expertise in your resume by highlighting written and verbal projects you contributed to—such as corporate reports, case studies, newsletters, training materials, meetings, and public speaking events.

3. Delegation

Leaders know when to delegate work to their team members. There are many ways to successfully delegate . Demonstrate your delegation skills on your resume by describing how you managed a team or project. Provide specific examples of how you delegated responsibilities, established expectations, tracked progress, and provided feedback.

4. Teamwork

Of the leadership skills examples to include on a resume, teamwork should definitely be highlighted. Leaders must be able to tackle complex problems and engage their teams in decision making. In other words, today’s leaders must be great team players. According to NACE’s Job Outlook Survey 2019, almost 79% of employers value teamwork, making it a desirable leadership skill to include on your resume. Use your resume—and job interview —to stress your ability to work with others and passion for accomplishing team goals. 

5. Adaptability

In the Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics’ 2018 article, “ Future Trends in Leadership Development Practices and the Crucial Leadership Skills ,” adaptability was ranked high in the list of crisis management leadership skills. Leaders don’t just need to adapt well during times of crisis, however; they also must adapt well to everyday changes. Great leaders respond to changing needs and pivot the direction of a team or organization when necessary. Demonstrate your adaptability on your resume by describing when you had to shift directions in response to a change of plans or an unplanned event.

6. Creative Problem-Solving

Obstacles arise, even in well-planned projects. How do you problem solve? Do you look for ways to turn problems into opportunities, lead brainstorming sessions to find solutions, or use the “ five why’s ” technique to uncover the root of the problem? The point is, there are many ways around a problem, and employers value creative problem-solving. This is a great leadership skill for a resume. Use your resume to demonstrate how you’ve creatively removed an obstacle to aid a project’s success.

7. Trustworthiness

Good leaders can be trusted to meet deadlines, better their employees, and be role models for their teams. According to an Indeed.com article, “ Q&A: What Makes a Good Professional Role Model? ,” accountability, hard work, positivity, persistence, integrity, and respect are traits of workplace role models. Rather than state that you are trustworthy, demonstrate your trustworthiness by incorporating some of these traits into your resume.

8. Tech Savviness

Technology is part of nearly every job, and leaders are expected to leverage it for growth, innovation, and efficiency. Show the full breadth of this leadership skill on your resume by listing your experience with industry-specific technologies, whether that’s computer languages, coding, or project management systems. If you’ve used technology to streamline or improve a process, mention this as well.

Expand Your Leadership Skills With a Leadership and Management Certificate

While this isn’t an exhaustive list of leadership skills examples, including these leadership skills on your resume could help you get noticed by your ideal employer. If you’re looking to grow your leadership skills, explore Wharton Online’s Leadership and Management Certificate Program . In this flexible program, students learn how to apply the latest management concepts from Wharton’s world-class faculty. The world is expanding, and your leadership skills should do the same. Request information today .

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Leadership Skills You Need to Include On Your Resume That Employers Actually Look For

Maximizing your leadership potential will catapult you to greater success. Here’s everything you need to know about the leadership skills companies are looking for.

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Did you know that having leadership skills are considered a key attribute for finding post-graduation career success? Leadership skills are so important that in 2021, it was found to be the number one skill that first-generation students wanted to develop . This is why leadership is considered a high-income skill .

Maximizing your leadership potential will boost you to greater success. This is true no matter where you are in your career or what job you’re applying for.

At Jobscan, we’re pretty much the experts on the resume skills hiring managers are looking for. We’ve helped job-seekers improve their resume based on insider knowledge of the tools hiring managers use. Here’s everything you need to know about the leadership skills companies are looking for.

What exactly is leadership?

First, it’s important to understand the qualities a hiring manager is looking for when they’re interviewing for a leadership role. So what are leadership skills?

Leadership is the ability to influence and inspire others. It moves them to take action, make things happen, and achieve goals. Leaders must clearly communicate goals . They must rally and motivate people towards a vision. They must take charge , especially during crises. It is about trying to be the best version of yourself while empowering others to become the best version of themselves.

Use our free online resume editor to optimize your resume immediately.

20 important leadership skills needed in every career

Leadership skills are more than just your core values. They are actionable tools. They let you motivate others. You can deliver projects and drive high performance. You can encourage ideas and empower those around you.

A hiring manager will be interested in your leadership values. But your demonstrated skills are what will land you the job.

So what are some examples of leadership skills you can showcase as a job-seeker? Here’s a list of leadership skills that every hiring manager is going to look for.

Self-awareness

Self-awareness is the ability to see ourselves fully and understand who we are. It’s our strengths and weaknesses. It’s our dreams and passions. It’s what angers us and motivates us. It’s our blind spots, personality, values, and emotions. And, it’s how these affect our actions and impact those around us. According to the authors of Emotional Intelligence 2.0, 83% of people who have high self-awareness are top performers.

Communication

Communication is a key skill employers look for. One survey shows that 69% of recruiters are confident in hiring new graduates with strong communication skills, despite their lack of experience.

People with strong communication skills can think clearly. They can express their ideas and opinions in a way that listeners can understand. Effective communicators are able to share ideas through conversing, presenting, facilitating, and writing. They know how to share information across different audiences at the organizational level. They can do it with peers or on a wider scale. Great communicators are also great listeners.

Leaders must be willing and passionate. They must pursue constant learning, retooling, and upskilling. The world is changing. So, we must continually upgrade our skills, seek new knowledge, and try new methods. Good leaders have a growth mindset. They believe that anything can be learned and improved.   

Agile people can move easily. They can pivot quickly during challenges and surprises. It is the ability to anticipate change, make smart decisions in light of it, and decide which moves to make next.

Collaboration and teamwork

Working together is key. It boosts the success of any business or organization. Leaders know how to work well with others. They collaborate with colleagues and peers to solve problems and achieve company goals. Empathy is the ability to put oneself in other people’s shoes and understand where they are coming from. It is seeking to understand the needs of others and being considerate of how they feel that can really help in team situations. 

Problem-solving

This is the ability to reframe a problem, pinpoint the root cause, strategize on how to solve it, and execute the strategy.

A good delegator can entrust a task to another person without controlling every part. They don’t manage it. At the same time, they must be able to motivate the new owner to achieve the desired goal within the allotted time.

Conflict resolution

This is the ability to mediate between disputes and resolve conflicts in a peaceful and effective way. Resilient leaders can handle stress. They stay positive and inspire their teams to persevere during tough times.

Ownership is taking full responsibility for our work. It means acknowledging our failures and mistakes. It means not blaming anyone or anything when things go wrong. Effective leaders take ownership of whatever work is given to them and treat the organization as if they own it. People with ownership have skin in the game.

Organization & time management

Organization is the ability to put order amidst chaos. People with organizational skills know how to organize information, projects, and people while forging a clear plan of action. Time management is one’s ability to prioritize tasks, meet deadlines, and make the most out of every minute that’s available.

Leaders are inherently motivated people. They know where to draw inspiration to keep on doing the hard work and delivering results. They also know how to motivate others towards achieving company goals. Passion fuels the leader to keep on going, even through difficult times. This quality keeps one fully committed to doing whatever it takes to achieve goals and help others do the same.

Adaptability

Adaptability lets you pivot and change strategies. You do this as new challenges and conditions arise in the organization, business, or industry.  

Technology skills

Technology continues to evolve and advance at a rapid pace. To stay effective and relevant, you need to learn technological skills. This will not only make you more competitive, but will also help you finish tasks and projects faster.

Creativity involves thinking outside the box and coming up with innovative solutions to problems. Creative leaders can inspire their teams to explore new ideas. They can also inspire them to experiment and drive innovation within the organization.

Decision-Making

Decision-making is the ability to make informed and timely choices that benefit the organization. Good leaders can assess situations. They can weigh options and make good decisions. Their choices fit the company’s goals and values.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand, and manage your own emotions. It’s also the ability to recognize and manage the emotions of others. Leaders with high emotional intelligence can build strong relationships. They can manage conflicts and create a positive work environment.

This is the ability to affect other people, motivate them, and move them towards a certain direction. Effective leaders have the ability to rally people behind a specific vision and impact their beliefs, values, and actions.

Leading without vision is like being a boat captain with no rudder. Yes, there is movement, but no specific direction, and thus, no destination. A leader with a clear and compelling vision can chart the course towards a chief end goal. That compels other people to trust and follow him.

Warren Buffett famously said that of all the qualities he looks for when hiring, integrity is the most important. People who have integrity take responsibility for their actions and hold themselves accountable. They do the right thing even when it’s difficult and even when no one is watching.

Ken Blanchard, author of The One Minute Manager, said that “there’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.” Commitment goes beyond just showing up for work. It’s investing your time and effort in your organization’s vision. It’s staying dedicated to achieving its goals and metrics.

How to demonstrate leadership skills

Leadership skills are particularly valuable and are core components of several job roles. For instance, operations manager skills heavily rely on strong leadership, enabling them to oversee complex business processes. Account manager skills also include leadership, as it’s crucial for managing client relationships effectively. Office manager skills require leadership to efficiently run an office’s daily operations. And a supervisor’s skills would be complete without strong leadership since they’re responsible for guiding and managing their team’s work.

But the importance of leadership skills aren’t limited to those who hold positional authority. Wherever you are in your professional and personal life, you can show leadership. And, you can grow in your potential for leadership. Here are some ways you can demonstrate leadership.

Follow through with your commitments

One way of demonstrating leadership is by making things happen and following through with whatever you say you’re going to do. Taking responsibility and showing that you mean what you say speaks volumes about the kind of leader you are.

Go above and beyond what is expected

Doing your job and delivering results will greatly impact your organization’s success. But, going above and beyond what’s expected of you is on another level. 

Delivering well and exceeding expectations will make you a valuable asset to the organization. This will also dramatically upgrade you as a leader because you are always on the lookout for things that stretch you and your skills.

Do world-class work even in menial things

You can demonstrate leadership by doing even small tasks exceptionally well, even when there is no “pat on the back”. 

Martin Luther King said: “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” 

In all you do, be it giving a presentation to your board or representing the company at a conference. Or, be it making coffee for your boss. You can choose to give your best and be world-class in your world and your service.

Accept feedback

Another way of demonstrating leadership is by accepting feedback from your bosses and even from your colleagues. Leaders always want to improve and grow in their skills and character. When you accept feedback, you show others that you are not only humble and willing to learn and change, but that you are committed to becoming better.

Help colleagues who have problems

Helping your workmates and peers is also another way to demonstrate leadership. People who go out of their way to serve and help others foster an environment of collaboration, respect, and teamwork. When you help your colleagues, you show them that you aren’t just looking out for your own interests, but that you care for others and want them to succeed.

Celebrate the success of others

Leaders aren’t insecure when those around them are succeeding. In fact, leaders celebrate the milestones and successes of others genuinely. You can demonstrate that you are a leader by cheering on your workmates and celebrating their accomplishments.

How to showcase leadership skills on your resume

List your leadership skills on your resume so that you stand out to employers and hiring managers. A word of caution, though: Don’t overdo it.

• Read about the company and what it stands for. Study the job description so that you have an idea of the values the company upholds and the specific skills required for the job.
• Include any leadership roles you’ve taken. Also, give specific examples of when you demonstrated leadership in those roles in the Achievements section. You can also write measurable results. They show recruiters and managers your impact with hard numbers.
• Include leadership skills in your skills section. Leadership is considered a soft skill , which is a personal attribute that can apply to any job.
• Outline relevant leadership training, education, and certifications.
• List all leadership skills mentioned in the job description that you have and incorporate them into your resume.

Jobscan’s Optimization Tool makes this easy. It pulls out all the skills listed in the job description in seconds so you can quickly add them to your resume.

How to develop good leadership skills

Let’s say you’ve read this entire article and realized you have some work to do before applying for that leadership role you have saved. What do you do now? Well, that doesn’t have to be the end of the story!

Becoming a great leader does not happen overnight. Like a muscle, you need to work on it and exercise it. There are many ways to do this but here are four ways you can develop your leadership skills. 

Find a mentor

Look for someone you respect and consider as a great leader you would want to emulate. Ask them if they are open to being your mentor – to train you, teach you, and speak the truth to you.

Read books about leadership

There are a myriad of books and resources about leadership written by people who have strong leadership skills. Reading about leadership is worth investing into.

Take a class on leadership

There are classes on leadership that you can take both online and in-person.

Talk to manager and co-workers

Find the time to sit down with your manager and co-workers and ask them to help you assess your leadership and develop your skills.

Being a great leader and developing leadership skills will help you in your career. More than that, these skills will permeate into different aspects of your life and affect how you do things and how you deal with those around you. These skills will also help boost your career, get you to the top of your field and industry, and give you lifelong success. 

Maximizing your leadership skills and becoming the best leader you can be takes time and effort, but it is worth it!

Leadership skills FAQ section

Leadership skills are the abilities to influence, motivate, and guide others towards achieving common goals. They encompass a wide range of competencies, including communication, decision-making, and emotional intelligence.

