Are Leadership Qualities a Must?

Are leadership qualities a must on your resume?  While there are many different opinions on the importance of leadership qualities, most will tell you that having leadership skills that transfer to other areas are important to hiring managers and recruiters.  Here are a few areas that leadership skills will help with, and that hiring managers will want in their candidates: 

• Being a team player is a trait that every hiring professional wants to see on a resume.  Leadership helps to build this skill and often shows collaboration, conflict management, and team building skills.   
• Communication is a great asset in any job, and the job candidates that can demonstrate they have good communication skills will have an advantage over those who do not.  To become a leader, you typically must have excellent communication and listening skills. 
• How do you handle criticism, as well as hand it out?  Your feedback skills go hand in hand with leadership.  Feedback is critical in today’s work environment; therefore, you must have these skills. 
• Being a leader often involves dealing with sensitive issues.  It is not so much how you dealt with the issue itself, but how you handled the people involved.  Demonstrating the ability to get things done, while still appealing to the empathy of the situation is important as a leader. 
• Leaders take action – this is what most hiring managers are looking for.  It is not about sitting on the sideline while others make the decisions and then you follow – no you are out there making suggestions and leading the fight. 

Leadership qualities are a skill that every hiring manager looks for on a resume.  Do you have any of the qualities listed here?  If so, you might be a leader without really knowing.  Take the time to develop your leadership skills, it will help your career.


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