What is a senior leader and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted expert

John Russo

A senior leader holds a high-level position within an organization and works to make executive decisions and lead teams. These experienced professionals possess excellent communication, strategic planning, and problem-solving skills. Senior leaders oversee day-to-day operations, analyze market trends, and make informed decisions to ensure the organizationâ€™s success. They also manage budgets, develop relationships with stakeholders, and motivate employees. A senior leader drives the growth and sustainability of a company by providing vision, direction, and leadership.

What's a day at work look like for a senior leader?

John Russo

Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of Computer Science, Landmark College

Many companies will continue to have employees work remotely. This means that one has to be a self-starter, able to focus and stay on task. Some jobs, such as a network administrator, might not look much different than pre-pandemic. Others, such as software engineer, will be different. Much of the collaboration will take place virtually. One piece that will be missing from the workday for recent graduates is socializing and building a team outside of the boundaries of work.

ScoreSenior LeaderUS Average

Salary

8.0

Avg. Salary $114,328

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.3

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.19%

Asian 14.58%

Black or African American 10.23%

Hispanic or Latino 11.00%

Unknown 5.01%

White 58.98%

Gender

female 28.80%

male 71.20%

Age - 42

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 - 42

Stress level

5.3

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.8

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a senior leader?

Pros

High salary and benefits
Access to resources and support to carry out initiatives
Collaborating with other leaders in the industry
Building a network of professional contacts
Opportunities for personal growth and development

Cons

Long hours and high stress levels
Potential for failures or setbacks that could harm the organization
Pressure to meet or exceed revenue and financial targets
Consistently maintaining high energy levels and motivation
Limited time available for personal life and family due to work demands

Key steps to become a senior leader

Explore senior leader education requirements

Most common senior leader degrees

Bachelor's

59.8 %

Master's

15.0 %

Associate

13.1 %

Start to develop specific senior leader skills

Skills	Percentages
Java	8.75%
Project Management	7.25%
Architecture	6.27%
Customer Service	4.87%
C++	4.17%

Complete relevant senior leader training and internships

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

Research senior leader duties and responsibilities

Create and execute Unix shell scripts to automate execution of ETL processes.
Manage a team of developers to migrate existing PowerBuilder 8.0 pfc-base application to J2EE.
Manage development staff to see completion of web development projects in a PHP environment.
Manage and produce PowerPoint and HTML course development from content delivery to upload on time.

Get senior leader experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a senior leader. The most common roles before becoming a senior leader include senior software engineer, software engineer team lead and lead technician.

Prepare your senior leader resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior 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 senior leader resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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