Assess your leadership skills by seeking feedback from peers and supervisors, reflecting on your experiences, and identifying areas where you have successfully led projects or teams. Self-awareness is key to recognizing your strengths and areas for improvement.

Leadership skills include a combination of core values and practical abilities such as communication, problem-solving, decision-making, empathy, and the ability to inspire and motivate others.

The best example of leadership skills varies depending on the context, but generally, it involves the ability to effectively manage a team, communicate a clear vision, and achieve results while maintaining high morale and motivation among team members.

Include leadership skills in the skills section, achievements section, and within the descriptions of your past job roles. Highlight specific instances where you demonstrated leadership and achieved significant outcomes.

The five essential leadership skills are communication, decision-making, problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and the ability to inspire and motivate others.

Good leadership skills are described as the ability to influence and guide others, make informed decisions, communicate effectively, demonstrate empathy, and adapt to changing circumstances while maintaining a positive and productive work environment.

Improve leadership skills by seeking feedback, engaging in continuous learning, finding a mentor, practicing self-reflection, and taking on leadership roles in various projects or organizations.

Leadership skills are important because they enable individuals to guide teams towards achieving goals, improve organizational performance, foster a positive work environment, and drive innovation and change within the company.

Content Writer at Jobscan.

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How To Show Leadership Skills on Your Resume - According to a Hiring Manager

If you’re applying for most mid- to senior- level roles, you’ll need evidence of leadership skills on your resume. Here are some recruiter-backed tips on how to demonstrate them effectively.

3 years ago   •   10 min read

If you’re applying for a senior-level role or one that involves managing others, hiring managers will be looking for evidence of leadership skills. That part’s pretty straightforward — what’s less straightforward is communicating those skills on your resume.

Unlike hard skills like programming or foreign language proficiency , leadership is a soft skill, which means you can’t simply list it in your skill section and move on. So, how do you demonstrate leadership on your resume?

Quick guide to showing leadership skills on your resume

Here's our quick-start guide to listing leadership skills on a resume:

• Look at the job description you're applying for to get a sense of what specific leadership skills you need.
• Start each bullet point accomplishment with a strong action verb .
• Explain a task or project and what your role was.
• Include metrics to show the impact of what you accomplished.
• Highlight positions of leadership in your resume title and summary.
• Get personalized feedback on any potential areas of improvement before you hit "submit" by running your resume throguh our Resume Scanner .

Here’s a good example of how to show soft skills like leadership on a resume:

What recruiters really want when they ask for leadership skills

Showing leadership is more than just saying that you once managed a team (though that’s a great place to start). When recruiters ask for good leadership skills, they’re really asking for a range of soft skills, such as:

• Decision making
• Problem solving
• Managing employees
• Team building
• Communication
• Conflict resolution
• Risk taking

The best way to know exactly what leadership skills a recruiter is looking for is to check the job description. For each role mentioned in the job ad, tailor your resume to include a bullet point that demonstrates that particular skill.

For example, if the job description mentions "motivation,” you could show this by saying that you "spearheaded an employee engagement program, resulting in a 10% decrease in annual employee turnover." If the job description mentions "setting goals,” you could say you "conducted yearly performance reviews and established goals, increasing efficiency by 10%."

How to show leadership skills on your resume

Once you’ve determined what skills the job is asking for, here’s how to describe your leadership skills on your resume.

Start with a strong action verb

Always start your statements with a strong action verb. Verbs like “ led , launched, directed, and spearheaded” all paint a picture of a proactive leader, which is what you’re aiming for. Need help brainstorming? Our action verbs database has more examples you can use to boost your resume.

Be specific

If you’re applying for a leadership role, focus on accomplishments that show how you’ve demonstrated leadership skills in previous positions. Increasing revenue, coordinating stakeholders, managing a team, and acquiring new talent are all things that employers will want their senior-level staff to do, which makes them perfect additions to a resume. The more specific you can be, the better. For example:

Bad: Increased productivity.‌‌‌‌

Okay: Increased productivity by discovering and sharing new techniques.‌‌‌‌

Excellent: Increased productivity by 20% by becoming a subject matter expert on a new automated tracking tool and sharing it with the team.

Use bullet points

Always use bullet points to describe your experience. This makes your resume easier to skim and less cluttered. Your bullet points should focus on high-level outcomes rather than individual responsibilities and be relevant to the role you’re applying for.

Quantify your skills

Quantifying skills simply means turning your experience into a measurable statement that reflects the positive impact of your work. Think of it as backing up your claims with hard facts and impressive statistics. Here’s how to quantify your leadership skills:

• Identify a key achievement : Reflect on your previous roles and choose an impressive accomplishment, project, or task that involved leadership. Did you lead a project, increase efficiency, or improve team morale?
• Describe the scope of the project : How many people were under your leadership? What was the budget of the projects? These figures provide a scale to your leadership role.
• Show the positive result : Look for concrete metrics that demonstrate the impact of your leadership. Did your strategies increase sales, reduce costs, or improve customer satisfaction? Use percentages or financial figures to illustrate these achievements.

For example, rather than saying , “Led a team,” say that you “Led a team of 12, achieving a 30% increase in productivity over six months.”

Let's take a look at another example of how to quantify leadership skills:

Find out if your resume shows leadership

Once you’ve finished, upload your resume to the tool below. It’ll rate you on core competencies — including leadership skills — and give you instant feedback on how to optimize your resume to land the job you want.

Where to show leadership skills on your resume

You can showcase your leadership skills in various sections of your resume, including your work experience, resume summary, and resume header.

In your work experience section

Your work experience section is the most common and most crucial area to showcase your leadership skills. Each past role should detail specific accomplishments through bullet points, using quantifiable outcomes to demonstrate the positive impact of your leadership.

Here is an example of a resume showcasing leadership skills under work experience:

In your resume summary

Including a resume summary is optional, but can be a good idea if you're trying to highlight a specific skill, like leadership. A resume summary should go above your work experience and be limited to 3-5 lines. Be sure to include any key skills and standout accomplishments, including specifics about the size and context of previous teams you've led.

In your resume header

If you want your leadership skills to be the prominent focus of your resume, include them in your resume header. Using a professional title that reflects your experience, such as 'Strategic Team Leader,’ or ‘Project Leader’, indicates to the reader that leadership is a key component of your experience and skills.

How to show leadership skills outside of a professional setting

Leadership isn't only confined to traditional job roles. If you don’t have much paid experience with leadership, don’t worry; you can demonstrate leadership through various activities, including volunteer work, personal projects, freelance or contract work, and virtual or remote settings.

Volunteer and community work

Volunteer and community work can be a great way to showcase leadership. Focus on organization skills, emphasizing event planning, team coordination, communication, and public speaking. Quantify your experience with statistics, such as the number of people involved, the amount of money raised, and the scale of the project.

