How To Demonstrate Leadership In Your Resume? Written by Jeff Strong

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KEY SITE PAGES►	Are You A Leader?
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	A good resume goes beyond just cataloging your past responsibilities, it smoothly illustrates important skills you have mastered over the years and highlights talents that are generally desired by employers. Most employers want people who show initiative and who will "go the extra mile." It is not enough to be able to handle the tasks given to you. You have to demonstrate that you are able to contribute to the organization by helping to shape its upward direction. All of this falls under the heading of leadership. Characteristics of a Leader The two main components of leadership are being visionary and inspiring others to realize your vision. Being visionary means that you are creative. You initiate plans rather than react to problems. This comes from taking a broad view of the organization’s goals and thinking long-term. Once you have a vision, you must be able to communicate it to others. You must inspire confidence in others and achieve a level of unity among differing factions to produce results. Other important aspects of leadership include: taking risks, being a decision maker, self awareness, having the ability to persevere, having energy, and being a role model. Leadership often emerges during crisis situations. When have you “saved the day?” Leaders make a difference within an organization; they’re responsible for creating things that lasts way beyond their involvement. Your Own Skill Inventory Before tackling your resume, try this small exercise. Review your career history. Think about how you have shown leadership in each of your positions. Then, try to come up with examples that complete the following phrases. Write them down. You may also want to do the same for any personal activities. § I showed initiative by… § I took a big risk by… § I made a significant difference to X by… § X was changed by me when… § I served as a role model to… § I made significant decisions when… § I was forced to think long-term when… § I was creative when I… § The X disaster brought out my leadership by… If you feel like you don’t have many examples to draw from, it may be time to get some. Seek out leadership opportunities at work and through personal activities. Getting It On Paper This is how you make your career history into something more than just a list of mundane responsibilities. For each position, select one or two of the most significant accomplishments from your inventory. Remember, you don’t have to run the company to be a leader. Your focus is on how you made a difference. Here are some examples of what I mean: § Developed and implemented Internet strategy to expand customer base, increasing sales by 40%. § Created customized training program for a major financial institution. Directed subsequent national rollout and trained team of instructors. § Designed and implemented control systems to track the company’s performance. § Played a significant role in building the utility practice by conducting extensive industry analysis and proactively identifying transaction opportunities. § Introduced employee incentive program. The resulting service improvements and morale increase directly contributed to record-setting sales. Program also contributed to a 60% reduction in staff turnover. § Reorganized the department’s filing system to facilitate document retrieval and minimize time searching for files. § Spearheaded process improvements to ensure accurate and timely data delivery. The result was a 37 percent improvement in customer satisfaction ratings. You may want to elaborate on your most significant example in your cover letter or you may choose an example that is closely tied with the position you are applying for. Now, with these constructive insertions embedded in your resume, your document will be more substantive and reflect your real accomplishments. In addition to emphasizing important skills, it will now be more enlightening to read. The person receiving it will be more likely to think, “that’s really interesting” instead of just thinking “so what?” _________________________________________________ This article is © 2005 by Jeff Strong and may not be reposted without written permission from the author and may not be reprinted for profit.