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

What is a national leader and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A national leader can either be elected or appointed and may work in various branches of the government, such as the executive or the legislative branch. Although a national leader is often thought of as the president, prime minister, or any topmost position in a government, they may also be the senate leader, congress leader, or other positions having a leadership role as well.

A national leader has a wide range of duties and responsibilities, but mainly, they are tasked to protect the sovereignty of their nation. They are expected to have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, thorough knowledge of their own language and culture and the languages and cultures of other foreign dignitaries they may meet with, and an in-depth understanding of the status of the nation in different aspects and industries.

The requirements of a national leader vary from nation to nation. A national leader may or may not have a bachelor's degree, and even their specializations and fields of expertise are varied. But most importantly, a national leader must have top-notch leadership skills to manage the affairs of the whole nation and communicate with every department, agency, or unit that comprises the government.

ScoreNational LeaderUS Average

Salary

7.8

Avg. Salary $106,957

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.4

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.24%

Asian 4.07%

Black or African American 3.24%

Hispanic or Latino 9.82%

Unknown 4.41%

White 78.23%

Gender

female 41.12%

male 58.88%

Age - 46

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 - 46

Stress level

6.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a national leader

Explore national leader education requirements

Most common national leader degrees

Bachelor's

66.8 %

Master's

15.2 %

Associate

10.8 %

Start to develop specific national leader skills

Skills	Percentages
Healthcare	56.63%
Project Management	17.84%
Strategic Plan	8.69%
Business Development	8.02%
KPI	1.85%

Complete relevant national leader training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New national 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 national leader based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real national leader resumes.

Research national leader duties and responsibilities

Manage all logistics require to implement customer service, sales, and leadership course curriculum.
Manage OEM relationship from a proactive consultative role proposing strategy and tactics for client base on research data and marketing/engagement metrics.
Coordinate and facilitate PMO off-site workshop to restructure PMO work flows.
Utilize corporate SharePoint site to post deliverables, add and remove members, and set permissions.

Get national leader experience

Generally, it takes 6-8 years to become a national leader. The most common roles before becoming a national leader include sales representative, customer service representative team lead and leader.

Apply for national leader jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a national leader job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams