How to Highlight Leadership Skills on Your Resume

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.

1. Feature leadership skills in your resume summary

Your resume summary is often the first thing hiring managers look at, making it an ideal place to showcase your leadership skills. Instead of just listing generic leadership qualities, highlight specific skills and achievements that demonstrate your ability to lead.

For example, instead of saying:

Healthcare administrator with leadership experience.

Try something like this instead:

Compassionate Healthcare Administrator with 8+ years of experience leading medical teams and streamlining patient care operations.

2. Show how you’ve demonstrated leadership through your work experience

Your work experience section is your opportunity to demonstrate your leadership skills with concrete examples.

Rather than simply stating that you “led a team,” show the impact of your leadership by quantifying your achievements wherever possible. This makes your contributions tangible and shows hiring managers how you can contribute in your new role.

For example:

• Led a 25% increase in employee retention by implementing a structured mentorship and onboarding program, which strengthened team morale and reduced hiring costs
• Accelerated sales growth by 20% through data-driven customer targeting and optimized sales funnels, leading to the company’s highest quarterly revenue
• Shortened project turnaround times by 15% by introducing Agile workflows and enhancing cross-department collaboration

3. List them in your skills section

Your skills section is where you want to list your leadership-related hard skills.

While leadership qualities like decision-making or teamwork are important, they should be demonstrated in your summary or work experience rather than listed as standalone skills.

Instead, focus on leadership-related skills that are more concrete, like:

• Project management
• Performance coaching
• Agile leadership
• Budgeting & resource allocation

Types of leadership skills to showcase on your resume

Leadership skills are 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 goals.

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Communication

Effective leadership starts with great oral and written communication skills.

Good leaders can clearly convey vision and strategy to different audiences and listen attentively to different viewpoints. Highlighting communication skills on your resume shows that you can collaborate well and make sure 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 a 25% increase in customer satisfaction ratings

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 more often. 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%

Delegation

When you manage people and projects, you’ll need to properly delegate tasks to your team to make sure project deadlines are met.

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

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

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

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%

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

Integrity

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

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 about by AI and rapidly implement the necessary training, workflow revisions, and policy updates will have a competitive edge.

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

Technological 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 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, leaders need to be able to communicate effectively using 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%

How to improve your leadership skills

Becoming a great leader doesn’t happen overnight. It takes continuous learning, practice, and self-awareness to develop the skills you need to lead effectively. Here’s how you can hone your leadership skills:

Read books on management and leadership

One of the easiest ways to develop your leadership skills is by learning from experts. Books on management and leadership provide valuable insights into effective communication, decision-making, and team dynamics.

From classics like The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey to more modern guides like Dare to Lead by Brené Brown, reading helps you absorb proven strategies that you can apply to your own leadership style.

Attend workshops or seminars

Workshops and seminars offer hands-on learning experiences where you can practice leadership techniques in real-time. These events often include case studies, group discussions, and exercises that help you develop critical skills like conflict resolution and delegation.

Plus, attending industry-specific leadership seminars allows you to network with professionals who share similar challenges and goals, giving you new perspectives on how to lead effectively.

Complete a certification

Earning a leadership certification can boost your credibility and expand your knowledge. Certifications like the Project Management Professional (PMP) or Certified Leadership Coach (CLC) provide structured learning on topics such as strategic planning, emotional intelligence, and performance management.

There are also many online platforms like Coursera and LinkedIn Learning that offer leadership courses that allow you to upskill at your own pace.

Get a mentor

A great way to fast-track your leadership development is by learning from someone who’s already in a leadership role.

A mentor can provide valuable guidance, share personal experiences, and help you navigate challenges. Look for someone whose leadership style you admire and ask if they’d be open to regular check-ins.

Ask your colleagues for input

Asking for feedback from colleagues, direct reports, or even supervisors can help you identify strengths and areas for improvement.

Whether through formal performance reviews or casual one-on-one conversations, constructive feedback allows you to refine your leadership approach and build stronger professional relationships.

Other skills for your resume

Learn how to feature other types of skills on your resume with our guides: