resume examples for leadership positions

Leadership Resume Sample

Learn how to make your leadership skills shine on your resume..

Great leaders are often hard to come by. That’s why employers across a wide range of industries actively seek out candidates with proven leadership skills. Of course, the best way to demonstrate your abilities as a leader is to manage a successful project from start to completion. But if potential employers don’t have the opportunity to see you in action, creating a leadership resume is the next best thing.

To transform a standard resume into a leadership resume, begin by brainstorming the qualities of great leaders. People in leadership roles typically possess strong communication, decision-making, problem-solving, team-building, and organizational skills. Plus, they have years of experience in their fields and can lead by example. As you write, think about how to emphasize these skills—use them as the framework to discuss your experiences and accomplishments.

You can use the leadership resume sample provided as an example.

Leadership Resume

Denver, CO 80014 | 555.555.5555 | [email protected] | https://www.linkedin.com/jamesmiller/

Senior Product Development Manager

Digital Marketing | Product Owner | Client Engagement | Data Analysis

High-performing, senior product management leader with 20+ years of in-depth industry expertise with full product lifecycle from R&D to beta release to production launch. Hands-on and focused, actively led, created, and launched best-in-class product offerings in partnership with sales, marketing, engineering, user experience, and support. Proven success leading complex projects, figuring out client needs to deliver client-driven solutions, not just products. An influential leader builds consensus among stakeholders to provide breakthrough product strategies and transform complex project initiatives into achievable goals.

Core Competencies

Agile/Scrum | Project Management | Enterprise Solutions | Trusted Advisor | Customer-Centric Product Design

User Experience | Go-to-Market Plans | Evangelizing Product Vision | Collaboration and Communication

Technical Skills and Methodologies

Project Management: Jira, Pendo, Typeform, Trello, Visio, Rubicon, DoubleClick, LiveRail

Advertising Platforms: Salesforce Audience Studio, Google/DoubleClick, Freewheel, Atlas, Sizmek, AppNexus

Business Intelligence: Tableau, Qlik, SAP Business Objects, Google Data Studio

Analytics Platforms: Datorama, Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics, ComScore Suite, Nielsen Suite

Database Proficiency: Hadoop, MS SQL, My SQL, Green Plum, Aster (Teradata), Salesforce Audience Studio

Computer Languages: JSON, Python, Visual Basic, HTML, XML, JavaScript basics, C and C++ basics

Professional Experience

Company One | Denver, CO | 20XX-Present

Digital Platforms Product Manager | 20XX – Present

Promoted to drive product development, vision, strategy, and execution across all digital platforms and enablement products. Partner with design, engineering, marketing, and sales teams to identify and deliver new product solutions and augment the existing portfolio.

• Developed and executed detailed product roadmaps using Agile methodology that laid the foundation for launching 15 new products in 3 years, equating to $20M in revenue.
• Played a pivotal role in shaping GTM strategy, including product testing, naming, audience targeting, social media, event activations, and digital marketing.
• Led the redesign of the e-commerce site, managed a team of 6 to move from Amazon platform to Magento, resulting in improved data analytics, ease of user capabilities, 70% increase in mobile traffic, and 40% increase in revenue.
• Directed a cross-functional SWAT team to transition to a new CMS platform, resulting in more efficient processes to update web templates and seamless navigation between website and shop, resulting in a 200% increase in shop traffic.
• Optimized constrained budget by managing an off-shore team in growing online platform to 60% (50,000+ active participants); continues to add features to streamline administration.

e-Commerce Analytics Manager | 20XX – 20XX

Team lead for digital analytics; accountable for forecasting, tracking, and reporting KPIs (e.g., ROI) to inform brand strategy, investment decisions, and product development.

• Achieved average ROI of 3:1 across all channels, using data-driven SEM strategy, campaign execution, monitoring, and analytics for AdWords, affiliate, remarketing, Facebook ads, and referral programs
• Increased email subscriber list by 200% and revenue by 40% using enhanced segmentation for drip marketing campaigns.
• Integrated several data sources to create comprehensive market insights and present actionable recommendations to the executive team.

Company Two | Denver, CO | 20XX-20XX

CEO & Product Owner

Founded, self-funded, and built company focused on combining food and technology from ground zero to $100K annually. Conceptualized discovery engine, developed business plans, identified target markets, created the prototype and working product, then executed the GTM launch plan. Recruited technical co-founders and grew the company to 6 people.

• Built feature-rich Android applications; designed web and mobile wireframes and identified feature set prioritization.
• Successfully partnered with 18 restaurants to cross-promote. Developed prospective relationships with 50+ restaurants and negotiated with [confidential] to access photo and menu content.
• Set up brand channels on social media; presented at several start-up events and managed media outreach resulting in articles on CNET, Business Insider, and The Next Web.

Company Three | Denver, CO | 20XX – 20XX

Mobile Product Specialist | 20XX – 20XX

Reporting to Senior Account Executive, spearheaded business development efforts high profile portfolio of clients, including Dow Jones, NBC, AMC, and NASDAQ.

• Liaised between sales and product teams to grow the mobile app product line from 15 to 200+ active mobile publishers.
• Pioneered an automated process to identify and evaluate iPhone and Android app leads, resulting in 1000+ new leads distributed to respective global teams.
• Assisted the legal and product teams with the high-profile AdMob acquisition; developed criteria to determine publisher placement within various tiers to avoid overlap and duplication; results of efforts showed seamless transition on publisher-facing side.

Partner Development | 20XX – 20XX

Shattered targets, offering needs-based monetization solutions on desktop and mobile applications; designed templates and authored copy for promotional materials for potential clients.

• Ranked #1 in sales with highest closed accounts and revenue; generated upwards of $17M in new business revenue from 300+ publishers.
• Redesigned internal sales tool; implemented 50+ features that reduced lead-to-close time 20%; achieved buy-in and adoption by 20 global team members; conducted international roadshow and training in Dublin, Tokyo, and Beijing.

Account Manager | 20XX – 20XX

Devised sales strategies to propel revenue growth across 200+ well-known brand publishers; identified high-value publishers and organized them under a private forum allowing for sharing of best practices.

• Selected for cross-functional team that scaled digital product, resulting in 46% market growth and a 60% reduction in customer support and generated valuable feedback for product teams.
• Spearheaded a YouTube competition to promote publisher success stories; conceptualized and worked with cross-functional team to execute through various marketing channels; competition resulted in 6 global case studies.

Education & Certification

M.S. in Marketing | University One | Denver, CO

B.S. in Computer Science | University Two | Denver, CO

Google Analytics e-Commerce Certified

Certified Scrum Master

Ready to Find a Job in Leadership?

Looking for an opportunity to grab the bull by the horns? Here are some ideas for jobs that require leadership skills:

• business management jobs
• engineering manager jobs
• marketing director jobs
• product manager jobs
• project manager jobs

You can also find out how much a job will pay in your area by looking it up on Monster’s Salary Calculator . This tool will give you an estimate of how much you can expect to earn in your location and in cities where your job is in high demand.

If you’re looking for a broader range of job opportunities, search for management jobs on Monster to find one that’s the right fit for your background and career goals.

Too Busy to Write Your Leadership Resume?

Get hired faster and at a higher salary with a customized resume written by our industry experts

Most Helpful In Resumes

How to Show Promotions on Your Resume

By Jennifer Verta, Monster Contributor

How to Check the Pulse on Your Entry-Level Nurse Resume

By Monster Contributor

Resume Objective Examples for Every Situation

40 resume summary examples to help you write yours .

By Venus Gentile, Monster Contributor

Need a Job in High School? Resume Examples to Help You Succeed

By Martina Mascali, Monster Contributor

30 Examples: How to List Leadership Skills on Your Resume

By Status.net Editorial Team on December 12, 2023 — 11 minutes to read

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.

• List of 21 Important Technical Skills (with Examples)
• 50 Example Phrases: Technical Skills Examples for Resume
• 50 Inspiring Examples for 7 Communication Skills for a Resume
• Key Leadership Skills You Need (to Lead a Team)
• 2 Detailed Examples of Administrative Assistant Resumes
• Leadership Skills: 25 Performance Review Phrases Examples

• Skip to Content
• Skip to Footer

Resume Genius

The World's Smartest Resume Builder

Monday to Friday, 8AM – 12AM (Midnight) and Saturdays and Sundays, 10AM – 6PM EDT (866) 215-9048

Blog Resume Help 60+ Effective Leadership Skills: List & Examples

60+ Example Leadership Skills to List on Your Resume

Leadership skills are essential for any executive, management, or supervisory position. Learn how to include them on your resume by checking out our examples and writing tips.

As featured in *

Leadership skills are the skills necessary to organize people around a common goal. Like other skills for your resume , good leadership skills are essential for meeting individual, team, and organizational objectives.

Below is our comprehensive list of effective leadership skills and three writing tips to help you learn how to effectively showcase them when applying for jobs.

Our free-to-use resume builder can make you a resume in as little as 5 minutes. Just pick the template you want, and our software will format everything for you.

Communication

Effective leadership starts with great oral and written communication skills .

Good leaders can clearly convey vision and strategy across diverse audiences and listen attentively to different viewpoints. Highlighting communication skills on your resume shows that you can collaborate well and ensure that your team knows what’s expected of them.

Here’s an example of how to highlight this soft skill on your resume:

Streamlined communication on project completion progress through app development, resulting in an increase in customer satisfaction by 25%

Communication leadership skills list

• Public speaking
• Active listening
• Giving and receiving feedback
• Excellent non-verbal communication
• Problem solving

Even the best leaders’ plans don’t always go smoothly. The ability to roll with the punches while remaining positive is essential, as is a knack for charting the best course forward.

As AI becomes more prevalent in the workplace, team leaders will need to tackle novel obstacles at an increasing rate. The ability to think critically and plan strategically are key skills to help teams succeed in the face of these new hurdles.

Here’s an example of how to include your problem solving skills on your resume:

Coordinated with IT department to improve user functionality of e-commerce app, easing order processing and increasing annual company revenue by 10%

Problem-solving leadership skills list

• Flexibility
• Critical thinking

When you manage people and projects, you must ensure all necessary tasks are completed by the deadline. You’ll need to properly delegate workloads to keep your team productive, with realistic expectations on timelines needed to complete projects.

Here’s an example of how to highlight your delegation-related leadership skills on your resume:

Managed a team of 5 sales associates, assigning tasks and customer clients based on company needs and workloads

Delegation leadership skills list

• Organization
• Strategic thinking
• Forecasting
• Attention to detail
• Excellent oral and written communication

Giving & receiving feedback

Effective leaders must strike a balance between offering encouragement and providing constructive feedback. Knowing how to give and receive feedback professionally and positively is an essential leadership skill.