For example:

Led a team of 20 volunteers in a city-wide clean-up, collecting over 1,000 pounds of litter.

Personal Projects

Personal projects are excellent for demonstrating self-motivation and creativity, both of which are key leadership traits. Describe the project's scope, your role in its development, and any significant outcomes. If your project led to notable results, like receiving an award or recognition, highlight it.

Independently developed and managed a comprehensive digital art portfolio, showcasing a collection of over 50 original artworks.

Freelance and Contract Work

In freelance and contract work, leadership is often demonstrated through effective client management and the ability to multitask across various projects. Discus skills such as managing client expectations, meeting tight deadlines, and resolving conflicts to show leadership, adaptability, and organizational skills.

Managed a diverse client base, successfully delivering over 30 web development projects within budget and deadlines over two years.

Virtual and Remote Work

Leadership in virtual and remote work settings is becoming increasingly crucial in today's work environment. Highlight experiences where you've successfully managed or coordinated remote teams, focussing on effective communication, timely project completion, and achieving set goals. Emphasize the results, such as improved team performance, successful project outcomes, or innovative remote collaboration, to showcase your effectiveness as a virtual leader.

Led a remote team of 15 members across five countries in executing a major marketing campaign for an international product launch.

What not to do: Avoiding common mistakes

Don't use leadership buzzwords.

Buzzwords are overused words and phrases, like “creative thinker” or “good team player,” that take up space on your resume without saying anything about your actual skills or experience. Instead, replace buzzwords with accomplishments that demonstrate skills in action.

Don't list soft skills as skills

Soft skills like leadership, communication, and time management don’t belong in your skills section. You need to show a recruiter proof of these skills through quantified experience rather than simply listing them as skills. Your resume skills section should be reserved for hard skills , such as technical expertise, digital tools, languages, and programming skills.

Don't repeat yourself

If your eyes are starting to glaze over after the fifth time you've started a sentence with "Led ..." the hiring manager is likely skipping over it, too. Avoid repetition by using appropriate synonyms for the specific skills you're trying to convey. For example:

If you spearheaded a project: Initiated, Established, Pioneered, Launched, Organized

If you managed employees: Supervised, Ran, Directed, Headed, Delegated

If you led coaching or training: Mentored , Trained, Coached, Guided, Motivated

Don’t forget Keywords

Including the right keywords is crucial for a high-performing resume - Not only to show a recruiter why your experience is relevant but to get your resume past ATS . While leadership is an important thing to showcase, “Leadership” itself is not a keyword. Keywords tend to be hard skills and qualifications, while soft skills are evaluated by a recruiter rather than ATS.

Use the job description to find relevant keywords to include in your resume, or use a keyword finder to generate a list of must-include words. If you need help finding hard skills and keywords relevant to the leadership role you’re applying for, use the tool below to find competitive keywords for your industry.

Don't exaggerate your leadership experience

It’s important not to overstate your experience when trying to show leadership. Over-exaggerating your skills can harm your professional reputation and lead to unrealistic expectations once you start the job.

Use specific examples and quantifiable achievements to represent your leadership experience honestly; for example, if you led a small team on a project, don't imply that you were overseeing an entire department.

If your leadership opportunities have been limited, focus on potential and growth rather than exaggerating past roles. Highlighting real instances where you showed leadership qualities, even in smaller tasks or projects, can be more impactful than overstated claims.

Examples of leadership skills on a resume

Here are some leadership skills examples for your resume, whether you’re just starting out in a leadership role or applying for an executive-level position.

Entry-level: If you’re just starting out in leadership

Not all leadership skills involve managing others. Promotions demonstrate your commitment and ability to add value to the company, which all hiring managers are looking for.

Promoted within 12 months due to strong performance and organizational impact (one year ahead of schedule).

If you’ve never led your own team, you can still show leadership skills and your ability to manage others through accomplishments like coaching, mentoring, and leading individual projects.

Coached 3 summer interns and submitted final performance evaluations.

Show that you can do the day-to-day work of management by detailing the number of people in the teams you’ve led or the size of the company. This is true even if you’ve only led small teams to date — if you’re applying for a job leading a much larger team or facility, you can address that in your cover letter.

Hired and trained team of six employees with two direct reports; promoted 6 months ahead of schedule

Mid-Level: If you have some leadership experience

The ability to take initiative is an important aspect of leadership. You can highlight this even without direct leadership experience by describing a time you spearheaded a new development and what the results were.

Drove redevelopment of internal tracking systems in use by 125 employees, resulting in 20+ new features, reduction of 20% in save/load time and 15% operation time

Good leaders are also effective communicators. This is another soft skill that doesn’t belong on a list, but you can demonstrate it by mentioning what you did in terms of outreach, management, or external partnerships, and what benefit it had to the company.

Managed business development opportunities that resulted in a 45% increase in partnerships.

Recruiters are looking for leaders who understand their business and are able to help it grow. Emphasize this skill by including accomplishments related to business development, strategy, and analysis.

Developed strategic insights across 5 product teams, including revenue, marketing and operations departments.

Senior-level: If you’re applying for high-level leadership positions

The best thing you can do to demonstrate your leadership experience is to be specific. What exactly did you do? What aspects of running the business were you in charge of? What was the scope of your work? The more detailed your metrics are, the more impressive your accomplishments will be.

Directed agency fundraising revenue generation, daily program business operations, community outreach membership recruitment, and human resources in 30 suburbs in the city for organizations with assets of $8M.

If you’re applying for a high-level position, you need high-level accomplishments. Launching an office shows that you can lead new developments while the increase in revenue emphasizes that you can do it effectively.

Launched Miami office with lead Director and recruited and managed new team of 10 employees; grew office revenue by 200% in first nine months (representing 20% of company revenue).

Another crucial aspect of high-level leadership is the ability to drive the company forward. Developing new strategic goals in addition to achieving existing ones shows your ability to be proactive, not just reactive.

Worked with CEO and 5 development team members to plan strategic goals to grow as a global company in the next 3 years.

How to show both leadership skills and teamwork on your resume

Demonstrating a balance of leadership and teamwork on your resume is essential, as it shows you’re capable of leading while also being an active team member.

Highlight examples where you led projects or initiatives, emphasizing your role in guiding and inspiring team members. Showcase times when you contributed as a part of a team, supported team goals, helped resolve conflicts, or played a key role in achieving a group objective.

Spearheaded a marketing campaign, leading a team of 5, which resulted in a 20% increase in sales.

As Project Lead, directed a team of 6 in the comprehensive redesign of a major e-commerce website, enhancing user experience and functionality.

