Attention to Detail
The ability and patience to "pay attention to the details" is important in all professions. Imagine flying in an airplane designed by engineers who didn't pay attention to the details of aircraft design; similarly, no one wants to trust their health to a doctor who doesn't pay attention to the details. Attention to detail is a fundamental skill for a world class software engineer.

Every software project manager has a favorite story of an engineer who was full of new ideas and always worked hard, but in the end, things never quite worked right. Something got lost in the details!

Self Confidence
Software development is a very humbling discipline. The technology is constantly changing, the level of complexity is extremely demanding, development schedules are always too short, etc. A world class software engineer must be totally honest with himself and with his peers. This includes a willingness to accept that no one has all the answers and that everyone needs to ask questions.

A world class software engineer will admit mistakes and learn from them. The "know it all" software engineer who has never made a mistake will never become a world class software engineer.

Team Development Effort
The days of the lone "super programmer" are gone. Today's demanding software can only be developed by a team of software engineers. Due to the complexity of the work and the interdependence of each software engineer's work, cooperation between team members is essential.

A software engineer who wants to follow his or her own path and ignore the rules, procedures and guidelines agreed on by the team can cause many problems for a development project. For a small team, one uncooperative team member can undermine an entire project; instead of cooperating the team becomes defensive and spends their time blaming each other.