Leadership skills every employer looks for (with examples)

It’s true that leadership skills are necessary for managers to be great leaders. However, managers aren’t the only individuals within an organization who can benefit from having strong leadership skills. Leadership skills allow individuals at all organizational levels to have a positive impact.

Why are leadership skills important?

Leadership skills allow employees to inspire others to support a common goal. Leadership skills also include the ability to develop plans, get the right people involved, and then see the plans through from start to finish. Strong leadership skills help individuals, departments, teams, and the organization as a whole meet their goals.

Why highlight leadership skills on your resume?

Since companies highly value leadership skills, and understandably so, you want to continually improve upon your leadership skills. Also, if you’re in the job market, highlighting your leadership skills on your resume and in your cover letter is the perfect way to get the interest of prospective employers.

Leadership skills examples

Here are some common leadership skills that every company looks for in their employees, especially managers and the leadership team. Examples of how you might choose to highlight each skill on a resume is also included.

Communication

Almost any position within an organization requires effective verbal and written communication skills, especially for those who want to exude leadership ability. As a leader, one must be able to communicate with both employees and teams by sharing individual goals, team objectives, expectations, and resources available. Leaders also need to be able to hear what their employees are trying to communicate with them and respond accordingly.

Communication leadership skills examples:

• Active listening
• Presenting
• Awareness of non-verbal cues and body language
• Public speaking
• Excellent written communication

Resume example:

Implemented utilizing a messaging application to streamline consumer and account manager communication, increasing consumer satisfaction by 30%.

Delegation

Though it’s one of the toughest things to learn how to do well, good leaders know how to delegate. This is essential when you manage projects, teams, and people to ensure tasks and duties get done on time and as needed. By delegating properly, you’re not only helping yourself out by not overloading your schedule, but you’re also showing your employees that you trust them to get tasks done.

Smart delegating also involves knowing your employees well enough to understand their strengths and weaknesses so you can delegate tasks accordingly without micromanaging them. Trust is also required and requires a level of comfort in allowing your team to make mistakes so they can learn from them.

Delegation leadership skills examples:

• Scheduling
• Strategic thinking
• Forecasting
• Organization
• Good written and verbal communication
• Attention to detail
• Self-awareness

Resume example:

Managed a team of 5 graphic designers and delegated projects and tasks based on specific skill sets and strengths of each.

Problem Solving

The time will inevitably come when projects will come close to budget, tasks will push up against deadlines, and customers or clients will be unhappy with their current scenario. In these types of situations, an effective leader will roll with the punches and be able to do what’s necessary to problem solve the situation for the best possible outcome.

Problem-solving leadership skills examples:

• Creativity
• Evaluation
• Research
• Critical thinking
• Flexibility
• Adaptability
• Analytical thinking

Resume example:

Spearheaded global expatriate database development to support trailing spouses in career planning, and gainfully employed spouses increased by 50%. 

Conflict Resolution

Conflict is a natural part of life. Knowing how to resolve conflict, though, isn’t something that comes easy to everyone. Still, understanding how to effectively manage, resolve, and work through conflict are required leadership skills. When conflict isn’t resolved effectively, a good leader knows it can fester and undermine productivity and employee morale. Being able to resolve conflict respectfully for all parties involved is key.

Conflict resolution leadership skills examples:

• Mediation
• Teamwork
• Collaboration
• Emotional intelligence
• Active listening
• Patience
• Professionalism

Resume example:

Facilitated team-building exercises for a team of 10 engineers to support open dialogue between team members and reduced conflict by 20%.

Providing and receiving feedback

Providing feedback—both constructive criticism and positive reinforcement—is a common aspect of a leadership role with supervisory or management-level responsibilities. Knowing when and how to give feedback is a necessary skill for effective leadership. And even teammates need to give their coworkers feedback at times, so again, it’s not necessarily a required skill reserved for only those who have direct reports.

Feedback leadership skills examples:

• Empathy
• Interpersonal skills
• Active listening
• Good written and verbal communication skills
• Compassion

Resume example:

Organized department-wide 360 manager and employee feedback sessions monthly to support improving a company-wide performance appraisal program.

Time management and organization

Leaders have the tough position of needing to prioritize projects and tasks and ensuring all runs as smoothly as possible. Therefore, it’s necessary for a leader’s organizational skills to go above and beyond. And if it doesn’t come naturally to them and they need support with organization, they can always delegate the task to a team member or administrative assistant to help!

You also constantly have several plates in the air when you’re a leader, which requires very astute time management skills to ensure nothing falls through the cracks. You have to juggle several deadlines, manage progress, and continually evaluate your team’s progress. As such, there are many time management skills a leader should master.

Time management and organization leadership skills examples:

• Forecasting
• Flexibility
• Adaptability
• Attention to detail
• Planning
• Delegation
• Decision making

Resume example:

Managed a team of 15 remote marketing professionals. Forecasted needs and delegated tasks to ensure all client goals were met. Exceeded 2021 annual email marketing goals by 10%.

Now you know some of the top leadership skills employers look for in employees and job candidates. You can take the initiative to improve your leadership skills through online training courses, by reading industry publications, taking an evening or weekend course, or seeking training within your organization. You’ll be one step ahead of the game when you do.