Why Leadership Skills Wont Get You Hired

" The Power of Vocal Dynamics For Executives"

The episode challenges the notion that leadership skills alone are sufficient for securing new roles, arguing instead that communication is

Key takeaways

CVs should be limited to one A4 page, double-sided, and must focus on results-oriented, deliverable outcomes.
Qualifications should be placed at the bottom of the second page to ensure recruiters see immediate value first.

Main topics

CV Optimization
Interview Strategies

Notable quotes

Leadership may grow your career but communication starts it.

Conclusion

The episode provides a practical roadmap for professionals to transiti

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:01) Do you hold a belief that you have leadership skills and that that's all that's required for you to step up the ladder to get that new position? I'm your host Sheena Walker and today I'm going to be sharing with you why leadership skills won't get you hired. Why does leadership matter? Speaker 1 (0:32) But it's not what gets you in the door. Great communication does in every aspect. There's 10 steps to being the employee of choice and securing that new post. Could that be you? Or will you say it's so challenging? Speaker 1 (1:02) One of the things that I hear every week, one of the people saying, I've applied for 300 posts. Not one person has got back to me. I've never been shortlisted. I've never had a phone call. Think about it. Have you ever just stopped for a moment and thought, is there a reason why? Speaker 1 (1:38) I'm not being shortlisted. Is there a reason why people are not getting in touch? After all, I've got an executive position. I'm a regional manager and I lead people every day. So when I'm applying for a post, internal or external, sometimes if you're applying for an internal post, Companies have an obligation to shortlist you. That's quite different from what I hear people saying, applying for an external post, that they've really, really struggled. You see, our economy has changed. How we recruit people has changed. One of my skills and one of the areas I loved was, and still do, sit on high-end recruitment panels. So I hear what is chief exec, I hear what owners are looking for, and it's certainly not some of the things and some of the ways that I hear people saying they've applied for a post. You see, if you're a business professional, a leader or a trainer, a professional speaker, an HR professional, work out on the community, or you're a trainer in a big organisation, then you need to think very carefully about how you invest in new skills for that new post. I'm hoping you have your notebook out. You know I'm very passionate about writing things down. But this is key. Speaking, presentation skills are a must-have skill in today's competitive business arena. And having the skill to stand up and communicate your message. Speaker 1 (3:48) effectively is a vital skill that companies now demand their key personnel possess. So what I'm saying there is if they're now recruiting new staff, that's a huge part of the recruitment process, making sure that you can communicate at every level in the post they have advertised. And this can be a struggle for people that are already in a post and not communicating and positioning a company's brand. Speaker 1 (4:27) Being able to think on your feet and engage the listener could mean the difference between securing new business and handing it over to your competitors. Having spent three decades in HR, three decades in high-end recruitment, and more recently... looking at the changes that's been happening in organisations and how some of them have changed the recruitment process so that they can get better candidates. Think about this. In an interview, whether that's the telephone interview at the start, if you do get shortlisted, whether that's a group assessment, Speaker 1 (5:28) whether that's doing a presentation during the recruitment process, whether it's the interview one-to-one or the group interview. Speaker 1 (5:43) thinking about this. You're being assessed in real time about how you come across. Now your leadership skills will be great. If you've got great leadership skills that's going to help you immensely. But it's not just what you know. It's actually how you show up. Are you intentional? Are you focused? Speaker 1 (6:20) Do you clarify the question clearly when you've been asked a specific competence question? Do you come across as confident or are you hesitant? Do you have great presence? That's so important. And what I've just highlighted, these are the skills that can create a first impression. Speaker 1 (6:55) And first impressions drive decisions for the recruitment panel. So you might have leadership experience, but if you cannot define it clearly, it will get lost while you're sitting in the room being interviewed. That's why real skills will get you hired. Speaker 1 (7:28) So let's look at, I'm just going to go into being a bit more specific, but some of the areas that I've been sharing. And if you want to speak to me about stepping up, you want to speak to me about stepping up the corporate ladder, get in touch, because I'm doing this every week, helping people be shortlisted. And I can guarantee you 100 % when I speak to people and help them with their CV or an application, they do get shortlisted. There's 10 steps and I'd like to just share with you. The very first step is your CV and I can even think of a family member of mine who was applying for a post. She had about eight pages. Your CV must be one A4 page, which can be double-sided. And your CV now must be results orientated and have examples of deliverable outcomes. Not just facts and words. I did in this job, I did, I was responsible for. Speaker 1 (8:54) deliverable outcomes what did you