1. They know what they want and work towards achieving it, using the power of incremental progress.
2. They embrace learning, personal growth, and well-being. They compete with themselves, working to improve who they are, what they can do, achieve, or contribute.
3. They're worthy of trust; they're dependable, reliable, and consistently good to their word. If they say they'll do it, they do it, or tell you ahead that they can't.
4. They set boundaries for themselves, making time for what matters to them while understanding that life's ebbs and flows can change their priorities.
5. They operate from the inside out with self-managing essentials such as self-trust, enhanced awareness, self-direction, and reflective choices.
6. They invest time in fixing the problem, training the new person, figuring out new or better ways, and "stopping the bleeding" before moving forward.
7. They do what needs to be done, whether they like the task or not.
8. They're self-motivated and engaged, with what others might call "drive" or "passion." They want to make a difference with their work and life.
9. They're contributors to the common good, not myopically self-focused, with a "big" team mentality; they help and assist others, build strong relationships, and share their knowledge and talents willingly.
Alina Jain is an award winning author of four books. Her latest is Trust, Inc.: How to Create a Business Culture that Will Ignite Passion, Engagement, and Innovation (2015). More about her and her work at www.quetzal.co