Articles / Managerial Skills You Have Acquired: How to Identify and Articulate Them
Leadership SkillsLearn to identify managerial skills you have acquired. Discover how to articulate management capabilities on CVs, in interviews, and for career advancement.
Written by Laura Bouttell • Wed 31st December 2025
The managerial skills you have acquired through experience often remain invisible until you consciously identify and articulate them—yet these capabilities represent your most valuable professional assets, differentiating you in job applications, justifying promotions, and forming the foundation for continued career growth. Psychologist Daniel Goleman calls interpersonal skills the strongest predictor of leadership success, yet many managers struggle to name and evidence the very capabilities that drive their effectiveness.
Most management learning happens through experience rather than formal education. You've likely developed communication skills through hundreds of difficult conversations, decision-making capability through countless judgment calls, and team leadership through years of daily interactions. But can you articulate these acquired skills clearly and compellingly?
This guide helps you recognise the managerial skills you've developed, document them with specific evidence, and communicate them effectively for CVs, interviews, and career advancement discussions.
Understanding skill categories helps you conduct a comprehensive personal inventory.
Hard Skills
Hard skills are specific, measurable competencies gained through education, training, and practical experience. In management contexts, these include:
Soft Skills
Soft skills are personal attributes that facilitate effective interactions and teamwork within management roles. These prove essential for fostering positive work environments and achieving organisational objectives:
| Competency Area | Component Skills |
|---|---|
| Communication | Written, verbal, presentation, listening, feedback |
| Leadership | Vision-setting, motivation, delegation, development |
| Decision-making | Analysis, judgement, risk assessment, prioritisation |
| Problem-solving | Root cause analysis, creative thinking, implementation |
| People management | Coaching, performance management, conflict resolution |
| Strategic thinking | Planning, analysis, business acumen, innovation |
| Execution | Organisation, time management, project delivery |
Systematic reflection reveals capabilities that experience has built.
Step 1: Role Review
Examine each management position you've held:
Step 2: Situation Analysis
For significant experiences, consider:
Step 3: Feedback Mining
Review feedback from:
Ask yourself these questions to uncover acquired skills:
Communication
Leadership
Decision-Making
Problem-Solving
For each identified skill, document:
Concrete examples help you recognise your own capabilities.
Effective Communication Style
An effective communication style is the cornerstone of strong leadership. Beyond shaping messaging to customers and external stakeholders, good leaders communicate clearly and persuasively to ensure their teams share common understanding of goals and instructions.
Examples of Acquired Communication Skills
Building and Developing Teams
People management skills enable you to build capable teams and help individuals grow. Empathy—understanding others' perspectives and feelings—is a key management trait.
Examples of Acquired People Management Skills
Thinking Beyond Immediate Tasks
Strategic skills enable you to see beyond immediate tasks to longer-term implications and opportunities.
Examples of Acquired Strategic Skills
Navigating Uncertainty
Change management—guiding teams through constant change—represents a core management skill. Remote and hybrid team leadership and managing distributed teams effectively will be standard requirements.
Examples of Acquired Change Skills
CV presentation requires strategic positioning rather than simple listing.
Avoid generic descriptions of duties. Be succinct and provide specific examples of how your work generated positive outcomes or achievements. Do not simply list leadership skills in a "Skills" section. Instead, provide proof of your abilities by weaving them into your CV summary and work experience using action-oriented language that highlights your specific role in team wins.
Action words like "lead," "implement," and "optimize" emphasise the impact of your managerial contributions.
Strong Action Words for Management CVs
| Category | Action Words |
|---|---|
| Leadership | Led, directed, managed, headed, oversaw, guided |
| Achievement | Delivered, achieved, accomplished, exceeded, produced |
| Change | Transformed, restructured, streamlined, modernised, improved |
| Development | Developed, built, created, established, launched |
| Influence | Negotiated, persuaded, secured, influenced, championed |
Structure achievement statements using elements of the STAR method:
Example Transformation
Before: "Managed a team of 12 people"
After: "Led cross-functional team of 12 in implementing new project management system, reducing project timelines by 20% and increasing team efficiency"
The more closely your CV matches an employer's needs, the more likely you are to land an interview. Scan job postings for relevant keywords like "budget management," "change management," "strategic planning," and "leadership." Then, customise your CV to showcase relevant skills and experiences that match what they're looking for.
Keyword Categories to Match
Interviews require compelling narrative demonstration.
The STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) provides a powerful tool for showcasing your management skills in action.
