How To List Your Leadership Skills on a Resume

Updated June 18, 20221.2k

Leadership skills are some of the most sought-after skills out there. How can you show off your leadership skills on your resume as you apply for a new job?

Leadership Skills

As you go through the process of writing a resume, one of the things you’ll likely run into is the fact that there are many, many types of skills out there. Not everyone will be good at every type of skill (that’s one of the reasons teams are built of a variety of people with different skill sets). However, if you’re interested in leadership development, you’ll need to show leadership qualities, and that means thinking about leadership skills. Here’s what you need to know about what these types of skills say about your ability to be an effective leader.

What Are Leadership Skills?

“Leadership skills” are an umbrella term describing skills that great managers often have. When a company or organization says they’re looking for someone with great leadership skills, it means they want someone who can assume a supervisory role and create a great team around them. They need someone who can create a work environment where teamwork and a positive attitude are rewarded and deadlines are met on a regular basis.

The Most Important Leadership Skills and Adjacent Skills

One of the most important things to learn about leadership skills is that it’s truly an umbrella term. There are a variety of leadership traits, and your skill set is going to need to be quite broad if you’re going to be a strong leader. Here are a few key leadership skills you might want to work on if you’re trying to be a successful leader:

Effective communication skills
Decision-making
Emotional intelligence
Problem-solving
Time management
Active listening
Management skills
Mentoring
Adaptability
Interpersonal skills
Project management
Self-awareness
Strategic thinking
Team-building skills
Brainstorming
Employee engagement skills
Ability to receive feedback
Strong work ethic

If you see many of these skills in yourself, you may have strong leadership potential. It’s good to note that these are mostly soft skills. Soft skills are some of the most important skills you need to be a great leader. Effective leadership is largely about relating to your team members, and that’s what the best leaders know how to do.

Tips for Proving Your Skills to a Hiring Manager

Just because you listed these things on your resume doesn’t necessarily mean a hiring manager will believe you’re really good at them. It’s all about knowing how to present your skills so a hiring manager really believes you know how to lead a group.

The first tip is to showcase your leadership abilities all throughout your resume, not just in your skills section. If you want to show that you really have good leadership abilities, you need to be confident that you’ve shown those skills all throughout your work history, which includes past jobs, academic experiences and more. A good leader isn’t just able to lead a team once; they’re able to show off their talents on a regular basis, with leadership as one of their core competencies.

The second tip is to learn how to answer interview questions. Especially if you’re applying for a management position, you can be sure a hiring manager will ask you questions about your past leadership experience. You should learn how to answer these questions to show off effective leadership skills. The STAR method is one of the most effective ways to discuss skills in interview questions, and you should learn how to utilize it before you go in to talk about your new skills.

Remember that “Show, don’t tell” is one of the most effective tips not just for creative writing, but also for acing job interviews. If you really want to make the hiring manager think you’re a better leader than all the other job seekers, you need to indicate that through less obvious methods, like the way you talk, how you reference previous jobs, and what experiences you discuss from your past.

FAQ: Leadership Skills

Should I still list leadership skills if I’m not applying for a management position?

Yes. Even if you’re not actively applying for a management position, these types of management skills can be extremely beneficial. For example, if you’re applying for an entry-level job, it’s important to remember that the company still hopes to keep you on as long as possible. They’re going to be thinking about how you can benefit them further down the line when you’re no longer “just an entry-level hire” and may be able to move into a management position. Showcasing these skills early on can help your case tremendously, even as a non-management worker.

What are the best skills to put on my resume?

This largely depends on your industry and what skills you feel you’re truly best at. Have you regularly used your leadership skills in your past jobs, enough that you feel like you’re able to back them up to a hiring manager during a job interview? Include them on your resume. If you aren’t confident in your ability to defend your leadership skills, you may instead want to go for other skills you’re more confident in.

How many leadership skills should I include on a resume?

This also depends on your industry. More specifically, it depends on how much you want your resume to focus on your leadership skills. If you’re applying for a management position, you’ll want to incorporate significantly more leadership skills than if you’re applying for a warehouse worker position. Incorporate as many skills as makes sense for your industry and your particular resume. You can get started on any kind of resume with the resume builder at ResumeNerd.

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About The Author

Cindi Cervone Carlson

Cindi Cervone Carlson is a Senior Vice President for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Cindi is responsible for developing, delivering, and implementing a dynamic, world-class organization dedicated to delivering outplacement consulting, training, support, and executive coaching. Cindi started her career at Challenger as a client who had lost her job. Over the past nine years, she has risen from an entry-level, part-time professional to Senior Vice President.