Here’s an example of how to demonstrate your ability to give and receive feedback on your resume:

Held company-wide feedback and sharing sessions twice a month, developed solutions to employee complaints regarding health benefits and office work hours

Feedback leadership skills list

• Excellent written and oral communication
• Conflict resolution
• Interpersonal skills

Conflict Resolution

Conflicts can occur in any professional setting. A good leader knows that conflict undermines morale and productivity, and that even minor disputes shouldn’t go unaddressed.

Being able to take a conflict and resolve it in a way where everyone involved feels that they were heard, understood, and respected is a valuable skill that employers appreciate.

Here’s an example of how to showcase conflict resolution skills on your resume:

Led and mentored a team of 10 retail associates. Resolved several disputes by facilitating team-building exercises and weekly meetings where employees could discuss issues and voice their opinions.

Conflict resolution leadership skills list

• Emotional intelligence
• Professionalism
• Negotiation

Organization & time management

Being a leader means juggling tasks, prioritizing deadlines, and monitoring progress, all while supervising and managing a team.

Being a successful, strong leader means having excellent time management skills and organizational skills .

Here’s an example of how to highlight your organizational and time management skills on your resume:

Managed a team of 20 writers while working remotely. Delegated tasks and monitored progress, ensuring publication deadlines were met. Exceeded annual distribution goals by 20%.

Organization & time management leadership skills list

• Financial forecasting
• Decision making

Teamwork & motivation

Good leaders understand that they can’t complete every project or task alone, which is why teamwork skills are essential.

If your team’s morale is low, projects won’t get done efficiently. That’s why effective leadership involves knowing how and when to motivate your team to meet timelines and produce quality work.

Here’s an example of how to include your teamwork and motivational skills on your resume:

Led and mentored a team of 20 security guards. Held bi-weekly team-building sessions, encouraging members to share any concerns about security flaws with the group

Teamwork & motivation leadership skills list

• Collaboration
• Relationship building
• Constructive feedback
• Encouragement

Integrity means being honest, dependable, and accountable for your actions. Leaders who display integrity at their workplace make ethical choices and keep a positive attitude, setting a good example for their team.

Here’s an example of how to showcase integrity on your resume:

Mentored a team of 5 nurses, ensuring patient care and quality of medical treatment were consistently upheld and that incoming hospital guests were treated with respect

Integrity leadership skills list

• Trustworthiness
• Dependability
• Accountability/Reliability
• Confidentiality

Adaptability

With technology advancing so quickly, adapting to unexpected situations and finding innovative solutions is essential for any leader.

The integration of AI into business operations requires leaders who can nimbly adjust to new technologies and processes. Adaptable leaders who can assess changes brought by AI and rapidly implement the necessary training, workflow revisions and policy updates will have a competitive edge in today’s environment.

Here’s an example of how to display your adaptability on your resume:

Transitioned to remote-based managerial work. Exceeded yearly sales targets through online training sessions and weekly team meetings designed to improve team members’ sales techniques.

Adaptability leadership skills list

• Problem-solving
• Technological capabilities
• Calm under pressure

Technology skills

A big part of leading innovation and growth initiatives is knowing how to use technology to your advantage.

Leaders need to be tech-savvy, know how to use industry-specific technology, and be able to train their teams on how to use it.

Also, as hybrid and remote work models become increasingly common, employees now connect and collaborate across more communication channels than ever before. With less in-person interaction, it’s crucial for leaders to communicate effectively across these digital platforms to collaborate with and motivate their teams.

Here’s an example of how to showcase your technical skills in your work experience section:

Led training on Loom to create how-to videos for onboarding new hires across multiple locations, reducing onboarding time by 30%

Technology leadership skills list

• Video calling platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, MS Teams, etc.
• Google Drive
• Atlassian (Jira and Confluence)
• Software troubleshooting

3 additional tips for showcasing your leadership skills

Now that you have a good understanding of common leadership skills and how to display them on your resume, here are three additional tips to help you on your job hunt :

1. Discuss your leadership skills in your cover letter

Any experience that highlights your leadership abilities — especially recent and relevant experience — is worth including in your cover letter.

Your cover letter is an opportunity to elaborate how you applied your leadership skills in previous roles.

Discussing your experience managing teams or guiding projects establishes you as a capable leader who can effectively direct people and oversee complex projects.

2. Quantify your leadership experience on your resume

While simply listing your leadership abilities on your resume can be effective, hiring managers will be more impressed if you quantify your accomplishments .

Adding hard numbers to your work experience bullet points helps describe exactly how you’ve applied your leadership skills in previous roles.

Here’s an example:

Leveraged project management, influence and analytical skills to build consensus across departments on new content localization processes, reducing launch times by 35%

The best resume templates for 2024

One of the best ways to make your resume is by filling out one of our free resume templates. All our templates are designed by experts and free to download for Microsoft Word or Google Docs.

3. Prepare to back up your claims in the interview

Many of the details you include in your resume will come up in your interview.

Interviewers will likely ask about team size, goals, challenges, final outcomes of projects, and initiatives mentioned on your resume. Discussing how you applied your leadership skills in detail proves you have the experience to take the reins and excel in your next role.

As you write your resume , make sure to single out examples of leadership skills you can back up in person.

