I agree with all of those things. A real engineer has soft skills and the ability to look beyond the immediate problem to see what is at the heart of the issue

I agree with all of those things. A real engineer has soft skills and the ability to look beyond the immediate problem to see what is at the heart of the issue. They can see the effects of a solution and see the problems that might arise from it. They see connections. Leetcoders just find the most efficient solution for the problem at hand. They don't see connections to other problems, whether current or potential. They're a scalpel when you really need a massage. I've seen leetcoders throw away less-efficient, safer solutions just to implement something more efficient and clever. And when things fail, they're nowhere to be found. Too busy with whatever current Story they're on.