How to show the progression in leadership skills

Showing the progression of your leadership skills is key to demonstrating adaptability and growth on your resume. Start by highlighting early leadership experiences, showing how your skills have developed from initial roles to more complex responsibilities.

For example, you might begin with examples of leading small projects or teams and progress to managing more significant initiatives. Emphasize how you adapted to different challenges and learned new strategies over time. This could include transitioning from a hands-on leadership style to a more strategic role, or learning to lead remote teams effectively.

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How To Showcase Leadership Skills On Your Resume (With Examples)

• Most Common Skills
• What Are Soft Skills?
• What Are Leadership Skills?
• What Are What Are Hybrid Skills?
• What Are Teamwork Skills?
• What Are Communication Skills?
• What Are Organizational Skills?
• What Are Personal Skills?
• What Are Interpersonal Skills?
• What Are Decision Making Skills?
• What Are Negotiation Skills?
• How To Multitask
• What Are Creative Thinking Skills?
• What Are Adaptability Skills?
• What Are Internal Analysis?
• What Are Multitasking Skills?
• What Is Professional Networking?
• What Is Nonverbal Communication?
• What Are Critical Thinking Skills?
• Presentation Skills
• What Is Accountability?
• What Is Emotional Intelligence?
• Verbal Communication Skills
• Leadership Skills On A Resume
• What Are Hard Skills?
• What Are Technical Skills?
• What Are What Are Life Skills?
• What Are Social Media Skills Resume?
• What Are Administrative Skills?
• What Are Analytical Skills?
• What Are Research Skills?
• What Are Transferable Skills?
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• What Are Clerical Skills?
• What Are Computer Skills?
• What Are Core Competencies?
• What Are Collaboration Skills?
• What Are Conflict Resolution Skills?
• What Are Mathematical Skills?
• How To Delegate
• What Are Skills Employers Look For?
• What Are Inductive Reasoning?
• What Are Problem Solving Skills?
• What Are Active Listening Skills?
• What Are Management Skills?
• What Are Attention To Detail?
• What Are Detail Oriented Skills?
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• What Are Rhetorical Skills?
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• What Are Persuasion Skills?
• How To Start A Conversation
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• Team Player
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• High Income Skills
• The Most Important Professional Skills
• What Is Figurative Language?
• What Are Rhetorical Strategies?
• What Is a Subject Matter Expert and What Do They Do?
• What Is A Differentiation Strategy
• What Is Job Order Costing
• What Is Situational Analysis
• Plan Of Action
• Report Format
• Law Of Diminishing Marginal Returns
• Administrative Duties
• Giving A Presentation
• Organizational Behavior Management
• Deductive Reasoning
• Reflective Listening

Find a Job You Really Want In

When brainstorming a list of skills that you have, you likely will think of hard skills at first. That is, skills that you have mastered to some degree through classes or on-the-job experience. Examples of hard skills include computer programming languages, foreign languages, technology skills, and other certifications. Soft skills , on the other hand, are the intangible qualities and interpersonal abilities you possess that make you a great person to work with. Here we’ll be discussing one soft skill in particular: leadership. We’ll cover what leadership skills are, what words to use in your skills section to highlight your leadership ability, and show you examples of different methods of including leadership skills on your resume. Key Takeaways: Leadership skills include team-building, conflict resolution, decision-making, and more. Leadership can come in many different forms – if you’ve ever worked on a team with other people, you probably had to use some leadership skills even if you were not the formal “ leader .” When listing leadership skills on your resume , be sure to demonstrate the skills you’ve had experience using by giving specific examples of times you faced problems and had to solve them. In This Article    Skip to section What Are Leadership Skills? The Best Leadership Skills for a Resume Examples of Leadership Skills on a Resume Final Thoughts Sign Up For More Advice and Jobs Show More What Are Leadership Skills?

Leadership skills are skills that show your capacity to lead a group to achieve a goal. Leadership styles and skills show a lot about a potential job candidate — how they can interact in a team setting, how they can communicate with others, and how they can reflect upon the project and provide constructive feedback.

Most importantly, however, a job candidate with good leadership skills is more likely to finish tasks and work well with fellow team members than those who do not possess leadership qualities .

Typically when people think of “leaders,” they often create an image in their mind about a strong-willed, enthusiastic, and incredibly charismatic person who can make a crowd follow them without a second thought. They think a good leader is the epitome of the “extrovert ideal.”

Don’t worry — leadership isn’t all about being able to stand up and transform a room. It’s also about being able to listen to the advice and ideas of others, give constructive criticism and be able to receive it, as well as being able to delegate the tasks to people with the best ability to complete them.

Here are the nuts and bolts to leadership skills on a resume:

Do not lie about leadership skills. Think of skills that you have demonstrated in your work/school experience and list those.

List skills that answer how you communicate with others, how you interact with groups of people, and any skills that point towards your leadership style .

List these skills in the skills section or the accomplishments section of your resume.

The Best Leadership Skills for a Resume

When looking for new employees, recruiters are looking for a well-rounded person who has the hard skills needed for the job, as well as the soft skills to be able to work seamlessly and effectively as part of the team.

While you may want to list “leadership skills” as a skill in the skills section, it isn’t the best idea to do so because saying you are a leader doesn’t show them how you are a leader.

When thinking of leadership skills, think of times when you worked in a group setting. What worked well and what didn’t? Leadership can be many things, but often, it is about how someone can effectively navigate interpersonal communication among a group to utilize the strengths of each member to achieve the goal.

To do so, a leader often possesses these main qualities that can be used on a resume.

Communication. Communication shows your ability to speak effectively with others. What many people miss about communication, is that communication isn’t all about you talking. Active listening is a crucial part of communication that is an incredibly important leadership skill to have.

With great communication skills , you can build trust, express care, and clarify issues as they arise. Knowing how, when, and how often to communicate with team members requires finesse, and great leaders know how to deliver, thoughtful, impactful, and concise information to all relevant parties.

Decision-making. This leadership skill shows your ability to make executive order on a project when asked to make a decision. It involves weighing the pros and cons and coming up with a compromise that best suits the goal and the team.

The buck stops somewhere, and while collaboration is key to a successful business, so is decisive action. Being a leader means being accountable for your final decisions and being comfortable being the person who makes those calls. Even if you’ve worked independently, showcasing your decision-making skills can help enliven the picture of you as a leader.

Conflict resolution. Not all teams work perfectly and sometimes a team is faced with a setback that is outside of their control. But when that happens, how do you deal with it? If you are able to handle stress and resolve it quickly, conflict resolution would be a great leadership skill to mention.