60+ Effective Leadership Skills: List & Examples

Click to rate this article

4.6 Average rating

Nick Herschel

Related Articles

Resume Help

Conrad Benz, Hiring Manager

Emily Crowley

Samuel Johns, CPRW

Corissa Peterson, CPRW

Ida Pettersson

Thanks for downloading our free template!

Would you leave us a review?

We hope we’ve helped you on your path to career success. If you have time, a quick review would really make our day (it'll only take 15 seconds). Thanks again, and good luck!

• Resume Templates Simple Professional Modern Creative View all
• Resume Examples Nurse Student Internship Teacher Accountant View all
• Resume Builder
• Cover Letter Templates Simple Professional Modern Creative View all
• Cover Letter Examples Nursing Administrative Assistant Internship Graduate Teacher View all
• Cover Letter Builder
• Resume Help

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 skillset, but if 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, those around you and to your employer. 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 endeavour.

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 behaviour) 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 centre 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 favourable 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 technicals 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 utilised, 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.

Being a conduit for innovation and creativity at the head of a team is one of the most powerful leadership qualities. 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 brave 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.

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

Setting objectives, hitting milestones and achieving goals is the fuel of a high-performing team that is going places. Ambitious employees only learn when they are on a journey, so great planning skills help to keep everyone on track. Leaders use strong facilitation and problem-solving skills to keep projects ticking along, and risk management often plays a significant role in being prepared for the inevitable unforeseen obstacles.

Most people in a company have so much going on that they find it hard to plan. When there is a leader who manages to tie all the relevant threads together into a cohesive plan, everyone feels more secure in their work.

“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.”

Managing the varied personalities of those around you and building a cohesive team that pulls in the right direction lies at the core of people management . There are a whole host of leadership skills required to give everyone the space and opportunity to develop together. 

Recruiting the right blend of talent and retaining them is a key measure of success, but sometimes you just have to look at who has moved on to better things. People management skills means making a difference to others for their benefit, reaping the rewards while they are with you, but knowing that they will also leave you because of you.

“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.”

Rolling with the punches and adapting when you need to (or even before you need to) is a key attribute of any leader. When your team has a certain amount of momentum it is not easy to change direction, but the more adaptable the leader, the easier their people will be able to transition from goal to goal. 

Be accountable in your response to change, check back that you are on the right path and never stop iterating. One of the key leadership skills is knowing when to change your leadership approach. When the environment around you changes, you need to adapt with it.

“Realising 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.”

Conveying your ideas and the ideas of your team to a broad audience is key to getting everyone on board and looking in the same direction. Relationships improve, there is less conflict and innovative ideas have the chance to be aired. When people are clear about the thoughts of others, they can modify their speech and behaviors to create a harmonious and productive atmosphere. 

Written skills cannot be underestimated in the leader’s armoury: influencing others when they read your words is an essential communication skill. It is also a fact that every great leader needs to be a fantastic listener. It's an important soft skil l for any leader.

“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.”

Sometimes you need to have strategic thinking to be able to see three steps ahead and anticipate what is to come. Big picture thinking means constantly questioning whether you are on the right path to a destination that may lie far in the future. Your analytical skills in such future gazing should be top notch and your fingers should always be on the pulse of your market to detect any changes that may alter your path.

Leadership skills depend on taking your team on a journey - the best leaders share a picture of what the future looks like and map out the route to get there.

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

One of a leader’s roles is to rubber stamp difficult decisions that could have gone either way. It is rare to find a total consensus in any team, so decisiveness proves to be a key leadership skill. People follow a leader because they trust their judgement – a leader who wavers and is constantly unsure will not inspire anyone. 

Be brave, take the plunge and make decisions with the best possible facts and opinions at your disposal at any given time. Everyone has doubts that plague their dreams - while a leader should not hide their vulnerability, it is a useful example for those that follow them if they are seen to have the courage of their convictions.

“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.”

Understanding change, overcoming the resistance to change and then implementing change is a constant cycle of renewal and reassessment for any leader. The leadership skill of change management requires a strong process orientation and an ability to understand how all the different cogs of the machine related to each other. 

A leader is required to drive through change and communicate the vision as the process is rarely without obstacles. Often business development managers will showcase this in their resumes.

“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.”

No boss can do everything by themselves and only the worst ones try to. When you have a mountain of work to do, you need to understand who is best placed to do it (also who would benefit from doing it). Delegating a difficult task to someone and mentoring them through it is one of the best ways of achieving your goals. 

You don’t have to tell them what to do, merely set them off in the right direction and give them a nudge whenever required. Resist the temptation to check up on people too often. Show your team and colleagues that you trust them to do the best possible job with the tasks that you have set them.

“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?

Understanding others and tapping into their motivations to help further your own agenda lies at the heart of effective influencing. Persuading others works best when you view matters from their perspective and the best leaders spend the majority of their time thinking about their direction from the point of view of those around them. 

Building close relationships , and being grateful to all involved in your dream will get you a long way. There is little more magical than understanding why someone might be interested in doing something and then seeing their eyes light up when you point it out to them. Most people walk around with tunnel vision.... expand their perspectives.

“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 a hundred and one 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.

Leadership Skills for a Resume: List of Examples +Guide

Good bosses are all different things but… bossy. See the most important leadership skills examples that make a leader great.

Did you know that at a certain point, the great Google stopped believing in the power of hierarchy in the company?

To confirm this, they conducted a study to prove that managers have no influence on the performance of teams and that all companies should have a flat structure.

