How to raise a PMA and a team leader in a team?

Question

Personnel Management

At first we were few, very few. Now there are more and more of us. PMs and team leads are sorely lacking. There is no way to hire them from outside: a small regional city.
Advise how to cook them from your progers. Or an option on how to prepare them from people who do not really understand programming (I understand that it’s nonsense, although I heard about the reverse experience).
Own experience is welcome.
ps We are developing for mobile (iOS, android) and web (php, python).

Answer 1

One of the most professional of you can become a team lead. One of them is because, in addition to high technical professional qualities, he must have leadership qualities, since his tasks will include making technically competent decisions on all design and implementation issues.
How to cook - if rallies / meetings / other projects are held, ask the person you are looking for to be the main one. So that he asks questions “why is this so”, corrects errors in the solution and directs in the right direction.
The PM then, accordingly, should gather rallies on “what has been done / what is planned”, directly select tasks for the next iteration / version, etc. - adapt the details to your realities.
The requirements for him on the technical side are, of course, less than for a team leader, and even less than for an experienced programmer, but communication and organizational skills must be high.

Answer 2

The team leader must know the application area perfectly (in your case, how it should be on the phone and on the site) and be able to organize people. The rest is optional, that is, he does not have to be a programming guru and understand all the technical details.
How to grow? Yes, no way, because rests on the personal qualities of a person.
The most effective approach is an elementary enumeration of people in this position. Put one in and see how it holds up. If he has kept at least order in the team, let him continue. If something doesn't stick, change it. And so on until you find it.

Answer 3

The professionalism of the team leader in the technical field is only half the battle.
Look also at whether a person knows how to make decisions, take responsibility and risks, cooperate with others, defend their point of view, be punctual and obligatory, quickly delve into new areas, etc. etc.
In general, a good programmer is not yet a team leader. I’ll even say more, beyond the programming guru - no team leader, because. most likely antisocial autistic.

Answer 4

Any person is suitable for the role of a team leader, but a team leader will grow out of him as quickly as possible if:
1) He is professionally competent, decisive
2) He does not have close friendly ties with the team, and if he does, he does not really need them.
Hand him the book “How to Graze Cats” ([Reinvoter_Dzh.Hank]_Kak_pasti_kotov._Nastavlenie_(BookFi.org).fb2)
And do not forget to control the process, to help – the first step from a developer to a team leader is difficult.