10+ Key Leadership Skills for Resume Should You Include

You’ve whizzed through the work experience and education sections of your own resume, but now you’re stuck on skills. Crafting this section requires thoughtful consideration to highlight your unique abilities and strengths effectively, be it hard or soft skills.

Didn’t the job description on the job posting website mention leadership traits they are looking for? I’m sure I’ve got some of those strong leadership skills lying around, you think to yourself. But then you think a little bit more and, hang on, what exactly are leadership skills?

Though we’ll get into a proper definition later, it’s important for you first to know that employers and hiring managers highly value good leaders and candidates who possess effective leadership skills. This is why it is imperative to sprinkle a few leadership skills for resumes somewhere in your skills or experiences section before sending off your application to the employer, regardless of whether the job title and job description explicitly require it or not. 

So, what are good leadership skills for resumes? All will be revealed in this article!

Throughout our careers, we gradually develop leadership skills, both knowingly and unintentionally. Leadership skills are key leadership traits of a good leader, meaning that they are essential soft skills to list on resumes. This is because they indicate that you have the leadership potential and people management skills to lead, as well as guide and supervise, others in the pursuit of targets, goals, and project success. In a way, leaders who excel in team management and monitoring progress can anticipate challenges and proactively address them to maintain business momentum.

Therefore, even though they’re a subset of soft skills, they are often considered as important as demonstrating hard technical skills. If not even more important, in some managerial cases.

As a result, adding leadership skills to resumes can greatly impact a candidate’s employability in today's job market for several reasons, such as:

Demonstrates Professionalism

Leadership abilities can demonstrate a candidate’s commitment to professionalism, inferring ethical decision-making and professional capabilities.

Adaptability and Problem-Solving

Certain leadership capabilities link to adaptability and problem-solving abilities in a capable leader, both of which are attractive as they imply job seekers’ ability to find innovative ideas and creative solutions for problem-solving, conflict resolution, strategic planning, human resource management, and performance issues.  

Communication and Teamwork

Two of the most important organizational skills to evoke from possessing common leadership skills are teamwork and effective communication skills, as great leaders with these interpersonal skills are bound to encourage relationship building, team building, greater performance, and productivity.

Showcasing Professional Growth

A list of leadership skills for resumes can also imply a candidate’s leadership story and commitment to professional growth as a team lead as it demonstrates experience stepping into different roles.

Alignment with Organizational Goals

Adding good leadership skills to resumes can be a signal to the hiring manager in indicating an alignment with the goals and values of potential employers during one’s job hunt, potentially making him or her a more attractive fit with the positive attitude and leadership skills required by the company.

Confused about what type of leadership skills should be listed on your resume summary and what to write for leadership skills in a resume? Check out the examples below for an idea of how to succinctly add and exhibit leadership qualities on resumes.

1. Effective Communication

2. Decision-Making

3. Teamwork and Collaboration

4. Strategic Thinking

5. Adaptability

6. Motivation

7. Conflict Resolution

8. Problem-Solving

9. Delegation

10. Empathy

11. Influence

12. Time Management

13. Resilience

14. Creativity

15. Accountability

Knowing how to highlight leadership skills on your resume skills section is one thing, but knowing which key leadership skills to put requires a certain level of understanding, which largely depends on the type of dream job and career you’re making an application for, even if some skills are applicable for all industries. Industry, company, seniority level, and job responsibility all come into play, as well as make an impact on the kind of language and tone you should use to demonstrate leadership skills. 

Below are a few important leadership skills examples for resumes to provide a snapshot of how to explain leadership skills for retail resumes, as well as management, marketing, and technical resumes.

Management Positions

Sales and Marketing Positions

Technical or IT Positions

Customer Service Roles

Clear Formatting

If you’re set on which leadership skill to drop into the leadership skills list, be sure to use clear formatting with bullet points or concise phrases. Not only will this enhance readability, but it will look awesome when added to CakeResume’s stylish free resume templates.

Strategic Placement

Now that you’re armed with skills to list on resumes, it’s time to decide where to put them. There are many sections where good leadership skills for resumes can be added, like in the summary, objective, and skills section.

Use of Action Verbs

The secret to having a strong resume is to use action verbs and words, especially when describing your leadership experience and achievements. 

Quantifying Achievements

Specificity is key to adding credibility when it comes to making your examples of leadership skills for resumes stand out. This is why it’s in your best interests to list your achievements through numbers and metrics, as this will make them appear even more impressive. 

Providing Context

Yet even with all the numbers in the world, employers are not going to frantically grab your resume and wave it in the air shouting “This is the one!” if you fail to provide context for your achievements and application of leadership skills. So, remember to provide context when it comes to leadership skills for resumes. 

Leadership skills are among the best skills to include on your resume, as they demonstrate professionalism, adaptability, communication, professional growth, and (potential) alignment with organizational goals. 

What’s more, with our tailored leadership skills examples for resumes, plus helpful tips to format, strategically place, describe, quantify, and provide contexts to these skills, you’ll be hitting ‘send’ on that application in no time.

So, now that you’ve given it some more thought, leadership skills for resume writing aren’t that hard to come up with and are pretty easy to add. Especially with CakeResume, the best online resume builder with a wide range of resume templates to help level up your job search journey.

--- Originally Written by Eva O'Mara ---