Well…

As you may imagine, the results showed the opposite.

It turned out that managers are not a necessary evil, but a key factor that affects the team's results, company turnover, efficiency and employee satisfaction.

But in order to be a good manager, you have to possess certain qualities that will put you ahead of the pack.

In this article: 

• What are leadership skills and why it’s important to improve them.
• How to put leadership skills on a resume.
• Examples of good leadership skills.

Save hours of work and get a job-winning resume like this. Try our resume builder for free. Start by choosing a resume template .

Create your resume now

What users say about ResumeLab:

I had an interview yesterday and the first thing they said on the phone was: “Wow! I love your resume.” Patrick I love the variety of templates. Good job guys, keep up the good work! Dylan  My previous resume was really weak and I used to spend hours adjusting it in Word. Now, I can introduce any changes within minutes. Absolutely wonderful! George

When applying for jobs, you’ll have to write a resume with the perfect skills section. In the below guides, you will find everything there is to know about different types of skills:

• Computer Skills
• Technical Skills
• Marketing Skills
• Conflict Resolution Skills
• Critical Thinking Skills
• Communication Skills
• Conceptual Skills
• Time Management Skills
• Creative Thinking Skills

Here we go!

Leadership Skills Resume Example 

Ronald Headen

Content Manager / Editor

3090 Ocala Street

Orlando, FL 32801

Phone: 407-418-6221

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/r-headen87 

Results-driven content manager with strategic and tactical leadership experience and over 7 years of developing strategies for content delivery and launching and managing multiple blogs and websites. Responsible for developing and managing the on-line content for a global, $2 million soft beverage company. Increased average overall organic traffic by 240%, lead generation by 100%, and SERP rank by 78%.

Content Marketing Manager

Xerme Inc., Orlando, FL

July 2018–Sept 2021

• Created web content strategies and online marketing copy for various clients, while ensuring consistency with brand voice.
• Hired, trained, managed, and motivated a team of 10 content writers.
• Responsible for reviewing, editing, and approving all content prior to publishing.
• Grew consumer market by 20% through online marketing.
• Helped increase revenue by 500% over four years.

Head Copywriter / Editor

Foxiro, Orlando, FL

Feb 2014–July 2018

• Conceptualized, wrote and edited content for ads, e-mail campaigns, brochures, multiple websites, including the company intranet, and more.
• Created and sent a daily HTML email to almost 5,000 recipients using MailChimp.
• Primarily responsible for researching, developing, and writing new content for over 150 videos and web pages.
• Created customer email marketing system and retention platform that increased sales by 10%.

BA in Digital Marketing

The University of Central Florida 

Hard Skills

• MailChimp, SalesForce
• Google Analytics

 Soft Skills

• Project management
• Problem-solving
• Goal-oriented
• Strong communication skills (verbal and non-verbal)

Certifications

• Berkeley Digital Marketing Boot Camp
• Spanish (full professional proficiency)

1. What Are Leadership Skills?

People who hold positions of authority take a huge responsibility, not only for themselves, but also for the functioning of the entire organization. Some of them are born leaders. Others need to learn how to become a leader by developing key leadership skills and behaviors. Let’s all thank Henri Fayol, who was the first to say that you can learn to be a leader, while his predecessors claimed that it was an innate skill. 

What are leadership skills?

Leadership skills are competencies you use when managing other people to reach a shared goal. They include abilities such as inspiring others, delegating duties, giving feedback, and making decisions. You should demonstrate strong leadership skills to succeed in managerial positions.

Managers, leaders, executives, directors, and supervisors work with people. And by “people” we don’t only mean their subordinates, but also other managers, suppliers, clients, and customers. 

Thanks to this complicated web of relationships and the cooperation between these people, leaders are able to efficiently plan the long-term goals of a company and the path to achieve them. 

When applying for your next job, especially if you’re writing a resume for a manager position , make sure to include leadership skills to show you have what it takes to land the role you're after.

So read on to find out what good things to put on your resume in the skills section.

2. Leadership Skills—Examples for Your Resume

Different leaders have different managing styles, which makes it difficult to clearly define what set of traits a perfect leader should have. 

Above all, a leadership position requires the ability to manage a team. Delegating specific tasks to individual employees allows the team to work more efficiently and decrease the number of delays in achieving company goals.

A good manager/leader should also know their employees well and be able to successfully motivate them to ensure a high level of performance. 

He or she should always provide support and guidance, but also be demanding and, most importantly, consistent.

Here are the supervisor resume skills that you should include in your application:

Leadership Skills List

• Active listening
• Decision-making
• Ability to motivate others
• Reliability
• Goal-orientation
• Consistency
• Organization
• Dependability
• Emotional and cultural intelligence
• Negotiation
• Presentation / public speaking
• Reading body language
• Nonverbal communication
• Ability to give and receive feedback
• Trustworthiness
• Conflict management
• Time management
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship building
• Team building
• Adaptability
• Flexibility
• Risk-taking

Now, let’s move to learning how to put these skills on a resume:

3. Top Leadership Skills to Put on Your Resume

Are you organized, responsible, and have an entrepreneurial spirit?

Unfortunately, that might not be enough in order to be a good leader. 

Check what skills to put on your resume when applying for a managerial position:

1. Confidence

A good manager should without a doubt be confident and bold. Someone who’s responsible for the mistakes, failures and successes of a team must not be afraid to express their opinion. A great manager needs to be aware of their own worth and know what they’re capable of—they have to be aware of both their strengths and their weaknesses. 

