Have you ever paused to truly examine a leader’s resume? Those crisp, bullet-point achievements that proudly declare: “Cut operational expenses by 15%.” “Increased productivity by 22%.” “Drove record-breaking quarterly growth.”
Impressive numbers. Compelling accomplishments. But don’t they only tell half the story?
What these carefully crafted statements fail to reveal is in my opinion the most crucial element of leadership: “The how” in how these results were achieved. And that’s truly where the authentic story of leadership resides.
Behind every impressive KPI’s on a resume stands a team of individuals who made it happen. And how that team was treated, developed, and engaged tells us everything about what kind of leader someone truly is.
Same Result, Different Journey
Let’s consider that 15% reduction in operational expenses noted on a resume. Without context, this single achievement could represent two entirely different leadership stories.
In one scenario, a leader achieves this target by slashing budgets indiscriminately, eliminating essential resources, pushing their team beyond reasonable limits, and watching their most talented people walk out the door. Yes, the company secured their 15% reduction, but at what cost? Plummeting morale, skyrocketing turnover, and a culture of fear and resentment.
In a contrasting scenario, another leader reaches that identical 15% target by inspiring their team to innovate, by actively listening to their ideas for efficiency, by involving everyone in the process of discovering better ways to work. This leader achieves the same result on paper, but does so while building trust, developing their people, and fostering a culture where individuals feel genuinely valued and heard.
It is exactly the same accomplishment on paper, but it is worlds apart in reality.
The Missing Dimension of Leadership Evaluation
Traditional resumes tell us that a leader delivered results. But they rarely reveal the path taken to arrive at those outcomes.
And in true authentic leadership, the “how” matters just as much as , if not more than, the “what.”
This dimension of leadership is admittedly difficult to capture in standard resume formats. Yet it’s precisely this dimension that often determines long-term success, both for the leader and the organization they serve.
The Leadership Character Gap
What’s missing from most leadership resumes is evidence of character, you know, those qualities that transform a manager of metrics into a genuine leader of people. Traits like:
Empathy// The ability to understand team members’ perspectives and respond appropriately
Integrity// Consistency between words and actions, especially under pressure
Humility// The willingness to acknowledge mistakes and learn from them
Courage// The strength to stand p for your team when they need their voices amplified
Authenticity// Being genuine rather than merely performing leadership
None of these qualities appears in standard resume templates. Yet they form the foundation of leadership that endures beyond quarterly targets and annual reviews.
Bridging the Resume Gap
If you’re struggling to advance despite an impressive resume filled with quantifiable achievements, it may be time to examine this gap. How might you demonstrate not just what you’ve accomplished, but how you’ve led people in the process?
Let’s look at some approaches to consider:
1. Collect Meaningful Testimonials
When was the last time you asked for a thoughtful letter of recommendation? Not just a LinkedIn endorsement or a reference check, but a genuine reflection on how you lead?
Consider reaching out to team members at various levels who have experienced your leadership firsthand. Ask them to share specific examples of how your leadership approach impacted them personally and professionally.
These testimonials can reveal dimensions of your leadership that numbers alone cannot capture like how you handled conflict, fostered inclusion, or supported someone through a professional challenge. These testimonials can solidify your claims, and add EQ credibility to your achievements.
2. Document Your Leadership Philosophy
Take time to articulate your core leadership principles and how they’ve guided your decision-making. This isn’t about crafting abstract statements but connecting your values to specific leadership moments.
For example, instead of simply stating “collaborative leadership,” share a brief story of how you brought diverse perspectives together to solve a complex problem, and how this approach led to both better outcomes and a stronger team.
3. Highlight Team Development Alongside Results
For each major achievement on your resume, consider adding context about team development that occurred alongside those results:
– How did team members grow their capabilities during this project?
– What new leadership emerged from within the team?
– How did morale feel throughout the process?
These developmental outcomes may not be as easily quantifiable as financial metrics, but they often represent the real impact of your leadership.
4. Demonstrate Learning Agility
True leaders continue evolving throughout their careers. Document instances where you’ve recognized the need to adapt your leadership approach and the steps you’ve taken to grow.
This might include formal leadership development programs, executive coaching relationships, or simply reflections on leadership experiences that prompted significant shifts in your approach.
Demonstrating this learning journey reveals a self-awareness that distinguishes exceptional leaders from those who merely manage by numbers.
5. Showcase Cultural Impact
Beyond individual team development, consider how your leadership has shaped organizational culture:
– How did employee engagement metrics shift during your tenure?
– What improvements in inclusion and belonging can be attributed to your approach?
– How did you handle ethics challenges or difficult cultural transitions?
These cultural dimensions may not appear on traditional resumes, but they profoundly influence organizational performance and sustainability.
The Leadership Reputation Equation
Your resume shows you achieved results. But your reputation reveals how you achieved them.
This equation matters increasingly in today’s interconnected professional world, where leadership reputations travel through networks with unprecedented speed. A leader might secure short-term results through force of will or positional authority, but their reputation for how they treat people will ultimately determine their long-term effectiveness and opportunities.
Perhaps we should all consider investing as much energy in building leadership reputations as we do in accumulating resume achievements. But what does that look like?
– Soliciting honest feedback about your leadership impact
– Being willing to hear difficult truths about your blind spots
– Taking meaningful action based on feedback
– Prioritizing people development alongside performance metrics
The Paradox of Humble Leadership
Perhaps counterintuitively, the most impactful leaders often attribute their success to others. They speak of “we” more than “I” and view their role as creating conditions for collective success rather than securing personal advancement.
This humble approach to leadership might seem at odds with the self-promotional nature of resume building. Yet research consistently shows that humble leaders build stronger, more innovative teams and deliver more sustainable results over time.
The challenge, then, is bridging this paradox and communicating your leadership value without diminishing the collaborative nature of your accomplishments. When you figure out a fail proof way to accomplish this, please let me know.
Looking Beyond the Resume
For hiring organizations, this perspective offers an important lesson: look beyond the resume when evaluating leadership capability. Develop interview approaches that reveal leadership character, not just leadership accomplishments:
– Ask candidates to describe how they achieved their most significant results
– Speak with team members who experienced their leadership, not just peers or supervisors
– Explore how candidates handled failure, not just success
– Investigate their approach to developing others, not just driving outcomes
For leaders themselves, the message is equally clear: invest as much in how you lead as in what you achieve. Because in the end, the leaders who rise highest aren’t just those with the most impressive bullets on their resume, they’re the ones who lifted others up along the way.
Your leadership story isn’t found in the black and white text of your resume. It lives in the colorful, complex, human experience of those you’ve led. And that’s a story worth telling.
-Kenneth Doerksen
