15 Key Leadership Skills For Your Resume 2024
Whether you’re applying for a management position or not, leadership skills are important. Here’s what you need to know about leadership skills.
Whether you’re applying for a management position or not, leadership skills are important. Here’s what you need to know about leadership skills.
Leadership skills are the qualities that help people effectively motivate and take charge of managing others in various situations, support initiatives and delegate tasks. Leadership skills will come across differently depending on the job.
For example, if you work in customer service, good leadership skills will definitely include good communication and conflict resolution. If you work in business, the leadership skills you need are more likely to concern motivating team members, team building, managing or delegating workloads.
Build my resumeWhether or not a company is hiring for a managerial or leadership role, hiring managers will always be looking for leadership qualities in job seekers. You see, leadership skills are highly transferable and can be beneficial in many different work situations. Leadership skills include:
The job description will tell you everything you need to know about the position and what they expect from you. Take a look at the listed requirements and responsibilities of the job to see what type of leader they want so you can determine what to include in your resume. For example, take a look at this operations manager job posting:
Responsibilities:
Requirements:
Some keywords that immediately jump out are “operation strategies,” “provide direction to operational team,” “collaboration,” “problem-solving skills” and “Lean Six Sigma.”
Use them in your resume and include examples when possible to show employers you have the leadership abilities needed for the job.
The most straightforward way to include your leadership skills in your resume is by listing them in your skills section. Typically, you should include 8-10 hard skills and soft skills in your resume.
Beyond just saying you have team leadership skills, the work experience section allows you to demonstrate leadership qualities and how you’ve used these abilities in previous jobs. Include numbers and metrics when possible to give the recruiter or hiring manager a better idea of your accomplishments and highlight leadership skills.
The resume summary is the first section recruiters and hiring managers will read. Write a two-to-three-sentence overview of your top skills and experiences relevant to the job.
Results-oriented and proactive professional with a proven track record of leadership and team management. Adept at guiding teams toward success through clear communication, strategic planning and effective problem-solving. Strong interpersonal skills with a passion for fostering a collaborative work environment.
For more tips on presenting your skills, check our How to Write a Strong Resume Skills Section article.
Build my resumeWhether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting out in your career, there will always be room to improve your skills. Here’s how you can focus on bettering your leadership skills:
The United States has different organizations and institutions that offer leadership certifications. You get to learn from other professionals, put yourself to the test and earn a certificate that you can include in your resume. Some certifications offered include:
In today’s day and age, it’s not necessary for you to look for help beyond your phone or computer. You can find dozens of reliable resources online to help you become a better leader. Everything from online videos, tutorials and blog posts, especially when they’re from another professional or a trusted organization, is a great way to learn better leadership skills.
We all start out somewhere. Talk to your manager about your interest in bettering your leadership skills and see if you can shadow someone in a leadership role. You can see how they handle day-to-day responsibilities, how they speak to others and what makes them a good leader. Furthermore, you can also ask your manager to give you a task where you can display your leadership skills.
ResumeHelp has tons of other resources to help you better your skills and become a great professional.
Have questions? We’re here to help.
Rather than thinking about five must-have leadership skills, think about your own abilities and the job. The leadership skills you need to have will depend on what the job requires and the type of leader the company is looking for, as not all leadership roles are the same.
If we were to choose our top five skills every leader should have, however, these are our picks:
A great example of a leadership skill is “effective communication.”
Effective communication involves the ability to convey information clearly, listen actively and adapt communication styles to suit different audiences and situations. Leaders who can communicate effectively can articulate their vision, goals and expectations to their team members. They are also skilled at listening attentively to the perspectives and concerns of others, building rapport and promoting open dialogue within the team.
Mastering the skill of effective communication is crucial for leaders to build trust, foster collaboration and drive success in their organizations.
Yes. Just like communication skills, leadership skills are very useful in almost any form of employment. So if you have good leadership skills, you should highlight those skills in your resume. After all, whether you are in a leadership role or not, you may still be called on to lead team members at some point in your employment.
When resume writing, you should consider your competencies, key skills and main qualifications in light of the requirements of the job that you are applying for. While leadership qualities are always useful, you should consider what management skills are most applicable to the role. For example, if the role is a collaborative one, your effective leadership skills will be called upon for teamwork and delegation.
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