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

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

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

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

What exactly is leadership?

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

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

20 important leadership skills needed in every career

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

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

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

Self-awareness

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

Communication

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

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

Learning

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

Agility

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

Collaboration and teamwork

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

Problem-solving

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

Delegation

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

Conflict resolution

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

Ownership

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

Organization & time management

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

Motivation

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

Adaptability

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

Technology skills

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

Creativity

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

Decision-Making

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

Emotional Intelligence

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

Influence

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

Vision

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

Integrity

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

Commitment

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

How to demonstrate leadership skills

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

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

Follow through with your commitments

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

Go above and beyond what is expected

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

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

Do world-class work even in menial things

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

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

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

Accept feedback

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

Help colleagues who have problems

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

Celebrate the success of others

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

How to showcase leadership skills on your resume

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

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

How to develop good leadership skills

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

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

Find a mentor

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

Read books about leadership

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

Take a class on leadership

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

Talk to manager and co-workers

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

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

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

Leadership skills FAQs