Empathy is a person's intuitive ability to put themselves in other people's shoes. It is an important quality that allows you to feel and identify the feelings and desires of others. Being able to understand people through empathy is a critical component of company success, and it’s obviously a great quality of leaders. It allows them to exert a positive influence on their employees, while mobilizing them towards a common and non-personal goal. 

3. Adaptability

In today’s world, the ability to adapt to change can make a huge difference. A great leader will be constantly looking for things that can be changed and seeking innovative ideas that will bring benefits to the organization. Ultimately, adaptability is necessary to meet the needs of the business and customers and to evolve in a dynamic environment that requires someone who knows how to lead teams.

4. Clear Communication

Integrity is one of the top attributes of a great leader. That’s why authoritative people, more than anyone, must be able to communicate with transparency and sincerity in all situations. They must know how to encourage all members of the organization to be proactive, influence them, and solve problems, without disguising reality. 

5. Planning

Whether you manage projects, people, or both, being able to have a certain vision and to plan strategies is essential. Any good manager must therefore know how to organize the tasks and goals of his/her employees in order to achieve the set objectives while respecting the deadlines, budgets, and human resources available.

6. Decision-making

“I don't know” or “I can't decide that” are terrible answers if you’re in a management position, where decisions have to be made on a daily basis in order to set the direction, implement plans and achieve company goals. 

7. Conflict Resolution

Disputes in the team, angry customers, problems between colleagues—conflicts are part of professional life. Leaders don't just have to deal with them, they also have to actively contribute to solving them. Oftentimes, managers have to take on the role of a mediator and try to clarify the situation to make it positive for everyone involved.

8. Self-reflection

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, including superiors. The more consciously and openly you deal with your own abilities, the more successful you will be as a leader.

9. Responsibility 

Leadership skills include taking responsibility for your team. And that doesn't just mean taking responsibility for mistakes made by your team members. It also means making uncomfortable decisions and being aware of the consequences of your actions.

10. Mentoring 

Mentoring skills enable the transfer of knowledge and expertise. Experienced professionals can guide newcomers, ensuring the continuity of industry-specific wisdom. A culture of mentorship can positively influence workplace culture. It promotes collaboration, teamwork, and a willingness to help colleagues. Mentoring skills benefit mentors as well. They gain satisfaction from seeing their mentees succeed and often experience personal and professional growth through the mentorship process.

4. How to Put Leadership Skills on a Resume

Writing a resume is a process that requires attention and focus. 

The contents of the document are the most important—the candidate should present themselves as a competent person in order to grab the attention of the hiring manager.

So it's worth highlighting the skills on your resume that are particularly likely to catch the recruiter's eye and increase your chances of landing an interview.

1. Start With a Resume Summary or Objective

The first part of your resume, the professional profile , is a summary of your work experience, skills, and achievements (or goals if you’re writing a resume objective ) and should look something like this:

Leadership Skills in a Resume Summary

This candidate’s professional summary clearly demonstrates leadership and project management skills that will drive impact.

2. Write an Impressive Work History Section

Your resume’s work experience section is one of the most important bits.

Use this section to prove you can use your leadership skills to achieve success.

Here’s how to do it:

• Instead of listing your responsibilities, prove how well you did them by using numbers to quantify your accomplishments.
• Start each sentence with a resume action word to amplify your leadership skills.

Let’s look at an example:

Resume Job Description With Good Leadership Skills

• Hired, trained, managed and motivated a team of 10 content writers.
• Responsible for reviewing, editing and approving all content prior to publishing.

Impressive! 

Expert Hint: Make sure to always use resume keywords to make your job application ATS-friendly. Targeting your resume is a simple technique to create an ATS resume and improve your chances of getting the job. 

3. Leverage Your Education to Showcase Your Leadership Skills

Your education section should especially be in the foreground if you’re writing an entry-level resume .

If you don’t have enough professional experience, put this part right after your objective and expand it as much as possible in order to use your academic experience to show off leadership skills and your other strengths that are relevant to the job opening.

Here’s a great example of a resume with no experience :

Leadership Skills in an Education Section

• Extracurricular activities:  Student council president (2011), captain of the cheerleading team (2010–2013)

Expert Hint:  Extracurricular activities in high school and college are great opportunities to build and develop leadership skills, which are highly desirable in the workplace.

4. Make Your Skills Section Stand Out

Hiring managers don’t read resumes, they skim through them. 

And right after looking at your work experience section, their eyes will go straight to the skills list. 

Because it’s a great way to get the recruiter interested in what you have to offer.

So don’t just throw in random skills in there. Read the job ad carefully once again and cherry-pick the qualifications that are the most important to the employer. 

If they correspond to your competences, make sure to use them.

Leadership Skills in the Resume Skills Section

  Soft Skills

Expert Hint : Many colleges look for leadership skills or leadership potential in college applicants. So, even if you’re not yet on a professional development path and writing a college application resume , include several leadership skills to up your chances of getting in.

5. Include Bonus Sections to Stand Out

If you want to really increase your chances of getting hired, make sure to include one or two additional resume sections .

This is one of the best ways to stand out from the crowd. 

Highlight some other activities that will prove that you have excellent leadership and interpersonal skills: volunteer work, languages, certifications, associations, attended conferences, etc.

