“We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? So this is what we’ve chosen to do with our life” - Steve Jobs

Striving for excellence is an important part of professionalism in any job. It involves trying to put quality into everything you do, and this attitude tends to separate the achievers, who make rapid strides in their career from others. Here are some of the attributes that these individuals tend to have.
"Excellence is about stepping outside the comfort zone, training with a spirit of endeavour, and accepting the inevitability of trials and tribulations. Progress is built, in effect, upon the foundations of necessary failure. This is the essential paradox of expert performance. When these conditions are in place, learning takes off, knowledge escalates, and performance soars. You are on the path to
excellence."- Michael Syed

Initiative
Use initiative to act on opportunities. Become a leader before other people view you as one. Healthy organisations reward those who take the lead, not just those with formal management roles. Take responsibility for own objectives: set priorities. Display a "can do" attitude even in demanding situations.. Try to solve problems, rather than to pass them on to other people. First answer is ‘yes, I’ll make it happen’ . "Go the extra mile" when asked to do tasks. Go beyond your job description. Do work that gets you noticed. Show enthusiasm: this will be noticed and you will eventually be rewarded. Take ownership of problems: anticipate potential problems, take pre-emptive action and act quickly to resolve problems.
Introduce improvements to the way things are done.
Develop innovative practices. Value innovative thinking. Learn new skills that will   enhance capability. Common sense is not common!

"Develop persistence: don't take no for an answer". This is the advice of a creative director at a top advertising agency. When he graduated from university a few years before he found he had missed all the deadlines for the graduate trainings schemes and after lots of rejections he got his first job in advertising by "camping" in the reception of an agency. He arrived early in the morning and asked the receptionist if he could talk to one of the managers about the possibility of getting some work experience with the agency. The receptionist said that this wasn't possible, so he sat down in the reception area and refused to leave until someone saw him. Finally at 4.30PM, one of the managers took pity on him and came down. The manager was so impressed with his determination that he offered him a week's work experience and later gave him a job.

“A positive, can-do attitude is a real selling point for graduates. This doesn't have to be loud and gregarious, more a quiet confidence, willing to work hard to achieve goals which accord with the company’s objectives. Pride in your own work and a desire to give of your best will also go a long way.”

Inspiring, positive, determined!
Give assistance to others. Respond positively to requests for help.
Clarify the way forward for others. Empower others: great people help others to become great whereas weak individuals try to hold others back. Recognise that each person has a unique perspective. Have self confidence and inspire confidence in team members. Believe the team will be successful. Remain self-motivated even when things are going wrong. Recognise and draw attention to
contributions from team members and give positive feedback.

Maintain networks of colleagues. Get to know as many people in your organisation and industry as you can. Learn from your mistakes: they are just as useful as your successes. Watch others who do their job really well and try to emulate what makes them successful.

Quality and professionalism: Check the quality of your own work. Set out a clear vision of what is required for success. Compare the risks and benefits. Take calculated risks See the bigger picture. Give priority to customers.
Negative performers are content to leave performance at existing levels: how little interest in developing their skills further. Disown responsibility for their own tasks.

Distance themselves from responsibility for the team's performance. Give up in the face of obstacles and don’t demonstrate a sense of personal responsibility for
delivery. Take a narrow focus, taking decisions in the interest of their own team or self are risk adverse: undermine confidence by focusing on difficulties, problems and obstacles. Act as if ‘knowledge is power’: reluctant to pass on their skills to others Don't involve team members where appropriate. React to symptoms rather than trying to understand the underlying causes. Are resistant to change

Avoid difficult conversations and confrontation.
"A chief is a man who assumes responsibility. He says, 'I was beaten'; he does not say 'My men were beaten.'" Antoine de Saint-Exupery 

"If you wish to be promoted, you must be prepared to step outside your comfort zone"
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." - Mark Twain.
Give someone a fish and they will eat for a day. Teach someone to fish and they will sit in a boat all day daydreaming.
Practice isn't the thing you do when you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good. - Malcolm Gladwell

Reed Recruitment asked the employers they dealt with a question: "If you had to
choose between a candidate with 'the desired mindset' who lacked the complete
skill set for the job and a candidate with the complete skill set, but without the
desired mind set, which would you choose?" The candidate with the desired mindset was chosen by 96% of the employers. "If we get the mindset right, it is more likely to lead to skills being developed as a consequence" said Reed.
Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude. We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.
"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at
the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." - Helen Keller
"If you think you can or you think you can't, you're absolutely right." - Henry Ford

"The man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything." -
Theodore Roosevelt
"Think of failures as results" - Thomas Edison.
"Be persistent. Nothing in this world takes the place of persistence." - Calvin Coolidge