Depends on what specific leadership role was being considered. The way I have structured before there where 2 main leadership roles available for developers:
Practice Lead: 70/30 split between development and management, middle management responsibilities like performance reviews, 1on1s, more involvement with the DoE day to day.
Team Lead: The technical go to person for a specific team/project keeps the team on track and works closely with the project management.
Overall ownership and having a good developer mindset, both are essential for leadership as well wanting to do the role and take the responsibility of leading.
Did you always have the soft skills or did you work on it? If so how did you improve?
Absolutely not, my soft skills and even communication skills where poor at the beginning, as for improving them reading and a lot of introspection, as well asking for feedback.
What are the main qualities you look for in an engineer that would qualify him for a promotion or leadership role?
Separate question. Did you always have the soft skills or did you work on it? If so how did you improve?
Depends on what specific leadership role was being considered. The way I have structured before there where 2 main leadership roles available for developers:
Overall ownership and having a good developer mindset, both are essential for leadership as well wanting to do the role and take the responsibility of leading.
I highly recommend this book as a starting point:
oreilly.com/library/view/soft-skil...
Thanks!