How To Become A Business Team Leader: What It Is and Career Path

What is a business team leader and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

The chief purpose of a team leader is to manage and direct a team of employees, leading them towards the goals of business or of a specific project. The responsibilities for this role may vary depending on the industry, but in general, business team leaders are in charge of establishing team objectives, guiding employees, implementing company policies, and assessing team performance. In addition, a business team leader may also have involvement in recruiting new people, developing company policies, creating business strategies, and interacting with customers and key stakeholders of the company.

The ideal team leader is a great multi-tasker who is able to juggle multiple responsibilities at once with grace and efficiency. They are also excellent communicators that can connect with team members, management, and other teams easily. Moreover, they have impeccable skills in people management, problem-solving, time management, and strategy.

Business team leaders typically have at least a bachelor's degree in business management, finance, accounting, and other business-related fields. However, it is possible to become a business team leader as a high school graduate as long as one has enough experience. Apart from educational requirements, companies prefer business leaders with at least two or more years of experience in a leadership role, ideally in a related business process or field.

ScoreBusiness Team LeaderUS Average

Salary

7.6

Avg. Salary $101,197

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.6

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.47%

Asian 6.31%

Black or African American 6.11%

Hispanic or Latino 14.97%

Unknown 4.33%

White 67.81%

Gender

female 40.77%

male 59.23%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

9.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.2

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a business team leader

Explore business team leader education requirements

Most common business team leader degrees

Bachelor's

70.4 %

Master's

14.1 %

Associate

8.3 %

Start to develop specific business team leader skills

Skills	Percentages
Project Management	10.30%
Direct Reports	6.31%
Customer Satisfaction	6.30%
Continuous Improvement	6.01%
Business Development	5.56%

Complete relevant business team leader training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New business team leaders learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a business team leader based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real business team leader resumes.

Gain additional business team leader certifications

Business team leader certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific business team leader certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for business team leaders include Six Sigma Green Belt and IT Information Library Foundations Certification (ITIL).

More About Certifications

Research business team leader duties and responsibilities

Manage and support system integration and interfaces with ERP (JD Edwards A73).
Manage a team of four and hold matrix leadership responsibility for specialists assign to particular technical areas for business continuity projects.
Verify Medicare numbers through DDE upon admission to health center.
Assist small businesses in the development of payroll solutions custom to their business needs.

Get business team leader experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a business team leader. The most common roles before becoming a business team leader include team leader, customer service representative team lead and project manager.

Prepare your business team leader resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your business team leader resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a business team leader resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable business team leader resume templates

Build a professional business team leader resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your business team leader resume.