Leadership Skills in the Additional Sections

• Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification

The ResumeLab builder is more than looks. Get specific content to boost your chances of getting the job. Add job descriptions, bullet points, and skills. Easy. Improve your resume in our resume builder now .

CREATE YOUR RESUME NOW

Nail it all with a splash of color, choose a clean font, and highlight your skills in just a few clicks. You're the perfect candidate, and we'll prove it. Use our resume builder now .

5. How to Develop Leadership Skills

Not everyone is a born leader, because leadership is not so much talent as hard work, the right tools, and self-awareness. Fortunately, this means you can improve leadership skills by following these simple steps:

1. Be Proactive

Passive, uninvolved people will have a lot of difficulty in finding themselves in the role of a leader. If you want to take a managerial position in the future, set new goals and challenges for yourself in everyday life and do your best to achieve them.

2. Open Your Mind

Being a good leader means having an open mind and knowing there is always something new to learn. So read books, take classes, watch tutorials, travel, meet new people, and expand your network. You never know when it might be helpful.

3. Know When to Be More Demanding

Question everything, especially when you feel something is inconsistent with your values ​​or beliefs. Being overly modest may prevent you from standing out on the job market as a manager.

4. Be Assertive

Nowadays, individualism and knowing when to say "No" is a skill that we should foster to protect our most valuable asset: a reliable and healthy workforce. At the same time, setting adequate boundaries and taking care of yourself (and others) is necessary to survive in a demanding world. 

5. Make Your Own Decisions

Decision-making and taking responsibility for specific actions is the best way to improve your leadership skills. Expand your comfort zone and work on your self-esteem. A leader should always be confident and fearless.

6. Discipline Yourself

If you want to discipline others, you have to start with yourself first. Good leaders are aware of their weaknesses and work on improving them. If you want to be an effective manager, you must be consistent and authentic in your actions.

7. Inspire Others

Being a leader means you are part of a team, and you should be able to motivate and inspire those you work with in order to collaborate with them in the best possible way. 

8. Resolve Conflicts

Instead of ignoring your personal conflicts and hoping they will go away, try to understand where these problems are coming from and find a solution that benefits everyone. 

9. Take on More Projects

A great way to develop your leadership skills is to take on more responsibility, without taking on more than you can handle. Getting out of your comfort zone is the only way you are going to learn something new, and doing so allows you to stand out as someone who takes the initiative.

Double your impact with a matching resume and cover letter combo. Use our cover letter generator and make your application documents pop out.

CREATE YOUR COVER LETTER NOW

Want to try a different look? There's 21 more. A single click will give your document a total makeover. Pick a cover letter template here .

Leadership skills is a complex concept. A good leader needs a whole range of different abilities and attributes that go far beyond just managing a team and maintaining status quo. Some people are born leaders, while others have to grow into the new role first. In order to get the job you’re going for, whether it’s a managerial position or not, include leadership skills on your resume to let employers know what you're capable of.

About ResumeLab’s Editorial Process

At ResumeLab, quality is at the crux of our values, supporting our commitment to delivering top-notch career resources. The editorial team of career experts carefully reviews every article in accordance with editorial guidelines , ensuring the high quality and reliability of our content. We actively conduct original research, shedding light on the job market's intricacies and earning recognition from numerous influential news outlets . Our dedication to delivering expert career advice attracts millions of readers to our blog each year.

Aleksandra is a career expert with a solid professional background in various industries. At ResumeLab, she shares her knowledge, insights and expertise with all applicants looking to make a career move with a perfect resume and cover letter that guarantee recognition and success.

Was it interesting? Here are similar articles

Customer Service Resume Examples With Skills for 2024

Get the customer service job you’ve always wanted with an impactful customer service resume. Here’s how to get a consistently high recruiter satisfaction rate.

Career Expert

Data Entry Resume Example + Skills & Job Description in 2024

You can do 10-key with 100% accuracy. But do you know how to highlight your data entry skills on a resume? Follow the expert's advice and write a job-winning data entry resume now.

Tom Gerencer

General Manager (GM) Resume—Sample & 25+ Writing Tips

From retail stores, through restaurants and boutiques, this general manager resume manages to get the job.

Dave Rygielski

How to Emphasize Leadership Skills on Your Resume (Examples)

By Christine Bernier Lienke

No matter whether you’re an entry-level or a C-level professional,  there are certain traits that all leaders share , and hiring managers will scour your resume looking for them.

Leadership experience is most readily evident from managerial roles, but even if you don’t have any leadership experience, there are ways to demonstrate your potential.

Selecting the most powerful words to describe your experience can make a huge impact for a potential employer.

When wanting to add leadership experience to your resume , consider the skills you used in past roles to lead projects or teams. You can also consider things such as volunteer, civic, or social engagements.

If you don’t have leadership experience in this arena, it might be a good idea to take the lead on a volunteer project or offer to chair a committee. If you’re not already a member of a professional organization or civic club, both are great ways to meet new people and contribute to your community while gaining valuable networking opportunities that can lead to leadership experience.

Below we’re going over a few of the top skills hiring managers are looking for and how to demonstrate leadership experience when you don’t have any , and how to show your leadership skills when you  do have experience . These skills certainly apply to any leadership role, whether you have the experience or not. How you talk about these skills will be different, depending on your level of experience.

Examples of Leadership Skills for Your Resume

— commitment.