Often, you’ll be asked to mediate decisions or challenges between team members or even across departments. It’s essential that you’re viewed as an impartial arbiter who makes choices based on logic, not favoritism. Portraying yourself as a resolver of disputes implies great leadership skills and potential.

Teamwork/Team-building. Being a leader is also being a fellow team member. Some attributes that make good team members are dependability, integrity , and decisiveness.

Some leaders are more democratic than others, but every leader needs to take into account the strengths and weaknesses of those she manages. Team-building exercises and organic collaborative situations allow you to determine the best use for each team member.

Organization. As a leader, you’re expected to have a high-level, big-picture view of situations. That requires particularly good organizational skills . To manage a team, you need to know what everyone is up to and how progress is ticking along.

Being able to communicate, make decisions, and solve problems all rely on your ability to have a clear vision. And for that, you’ll need to stay organized.

Delegation. Leaders can’t do everything on their own. They need to know how projects can be done both efficiently and effectively by delegating tasks to team members with the appropriate backgrounds.

If you’ve ever assigned tasks, that’s a real-world leadership skill that employers love to see.

Time management. A key part of organization is time management. Your team counts on you to keep an eye on the grand scheme of things and ensure that projects finish on time.

To that end, you need to anticipate problems and be proactive about solving them. A good leader builds enough time into their day to deal with the unexpected as it arises, while leaving enough time to manage all the rest of their daily tasks.

Problem-solving. Some leaders like to be super hands-on while others prefer to step back and trust their team to figure out solutions. Regardless of your style, you’re going to be called on as a problem-solver , and probably quite often.

The ability to think through a problem logically and arrive at the optimal solution is a goal for every member of your team, but a leader has to be the one to make the final decision.

Flexibility. Those who panic at the first sign of an unexpected hurdle are not cut out to be leaders. Projects rarely go off without a hitch, and a leader needs to remain cool and collected when things go awry.

Leaders also have to work with a diverse team, and that often means adjusting your leadership style or motivation strategies depending on the individual you’re dealing with.

Ability to teach and mentor. Not all leaders have to instruct their subordinates, but it’s a useful skill to have nonetheless. It goes hand in hand with communication, but requires additional patience and a capability for simplification.

Effective feedback. People count on leaders to update them on the quality of their work and your expectations of them. When someone does a great job, a good leader recognizes that and tells that person, specifically, why they’re happy with the process and/or results.

On the flip side, leaders also need to provide constructive criticism to team members who are underperforming. You don’t want to make people feel bad about themselves — you just want to provide actionable steps toward improvement.

These skills compose the core values of leadership, but leadership is a fluid concept. There are many different types of leaders and if the more common leadership skills above don’t apply to you, there are many others to consider.

Examples of Leadership Skills on a Resume

Listing leadership skills is most often done in a bullet-point form on a resume under the skills section of the resume. Like so:

Skills Mentoring and training Project management Negotiation Team-building

Or, if you’re doing a functional resume or choosing to provide more detail on each skill, you could do something like:

Skills Leadership: Managed teams of up to 30 employees and contractors by delegating tasks, tracking KPIs, and executing high-level goals of the company Training: Led a weekly technology workshop that introduced teams to new software and processes — saw a 14% increase in task completion after rollout

However, anyone can list these skills on a resume. What will really make you stand out as a candidate and showcase your skills in a more realistic light is by emphasizing the use of these skills when describing your roles and outcomes for each job experience.

For example:

Work Experience Resident Head Advisor | Raleigh College | June 2020-Present Managed fifteen resident junior advisors by delegating resident life tasks Led crisis intervention teams and effectively resolved resident conflict Mentored students by supporting, listening and offering feedback during counseling sessions

Or even in a volunteering situation:

Volunteer Experience Fundraising Coordinator | Kitten Mittens | April 2016-August 2018 Coordinated a team of volunteer fundraisers to raise $15,000+ each quarter Presented results at semi-annual meetings to the board of directors Led workshops on handling stray cat situations with both volunteer groups and the local community

You may feel that you cannot sum up a leadership skill in one word and that’s perfectly fine. Many skills are best described in a few words and can be used under the skills or achievement sections of your resume.

Some common phrases include the ability to teach and mentor , relationship-building, problem-solving, positioning team members, and conflict resolution.

Final Thoughts

Describing leadership skills may seem daunting at first, but there are many different types of leadership .

If you aren’t the type to stand at the front of the room presenting and delegating tasks, don’t think that you have no leadership qualities. In fact, many good leaders are those who work in small groups and moderate discussion.

So if you are looking for different types of phrases or keywords to use to describe leadership skills on a resume, read back through the choices outlined above. Maybe some will surprise you and you’ll find you have more leadership skills than you thought.

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Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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Strong Leadership Skills: Resume Guide, Example Usage, and Skill Set for 2024

Here are the top ways to show your team leadership skills on your resume. Find out relevant team leadership keywords and phrases and build your resume today.

Is your resume ATS-friendly?

Drop your resume here or upload a file to find out if the skills in your resume are readable by an ATS.

In This Guide:

How is showing you’re a good team leader useful for your job hunt, what skills and qualities help you highlight your team leadership skills, leadership skills: key takeaways for your resume.

Having strong leadership skills means being able to lead, influence, and guide others, be they colleagues, friends, or even strangers.

What’s more, great leaders are natural problem-solvers. Think of someone between your favorite superhero and your best friend.

But putting ‘leadership skills’ in the skills section of your resume is surely not something we advise you to do. It does not mean anything and might make you sound shallow.

Instead, prove that you’re an active listener, a strong decision-maker, and an empathetic problem-solver.

Being a team leader has little to do with your job title. “Leader” is not just a formal title but also essential roles in each team.

Let’s consider scenario #1 - you may either be applying for an operational, a specialist, an expert job or your future job title might not explicitly say “leader”, “manager”, or “chief operations officer”. Besides that, having leadership skills would still be extremely attractive displayed on your resume. Exerting a certain set of leadership skills could be beneficial for your career and for your growth. It could be very useful in building good relationships and group dynamics within the team you’re working with. In addition, it could also be beneficial in putting you out there in the eyes of your managers when it’s time for promotion.

On the other hand, if you’re after a people managing position, then you already know the importance of leadership skills for your work success, growth, and satisfaction. Forming an effective team is an art on its own and its components are motivation, support, understanding, and focus - on the tasks, on the people both as a team, and as individuals.

The question then is, if team leadership consists of so many integral parts, how to best describe and showcase your experience on your resume? Let’s dive in.

