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I’ve been fortunate to work with and learn from many different engineers in varied contexts over the years. From these experiences — whether at a large federally funded think tank with 7,500+ employees, a medium-sized digital agency, a startup, or simply co-freelance work — the following non-technical qualities, unequivocally, distinguish the best from the rest.

Ability to communicate clearly and tactfully

Communication is integral to any team’s success. Leading engineers understand this and persistently work at it. Much of the challenge stems from having to clearly communicate esoteric issues throughout an organization’s hierarchy. That is, the approach taken to convey a particular situation to a Senior / Junior Engineer will vary greatly from how it should be presented to a PM, VP or Exec. First-rate engineers understand this. They’re empathetic and recognize their audience fuels how and what information should be shared.

Capable of satisfying commitments

Forecasting project timelines is difficult. Uncertainty is inevitable and things will go wrong. Skilled engineers know this. In accordance, they craft expectations around commitments they know they can satisfy, iteratively. With the big picture in mind, they’re able to deconstruct it into manageable items that can more easily be measured. Along with this, they pad their schedules [1] and position themselves to under-promise and over-deliver.

Inherently curious and inclined to experiment; open-minded

With any engineering effort, first comes the need to fully understand the problem and then to spec out requirements to a solution. Instead of exclusively relying upon existing skills and proclivities, the best engineers use this requirements gathering phase as an opportunity to research and evaluate what tools (e.g., languages, platforms, etc) are available and perhaps best-suited to satisfy their requirements. They are not intimidated or fearful of using technologies they’re less familiar with. Instead, they welcome the opportunity. The knowledge they takeaway from this willingness to experiment is profound and compounds over time.

A propensity to mentor and educate

First-rate engineers have a penchant for imparting knowledge. They relish opportunities to skillfully educate and mentor. Doing so not only improves their team’s likelihood of success, it also brings about educational opportunities for themselves as the educator. That is to say, the best engineers recognize there is no better way to learn than to teach.

Cool under pressure

When things go wrong with an engineering effort (as will inevitably happen), exceptional engineers remain calm and maintain a positive outlook. They’re poised. They lead in-spite of mounting pressure and adversity. They never point fingers or focus on previous missteps. Instead, they build up those around them and focus upon their team’s imminent success.

While some of these qualities may seem intrinsic to an individual, most can be developed and cultivated over time. What other non-technical qualities do you commonly see in the best engineers you’ve worked with?

[1] A good rule of thumb is 2x how long you initially think it will take plus 10%