leadership skills

What to Know about Including Leadership Skills in Your Resume

Being a leader is no easy task. Besides yourself, you’ll lead a team or a project. You’ll be responsible for the actions and the outcome of your group’s efforts. Thus, if you’re coveting a leadership position, you must show your leadership skills and style in your resume to succeed.

Top 10 Leadership Skills to Possess and Include in Your Resume

man showing good leadership skills to two members

All good leaders must carry certain skills to direct their team with ease. Below is a list of skills from FlexJobs and The Balance Careers that most employers look for in leadership role applicants.

1. Communication

An ideal leader must be adept in all forms of communication to convey ideas, tasks, and goals to the team. In addition, it includes one-on-one, departmental, full-staff conversations, and communication via phone, email, and social media.

2. Commitment

A leader should follow through every project from conception to completion. Likewise, he or she should be ready to give time and effort to finish a project on schedule and set a good example for the team members to follow.

3. Motivation

An effective leader should know how to motivate members to go the extra mile for their team and the company. Otherwise, he or she should learn what pushes everyone forward and what keeps them engaged and invested.

4. Creativity

Aside from a colorful resume and fancy fonts, the creativity of a leader should show through his or her problem solving ability. Likewise, one should go beyond the ordinary and solve issues out-of-the-box.

5. Competence

All leaders should be competent enough to spearhead a team. In particular, they can perform, delegate, and accomplish tasks well.

6. Trustworthiness

A leader should be the most trustworthy person in the team. Besides, he or she must be open, transparent, and can show integrity to gain the same openness, honesty, and respect from the team.

7. Flexibility

An efficient leader should accept mishaps and last-minute changes that often happen at work. In addition, he or she should learn new skills and improvise to solve issues.

8. Organization

A leader should be organized and detail-oriented and it should be obvious in his or her resume. Further, this skill includes time-management, prioritizing, multitasking, and project management.

9. Feedback

A leader should know how to give and accept feedback—positive or negative. In fact, it will help the team to have an open communication that will form a harmonious relationship between the leader and the members.

10. Responsibility

An ideal leader should be responsible for both the ups and downs of the team. At length, he or she should stand for the team and for the result of the whole project.

Leadership Styles Based on Effectiveness

Aside from the list of skills above, your leadership style will also affect your efficacy in leading your pack. Below are the top leadership styles from HubSpot based on their effectiveness.

1. Commonly Effective Styles

      • Democratic – Each member has an equal say on a project’s direction while the leader has the final decision.
      • Strategic – The leader serves as the head of the team where he or she is responsible of executive interests while securing working conditions is stable for the employees.

2. Sometimes Effective Styles

      • Laissez-Faire – The leader lets members do their work however they wish and entrust all authority to them.
      • Transformational – The leader keeps pushing the members to “transform” and go out of their comfort zone.
      • Transactional – The leader uses incentive programs to motivate employees. However, they should be consistent with the goals of the firm.

3. Rarely Effective Style

    • Autocratic – Contrary to the democratic style, an autocratic leader decides without getting input from the members and just asks them to follow.
    • Bureaucratic – Bureaucratic leaders reject members input if it contradicts company policies or practices. Further, this type lacks freedom in meeting demanding goals and rapid growth.

man successfully reflecting leadership skills on his resume

Ways to Include Leadership Skills in Your Resume

In building an effective leader resume, it’s best to reflect your skills and leadership experience in a strategic way. So far, Vault.com suggests you try these ways rather to stress your leadership skills in your job application.

1. Use the leadership skills listed in the job posting .

Most firms give what leadership traits and skills they look for in their job listings. If so, you can then tailor your resume to the position by using the given skills and traits of the leader they want to hire as long as they apply to you.

2. Prove your claims through measurable, quantitative results.

Make sure you can prove what you have listed in your resume. In the same way, support your feats, skills, and experience with solid specific examples. Likewise, include percentage and figures to make it more impressive.

3. Pair up related verbs and soft skills.

Optimize the power of verbs by pairing them with your list of skills. In addition, creating more impact, adding verbs, and writing in the active voice will make your resume more readable.

4. Highlight other soft skills using your leadership qualities.

Don’t let your leadership skills overshadow other soft skills that can make you stand out from other job seekers. Hence, highlighting your leadership qualities is a good way to show your other vital and relevant soft skills in your resume.

When you put your leadership skills in your resume, you help employers spot your potential as an ideal leader for the firm. Therefore, to find more executive resume writing tips, check our Blogs or Resume Samples page.

Sources: flexjobs.com | thebalancecareers.com | vault.com | blog.hubspot.com
Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels | energepic.com from Pexels

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