Read this: 300+ Must-Have Skills for Your Resume

Similar to most soft skills, the best way to prove you have a certain skillset is to disintegrate it into its constituent parts and then provide examples for each of them. In this way, you are not only specific and detailed, but also show your definition and understanding of the skill.

You can usually tell someone is a good leader by exerting the following:

• Communication and listening -- good communication skills are the platforms upon which we all build our lives, both professional and personal. Being able to listen actively, ask nonjudgmental questions, seek to understand, and speak with empathy are key if you want to be viewed as a true leader.
• Mediation and problem-solving -- being in the position of the team leader, you often need to juggle different people’s interests. Being able to balance between various points of view and not take sides but rather try to listen and proactively offer solutions, are qualities that help build confidence and in your skills and persona, and a sense of openness in your team members.
• Consistency, discipline, and vision -- consistency leads to trust which then leads to open sharing and being able to move forward and progress. Discipline is the fuel on the path of that progress and success. Vision is the goal at the end of the path, but also the reason for stepping on the road in the first place. Good leaders combine all of that
• Empathy, active listening & support: problems arise all the time. Recruiters know this, and that’s why they don’t want you to ignore them or magically make them disappear. Knowing how to deal with them through being an empathetic and supportive listener is a whole other story though. In fact, these skills can actually decrease the number of problems over time.
• Creativity & strategic thinking: it might sound as if creativity is the opposite of strategic thinking, but the truth is – they are intrinsically linked. Adapting ideas from different contexts to build improved and innovative strategies is essentially what every leader should know how to do.
• Flexibility & organization: being organized and setting good examples for others is crucial, but welcoming setbacks and delays with a high level of flexibility is even more important. The combination of these two skills will show employers that you’re a strong leader who is able to handle all types of situations.

How to demonstrate team leadership skills on your resume

• Think of instances when you took the initiative and united the team around an idea of yours that lead to success
• Describe a time when you helped resolve a team conflict or deescalate a situation
• Give examples of innovative ideas or approaches that took your team efforts to the next level
• Mention situations when you were able to listen actively, motivate, and provide support to your team members
• Explain the relation between consistency, discipline, and trust by providing an example of your experience
• Talk about a difficult situation that you were able to overcome by exerting original thinking and mediation
• Mention times when plans have changed drastically, but you’ve handled the situation well
• Talk about some team issues you have helped resolve or avoid
• Demonstrate how responsible you are when it comes to organizing your time and meeting tight deadlines
• Share how your ability to be an empathetic listener has helped your team in the past
• Point out the link between your creativity and your ability to keep your eye on the prize

Saying things such as “I’m a good leader who has managed a team of 4 people” sounds impressive, but managing people does not directly imply how and why that makes you a good leader.

To make this statement believable and persuasive, you need to go into detail and support it with examples.

Try to dig deeper by pondering the following questions:

• What exactly did you achieve when you managed this team?
• Did you take any specific classes or receive any certifications or coaching on being a leader?
• What did your team members say about working with you?
• What did you learn from that experience?
• Have you ever led a successful project?
• When was the last time you had to resolve a work-related issue and how did you do it?
• How do you deal with unsupportive or unengaged team members?

To help you describe your own experience, here are some real life examples from other Enhancv users’ resumes.

Get inspired to craft and enhance your own resume.

Example 1: Show team leadership skills in your experience

Job Situation: Product manager applying for the role of Director of Product Management

• • Managed multiple product lines, all the way from the idea stage through their delivery for teams developing software for hospitals and clinics
• • Promoted products to both internal and external customers increasing penetration of customer base to 85%
• • Worked in collaboration with clients and stakeholders with a budget of $2M
• • Developed and managed goals, objectives, procedures and work standards minding all applicable local and foreign regulations
• • Served as a mediator between stakeholders and different teams involved, making sure all interests are taken into consideration

Do you notice what will tip the scales in this candidate's favor? That's right - achievements, instead of a responsibilities list.

They quoted their measurable results, such as "increasing penetration of customer base to 85%".

This example implies their agility, focus, and consistency.

By developing and managing goals, objectives and procedures, this Product Managers shows good vision and discipline - other important leadership skills.

They also were able to collaborate with different stakeholders and take into consideration their collective interests - a good example of mediation and problem-solving. The use of active verbs in the description such as “promoted” and “developed” shows proactiveness and focus.

We can see here that even though leadership skills are not explicitly stated in the experience section, they are well represented and implied.

Let's see another example.

• • Monitored progress and set deadlines for as many as 50% of our projects
• • Was appointed first POC for new colleagues who had difficulties settling in
• • Explained our suggestions to clients and worked to find a middle ground with them
• • Developed a mentorship program that linked junior PMs with senior PMs and resulted in 58% more motivation for all colleagues

The snippet of this senior project manager resume proves their leadership skills in two ways.

Firstly, the fact that they begin each bullet with an action verb shows they’re willing to take the initiative.

Secondly, they have highlighted their ability to work with people quite well. Even in challenging contexts, such as finding a middle ground with unhappy clients and increasing the levels of motivation for both junior and senior colleagues by 58%.

Highlighting the fact that they have been responsible for monitoring progress and setting deadlines, on the other hand, proves their strong organizational skills.

Tired of boring design ideas for your resume? Check out our modern resume builder!

Example 2: resume summary

Job Situation: Software developer with 4 years of experience applying for the role of Technical Team Lead

In those 3 short sentences, we get the idea that this Software Engineer has an affinity for tech and teamwork. They speak of collaboration, valuing teamwork, and approaching both tech and communication challenges with a people-first motto.

This summary definitely states the intention of the IT professional to move from a more tech to a more people position like a Team Lead.

Let's dive into another example.

The resume summary is a great place to showcase your leadership skills in a couple of sentences.

This Digital Marketing Manager’s resume summary proves that they have strong collaboration and organizational skills, as well as high levels of flexibility and creativity. Thus, it proves their leadership skills without making them sound boastful.

What’s more, they also add the keyword ‘leader’ which gives them bonus points, especially when it comes to passing ATS checks.

Still not sure what to include in your resume summary? Check out this guide!

Example 3: Key achievements

Job Situation: Finance Manager outlines his achievements

A great way to combine both your experience and your strengths is to use the Achievements section. In this example we can see that this Financial Manager is proactive, team-oriented, social, collaborative, and proactive - all good team leadership qualities that cannot be missed by an experienced recruiter’s eye.

Let's look into another example.

In case there’s something you’re extremely proud of and want to highlight, use the Achievements (also called Most Proud Of) section.

This resume snippet proves the applicant’s leadership skills by emphasizing their ability to lead teams to success and manage conflicts easily. They also share their leadership award, which proves that they’re a likable and valuable individual.

Looking for more reasons to add an ‘Achievements’ section? Read this article!