Even if you weren’t a manager or leader in any of your past roles, list any projects you spearheaded from conception to completion. Also, be sure to feature your commitment through a career history that reflects steady, long-term employment.

— Communication

Being a good communicator is the most important quality of a leader. After all, if you can’t communicate your intentions and expectations to your team, they’ll never be able to achieve their goals. But because communication goes both ways, be sure to demonstrate your  ability to listen  as well as talk.

“Communication is a two-way street. As a leader it’s not only important to show your ability to communicate to your team verbally, but also your ability to listen and collaborate with them to meet goals and objectives. Leaders have well-rounded communications skills, and you will want to be sure that comes through on your resume,” said Toni Frana, a career expert at FlexJobs.

— Competence

The more knowledge you have, the more valuable you’ll be to your team. An understanding of the processes and tools is essential, but make sure that you also know when to delegate the work. Share examples of your competence through leadership and delegation by featuring past experiences in overcoming obstacles on your resume.   

— Creativity

Don’t use elaborate fonts or images on your resume. Instead, show your creativity through examples of innovative problem-solving. “Don’t be afraid to be a little creative on your resume. Think outside of the box in terms of how you approach problem-solving and challenges at work. You also may be able to show some leadership skills through any unique community involvement and volunteer work you’ve done,” shared Frana.

If appropriate, you might also include examples of your creative hobbies and interests that are somewhat related to the role, but only if you’ve run out of relevant work history.

Demonstrate your honesty by telling the truth about your work experience on your resume. Present yourself in the most positive light but  never lie on a resume . Carefully review all details for accuracy before sending your resume off.

— Organization

Present a tidy, logical, and well-organized resume that’s easy to scan to show your attention to detail and organization. Doing so will be a visible example of your professionalism and leadership skills.

Show examples on your resume of how you’ve participated in a team environment, both as a leader and supporter. “Be sure to showcase how you collaborate with others both as a leader and a team member. Quantifying how many people you’ve led, the end results of team projects, and any information about you as a participant on a team is beneficial,” said Frana.

If you can obtain a positive quote or two about your teamwork skills from former team members, this will speak volumes about your leadership skills.

Your ability to see the scope and potential from a single project to a company’s long-term future and potential is a soft skill that’s difficult to demonstrate. However, the language you use in your executive summary and work description can convey your vision. Use meaningful, intentional language to describe your vision not only in the role for which you’re applying, but for the company as a whole.

How to Show Your Leadership Experience on a Resume

— highlight leadership in the job titles.

The most obvious examples of leadership experience on a resume will be workplace management positions. Be sure to list your actual title, as well as the number of employees managed, and any major milestones achieved. This will ensure that your resume will pass through the applicant tracking system (ATS), which might be on alert for certain keywords associated with leadership and management skills (more on this below).

— Provide Proof of Accomplishments

As a general resume rule of thumb, quantifiable accomplishments—those that you can attach a number figure or percentage of improvement to—will take you further than a vague (and unsubstantiated) claim. So include examples of how you led and created team goals, specific metrics related to business objectives, how you provided promotions and advancement opportunities to team members, etc.

“Illustrating concrete examples of how many people you’ve led and how big the scope of a project is in terms of budget, for example, are compelling ways to share with a hiring manager your leadership skills. It helps them see you as a leader in the role—before they even interview you!” added Frana.

— Look for Leadership Experience in Other Areas

If your leadership experience is still blossoming, look to any social, civic, or volunteer settings (such as your contributions to your community, or even your work for your child’s PTA). All of this counts as quality leadership experience, especially if you can offer some stats to support your skills. And if you’re not already a member, consider joining a professional organization or civic club. They’re both great ways to meet new people and help out your community, but also great networking opportunities  that can lead to valuable leadership experience, too.

— Commit to the Company

Employers aren’t looking to hire someone who will only be with the company for a short stint—they want workers who will be in it for the long haul. So show a potential employer that you’re willing to invest in their company for years to come. You can prove to employers that you are a committed leader by sharing your list of projects that you have completed from start to finish, or you can showcase your steady, long-term employment or volunteer history.

— Use the Right Keywords

Any of the keywords from the section above will work on your resume. But also be sure to scour the job description and add any keywords from it to your resume (if actually applicable to your skills!).

“Knowing what words to use to show leadership should start from carefully reading the job description,” said Frana. “If you can identify words alluding to leadership like: lead, pioneer, direct, that will be a good starting point. Then, be sure to use those words as well as a variety of action verbs throughout your resume so as not to be redundant with the same verbs throughout.”

Perfecting Your Resume

Whether you have specific leadership experience to show on your resume or not, incorporating these skills will improve your resume and show employers that you have what it takes to succeed at the job. Get inspired with 100+ top resume examples and how-to guides.

FlexJobs Is SO Much More Than Just a Job Board

In addition to helpful articles like this one, members get unlimited access to:

• Highest Quality Remote & Flexible Jobs
• 200+ Expert Skills Tests
• Virtual Job Fairs
• Weekly Career Coach Q&As
• And so much more…

Related Articles

20 best skills to put on your resume (with examples), how to write a resume with no experience: template, example, and expert tips, how to write a short professional bio: template, examples, and tips, 500+ action verbs to make your resume stand out, related categories.

• Avoiding Job Scams
• Cover Letter Tips
• Job Interviewing Tips
• Job Search Motivation
• Job Search Tips
• Networking Tips
• Resume Tips
• Social Media for Job Seekers