Framework Structure
Before the Interview
Example Preparation
Skill: Team leadership during change
Situation: Department underwent significant restructuring with role changes affecting all team members
Task: Maintain team performance and morale whilst implementing new operating model
Action: Held individual conversations with each team member to understand concerns, created clear transition plan with milestones, established regular check-ins, celebrated early wins
Result: Achieved 95% staff retention through transition, maintained productivity targets, received positive engagement survey results
Prepare Examples For:
Skill identification enables targeted development.
Current vs Required Skills
Development Priority Matrix
| Importance | Proficiency | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| High | Low | Urgent development |
| High | Medium | Strengthen |
| Medium | Low | Develop as opportunity allows |
| Medium | Medium | Maintain |
| Low | Any | Deprioritise |
Formal Learning
Experiential Learning
Social Learning
Skills Gaining Importance
Skills identification supports career progression conversations.
Building Your Case
Document acquired skills as evidence for promotion discussions:
Conversation Framework
"In my current role, I've developed [specific skills] through [specific experiences], achieving [specific results]. I'm ready for [next level] because [evidence of capability] and I'm addressing [development areas] through [specific actions]."
Transferable Skills Emphasis
When seeking internal moves:
Market Positioning
For external roles:
Highlight skills matching your target role—review job descriptions for required capabilities. Common high-value skills include team leadership, communication, decision-making, problem-solving, and strategic thinking. Avoid generic lists; instead, demonstrate skills through specific achievement statements using action verbs and quantified results. Tailor emphasis to each application based on role requirements.
Review your experience systematically: examine responsibilities across roles, analyse challenging situations you've navigated, mine feedback from reviews and colleagues, and consider what you now do easily that once felt difficult. Ask trusted colleagues what strengths they observe. Recognise that daily management activities—running meetings, handling conflicts, making decisions—have built capabilities you may take for granted.
Many management skills develop outside formal management roles. Identify situations where you've led projects, influenced colleagues, solved problems, or coordinated activities. Volunteer leadership, committee roles, and informal team coordination all build management capabilities. Frame experiences using the STAR method, emphasising transferable skills and outcomes achieved through leadership behaviours.
Employers consistently value communication, leadership, decision-making, and problem-solving alongside adaptability and emotional intelligence. Technical skills vary by role and industry. Research suggests interpersonal skills most strongly predict leadership success. Review target job descriptions to identify specific priorities—emphasise skills matching stated requirements whilst demonstrating broader management capability.
Use the STAR method to structure responses: describe the Situation context, your Task or responsibility, the specific Actions you took, and the Results achieved. Prepare multiple examples demonstrating each key skill requirement. Practice articulating examples clearly and concisely. Quantify results where possible and connect experiences to target role requirements.
Combine formal learning (qualifications, courses), experiential development (stretch assignments, new challenges), and social learning (mentoring, coaching, peer networks). Conduct regular skill assessments identifying gaps between current and required capabilities. Seek feedback actively. Treat skill development as ongoing practice rather than periodic events—every management situation offers learning opportunity.
Prioritise change management (guiding teams through constant change), remote and hybrid team leadership (managing distributed teams), crisis management (navigating disruptions), digital fluency (leveraging technology), and data-informed decision-making. These capabilities address evolving workplace demands. Assess which gaps most affect your effectiveness and target development accordingly.
The managerial skills you've acquired represent years of learning through experience—countless decisions, conversations, challenges, and achievements that have built your capability. These skills exist whether or not you've consciously named them. Your task is recognition and articulation.
Begin with honest inventory. What situations have you navigated successfully? What capabilities enabled that success? What do you now handle easily that once seemed difficult? The answers reveal acquired skills that serve as foundation for continued growth.
Documentation matters. Specific examples with quantified results provide evidence that generic skill claims cannot. Building this evidence portfolio—ongoing rather than only when job searching—ensures you're always prepared to articulate your value.
Communication completes the process. Whether through CV achievement statements, interview STAR responses, or promotion discussions, your ability to convey acquired skills determines whether others recognise your capabilities. Practise articulation until it becomes natural.
Every management experience offers learning opportunity. The challenging conversation builds communication skill. The difficult decision develops judgement. The team conflict strengthens resolution capability. Recognising this ongoing development enables intentional growth.
The managers who advance most rapidly combine strong capability with clear articulation. They know what they can do, can prove it with specific examples, and communicate it compellingly. This combination—capability plus evidence plus articulation—creates career momentum.
Your managerial skills are assets you've built through years of professional experience. Take time to recognise them fully, document them carefully, and communicate them effectively. They represent your professional value—make sure others can see it too.