Example 4: Demonstrate your leadership skills through other sections of your resume

Job Situation: Graphic Designer describes his volunteering experience

• • Taught 60+ kids from 3 different classes, ages 12-16 how to work with MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Job Situation: HR Specialist describes her extracurricular activities and additional courses

Look at the examples above. They prove that you don’t need to be an executive or even a manager to have leadership skills.

In fact, enrolling in different courses on the topic shows you’re passionate about becoming a great leader and improving day by day. The same goes for volunteering roles .

So think about mentioning something besides your work experience. Maybe you were in charge of some school event? Or maybe you enrolled in a course about empathy and communication?

In short, you can add any kind of extracurricular activity that requires high levels of emotional intelligence , teamwork , organization, and flexibility.

• Demonstrate devotion: talk about projects where you had to leave personal preferences aside and focus on common goals and benefits
• Prove you’re a team player: share more about the times you had to lead teams and mention how you’ve earned success
• Keep it to the point: use action verbs and choose the words you go for carefully; you’ll have plenty of time to elaborate on your strengths during the interview
• Use all parts of your resume: try to showcase your leadership skills in as many sections as possible (but be careful and don’t go over the top)

Looking for more tips on crafting a job-winning resume? Check out this guide!

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Top 10 Leadership Resume Objective Examples

Crafting the perfect leadership resume requires not just a highlighting of your skills and experience, but also the ability to articulate your career goals and value proposition with precision.

A well-defined resume objective can set the stage for your resume by focusing the employer’s attention on what you bring to the table and how it aligns with their needs.

The “Top 10 Leadership Resume Objective Examples” compiled here offers a curated list of compelling objectives that demonstrate the range of approaches successful leaders can take in capturing the essence of their professional aspirations.

Whether you’re an aspiring manager or a seasoned executive, these examples will provide inspiration and guidance as you craft an objective that distinguishes you in a competitive job market.

10 Best Leadership Resume Objective Examples

How to Write a Great Leadership Resume Objective Statement?

1. start with clarity.

Before you begin writing, be clear about the type of leadership role you are seeking. This will help you tailor your objective to the specific job and industry.

2. Define Your Leadership Qualities

Reflect on your strengths and core leadership competencies, such as strategic planning, team building, problem-solving, and communication skills.

3. Showcase Your Experience

Mention significant leadership roles and achievements that are relevant to the position you’re targeting. It’s important to illustrate your qualifications with concrete examples.

4. Be Specific

Avoid vague statements. Instead, use specifics that match the job description. If they are looking for someone with experience in “increasing operational efficiency,” mention how you have successfully done that in past roles.

5. Include Your Goals

Make a connection between your career goals and how they align with the company’s objectives. This demonstrates motivation and vision.

• 20 Retail Manager Resume Objective Examples
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• 20 Marketing Communications Manager Resume Objective Examples

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7 Small Business Owner Resume Examples for 2024

Many job seekers struggle with resumes. This article covers proven resume examples for small business owners and gives strategic advice. Learn to highlight your entrepreneurial skills, leadership, and business achievements effectively.

• 24 Aug 2024 - 5 new sections, including 'Where to place your education', added
• 24 Aug 2024 - 5 new resume templates, including Strategic Business Consultant (Aspiring Small Business Owner with minimal direct experience), added
• 22 Aug 2024 - Article published

  Next update scheduled for 01 Sep 2024

Here's what we see in top small business owner resumes:

Focus On Quantifiable Impact : Good resumes use numbers to show impact. Metrics include revenue growth , cost reduction , customer retention rate , and employee turnover rate .

Match Skills With Job Descriptions : Include skills on your resume that you have and are mentioned on the job description. Some popular ones are financial management , strategic planning , CRM software , market analysis , and inventory control . But don't include all of them, choose the ones you have and are mentioned in the JD.

Emphasize Relevant Experience : Show how your experience applies to the job. Use phrases like led marketing , managed operations , and increased sales .

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widget 2: red / but not serious Here's a short quick tip / warning for people to include. If your symptoms get worse or do not improve after 1 day, go to a lower altitude if you can. Try to go around 300 to 1,000 metres lower.

helpful blue / but not serious Here's a short quick tip / warning for people to include. Here's a short quick tip / warning for people to include. Here's a short quick tip / warning for people to include. Here's a short quick tip / warning for people to include. Here's a short quick tip / warning for people to include. Here's a short quick tip / warning for people to include. Here's a short quick tip / warning for people to include.

Small Business Owner Resume Sample

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Want to know how your resume stacks up for small business owner positions? Our resume scoring tool gives you a clear picture of where you stand. It evaluates your resume based on key criteria that recruiters look for when hiring entrepreneurs and business leaders.

Upload your resume now to get a free, unbiased assessment. You'll receive a score and useful feedback to help you improve your chances of landing your next business opportunity.

Where to place your education

Decide where to put your education on your resume by thinking about your work history. If you have been working for several years, list your experience first. Your knowledge as a business owner is what most hiring managers want to see.

If you recently finished a significant educational program, like an MBA, you should list your education first. This shows that you have fresh knowledge ready to apply to your business tasks.

Remember, if your education is not recent or highly relevant to the work you are seeking, it should not take the front seat on your resume. Always highlight your practical experience and skills gained from running a business first.

Highlight your achievements

Include specific achievements like increasing revenue, expanding customer base, or successful marketing campaigns. Numbers and percentages are effective.

Demonstrate your problem-solving skills by detailing how you resolved issues and improved business operations.

Junior Small Business Owner Resume Sample

Prioritize key information.

You need to prioritize the information that goes on the front page. Hiring managers often skim through the first page, so make sure it counts. List the highlights of your time as a business owner, such as significant growth figures or successful project launches, right at the beginning.

It's better to remove less relevant information than to squeeze everything in using small font or narrow margins. If you have to go beyond one page to include critical details, that is acceptable. However, keep readability in mind so that your strengths and experience are easily seen and understood.

Senior Small Business Owner Resume Sample

Use action verbs.

Start experience bullet points with strong action verbs like 'launched', 'grew', or 'optimized' to show your proactive approach.

Be specific about the actions you took and the results you achieved, this adds clarity and impact to your resume.

Small Business Owner with E-commerce Specialization Resume Sample

Strategic business consultant (aspiring small business owner with minimal direct experience) resume sample.

•   Business Owner Resume Examples
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•   Senior Product Owner Resume Examples
•   Technical Product Owner Resume Examples
•   Digital Product Owner Resume Examples
•   Product Owner Resume Examples
•   Product Marketing Manager Resume Examples
•   Content Writer Resume Examples

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