How to Demonstrate Leadership Skills on Your Resume

If you’ve done some job hunting in this climate, you may have noticed some of the keywords that companies use in their postings, such as communication, team player, adaptability, creativity, etc. These words relate to a person’s soft skills, and leadership is one of them. But it’s not enough to simply mention leadership on your resume. You have to prove to the company that you are well-equipped to thrive and succeed in the position they are offering to you. Here are six tips from our professional resume writers on demonstrating your leadership skills on your resume.

Before we start, it is important to mention that creating a dedicated section on your resume titled "Soft Skills" is not a very good idea. While soft skills like communication, leadership, and adaptability are essential, simply listing them in a separate section doesn’t add much value. Recruiters see generic terms like "team player" or "detail-oriented" all the time, and without context, they can come across as meaningless buzzwords. Instead, the best way to showcase your soft skills is by demonstrating them through your experience and achievements. For example, rather than just stating you have “strong leadership skills,” you could say, “Led a cross-functional team of 10 to successfully complete a project three weeks ahead of schedule.” This approach makes your soft skills tangible and more compelling to hiring managers.

Additionally, most applicant tracking systems (ATS) are designed to scan for hard skills and job-specific keywords rather than soft skills listed in isolation. To ensure your resume stands out, weave soft skills naturally into your job descriptions, project achievements, and even your summary section. So here is how to showcase your leadership skills on a resume and actually get the point across to a recruiter or a hiring manager. 

#1 Cite Examples

It’s quite common for an applicant to simply state that they have leadership skills on their resume, but if you want to stand out, you need to provide concrete examples of how you successfully applied your leadership skills in the past. Even if you were just an entry-level employee in your previous job, list any accomplishments helped by your input.

Here are some samples:

  

- Spearheaded major projects from conception to completion, resulting in improved 50% profits for the company.

- Initiated conversation between administration and supplier to lower price acquisition of raw materials by 10%.

- Coached new hires for quicker integration and assimilation to their respective teams, thereby reducing downtime by 30%.

When mentioning leadership skills for a resume, make sure to use quantifiable results whenever possible. Employers appreciate stats and hard numbers because they tell them that your efforts lead to specific metrics of success.

#2 List Leadership Skills Based on Job Description

The job posting can be a valuable source to scour for the specific leadership skills that you must include in your resume for a specific role. Companies are often very particular about what they want from potential hires, so comb over the job description carefully and hyper-customize your resume according to their criteria. Take note of important keywords, and make sure to include them in your leadership skills to put on your resume. For instance, if the description mentions “delegating tasks,” “adaptability,” or “relationship building,” try to incorporate these in an organic and natural manner to catch the attention of recruiters and hiring managers.

#3 Use Leadership-Related Action Verbs

Take time to research resume power verbs that are associated with leadership, including advocated, assembled, campaigned, engaged, empowered, mobilized, enabled, and more. These words help reinforce your ability to lead. When listing responsibilities, make sure to begin your sentences with these leadership-related action verbs for a more impactful way of demonstrating leadership skills in your resume.

Using strong leadership-related action verbs can make your resume more compelling and demonstrate your ability to take charge. Instead of using generic phrases like "responsible for" or "helped with," opt for powerful verbs that highlight your leadership skills. For example, instead of saying, "Managed a team," you could say, "Directed a high-performing team of 12, increasing productivity by 20%."

Here are some additional leadership-related action verbs to incorporate into your resume:

By choosing precise action verbs that align with leadership qualities, you create a stronger, results-driven resume that makes a lasting impression on recruiters and hiring managers.

#4 Highlight Collaborative Skills

“A good leader is a good follower,” as they say, and your resume needs to convey that you are someone who works well with a team, just as you are good at leading. No employee stands alone in an organization, after all, so aside from listing formal management experience, make sure to show team accomplishments. The ability to communicate, delegate, and cooperate is essential in any job, and you need to show that you are willing to work with a team just as you are ready to lead.

Collaboration is a key trait of effective leadership, and your resume should reflect your ability to work well with others while driving team success. Instead of just stating that you're a "team player," highlight specific projects where teamwork led to positive outcomes. For example, instead of saying, "Worked with a team on a project," you could say, "Collaborated with a cross-functional team of designers and developers to launch a product that increased customer retention by 25%."

Here are some impactful action verbs and phrases to showcase your collaborative skills:

By emphasizing your ability to collaborate, you demonstrate that you're not only a strong leader but also someone who can foster teamwork, build relationships, and drive collective success within an organization.

#5 Include Accomplishments Outside of Your Profession

If the role is calling for leadership skills but you have trouble showcasing them through your professional experience, see if you can utilize other ways, like volunteering activities or obtaining certifications. Even if you’ve never held a managerial position before, you could still possess plenty of leadership experience - perhaps outside of work. Take a good look at your hobbies and interests to see if you have held leadership roles and responsibilities in any of them. Maybe you’re the president of a local book club. Or perhaps you’ve been the chair of a community committee. Experiences such as this help highlight your leadership abilities while also giving the recruiter or hiring manager better insight into your personality.

#6 Create a Special Leadership Section

This might sound silly considering all the advice out there about actually bringing your resume to its optimum length of one to two pages; however, if you’re applying for a C-suite role, you may want to create a separate section for leadership skills on your resume. This is a great way to put a better emphasis on your leadership skillsets while providing the recruiter or hiring manager with a better context of your capabilities. Give your separate section a specific title, such as “Leadership Experience” or “Leadership Roles,” to call the reader’s attention to it. Make sure to add measurable data! When creating a dedicated Leadership Section on your resume, follow these practical tips to ensure it adds value and strengthens your application:

By structuring this section effectively, you'll demonstrate not just that you’ve held leadership positions but also how your leadership has driven real results, making your resume stand out to recruiters and hiring managers.

Elevate Your Resume with Resumeble

It helps to have an expert’s objective eye take a look at your resume and see how and where it can be improved, from incorporating good leadership skills for a resume to proper formatting, ensuring that it is error-free, and more. Resumeble’s highly experienced in-house writers have helped many applicants like you land their dream job. Let us help you develop your resume into an application that will draw recruiters and hiring managers like bees to honey. Upload your resume for a free, no-obligation analysis to know where you stand.