There was a story that was widely shared and talked about a couple of weeks ago, when Shark Tank member and billionaire Mark Cuban speculated that “creative thinking” would be the most in-demand job skill of the next decade...
The rationale being that we will need problem solvers, people who can come up with innovative solutions to challenges, and that creativity is a quality that cannot be automated.
Creative thinking is not enough
No argument here. Creative thinking and problem solving are crucial skills for succeeding and advancing on the job. But they are a means to an end – and it is the end itself that matters. Leaders must take it that one step further.
For a leadership position, your resume shouldn’t be a list of the skills that have or things that you know. What is important at this level is what you have done with what you know. The only skill that actually matters is your proven ability to deliver results.
Results matter
That is what employers will be looking for: your ability to get things successfully done, to accomplish, to achieve.
Of course, doing that will involve having (and using) creative thinking and problem solving skills – but it’s the demonstrated ability to generate measurable accomplishments that matters.
Don’t spend a lot of valuable resume space listing your assets – highlight instead what you’ve done with them.
Leaders make things better
You don’t need to be the president of a company or even the head of a department to demonstrate your leadership abilities. Whatever your role or career level, there will be challenges and occasions to improve how your organization tackles them. Seek these out. Problems to overcome, opportunities to innovate, these are the real wages of your job.
Those chances that you have to generate accomplishments on the job that others in a similar position might not are the building blocks of your successful career. That is how you demonstrate leadership. While you will always be talking about the past in your resume, the real message is the future:
Here is what I have done, the results I have delivered, therefore imagine what I can do you for you
#WeHelpOurClientsLead! The Leadership Agency was founded with one purpose: to help companies lead by helping them hire the best leadership talent they need to take them to the top of their industries. To find out more, contact:
www.leadershipagency.com
Jamie Hoobanoff, Founder at The Leadership Agency. jamie.hoobanoff@leadershipagency.com