Too often we head into the office on Monday morning with a preconceived notion of what our day will hold: We will complete the familiar tasks required of us, attend a mandatory meeting or two, and return the next day only to relive the same experience.

If your work life makes you feel like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day, you’re not alone. According to Alexandra Levit, author of the Wall Street Journal Online article, “Taking Charge at Work,” a new study done by the Conference Board reveals that just 45 percent of Americans are satisfied with their jobs—the lowest number in over twenty years.

What if things could be different? What if you could be challenged on a daily basis, learn to utilize your strongest skills, and become an integral part of your organization?

Welcome to a day in the life of a top performer. An “A” player’s work life is inspiring, exciting and challenging, because they’re making the most of their opportunities to move their company—and their career—forward. If you want to get more out of your work life, here are some tips on how you can change your daily experience to become a truly stellar performer.

Step One: Make an Inventory of Your Strengths

The first step in becoming a top performer is to take an inventory of your strengths. Rather than focusing on areas of weakness, look instead at what you do best.

Levit advises, “The best way to gain access to meatier assignments is to be prepared and proactive. Spend a few weeks considering your strengths and how you can apply them to problems your organization is currently facing.”

Make an inventory of what you’ve learned not only in your current position, but in your entire professional career. Consider the experience you’ve gained and the skills you’ve acquired throughout your work history. Make a list of what you have learned from projects you’ve worked on, classes you’ve taken, seminars you’ve attended, books you’ve read, or volunteer positions you’ve held. What are your greatest achievements? What truly excites you? What do people say you’re good at?

Next, look through your list of personal assets and think about how they can benefit your organization’s principal goals or objectives. What assets can you bring to your current position? Are there projects you could contribute to that will strengthen your skill set?

Step Two: Get in the Game

Knowing your strengths is only the beginning. Next, communicate those strengths to your superiors, and don’t be shy about it! You may have a number of skills that your employer doesn’t even know about.

In her CareerBuilder.com article, “Feeling Overlooked at Work? How to Get the Props You Deserve,” Beth Braccio Herrig interviews Janet Flewelling, director of human resources operations for Administaff in Houston:

"Employers look to employees to support leadership in an economic downturn,” says Flewelling. “Employees should clearly communicate their support to management and let them know that they are ready and willing to pitch in and assist wherever necessary to help make management's vision a reality."

Schedule a one-on-one meeting with your manager to discuss your goals and objectives. Be prepared to show how your strengths can help your company grow. Explain how your specific assets can bring a project to a greater level of success.

In addition, be organized. Bring a list of positions in which you’ve used the proposed skill set successfully and what the outcomes of these projects were.

The cherry on top is that when you communicate your ambitions to higher-ups, they are more likely to seek you out for new opportunities in the future.

Step Three: Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Once you’ve been given a new responsibility, don’t disappear into your office. Rather, keep the communication flowing.

Levit recommends setting up regular meetings with supervisors so you can receive critical feedback. “Once the reins are in your hands, resist the temptation to gallop off unsupervised,” she says. “Regular interaction with your manager and other senior executives will ensure that you don't feel overwhelmed by your new responsibilities and that you're completing them to the best of your ability.”

Not only will this give you opportunities to ask questions and get feedback on what you’re doing well and what you can improve, but it will demonstrate your desire to succeed.

Be proactive – don’t wait until your supervisor asks you how the project is going to discuss it. Take the initiative to communicate and provide regular updates of the project, and let your supervisor understand your commitment to improving the company as a whole.

Step Four: Engage in Continuous Learning

Seeking out new learning opportunities is the key to a flourishing career. If your organization offers educational initiatives in any form, take them—whether it’s an onsite seminar, an invitation to a conference for professionals in your field or a chance to be mentored by someone whose work you admire.

If your organization is less education-oriented, there are still ways for you to learn more about your area of expertise and expand your skill sets. Read books, journals or blogs by experts in your industry. Or volunteer at an organization where you can continue to develop your strengths. However you choose to do it, work to expand your education.

The Boston Hiring and HR Blog article, “The Six Traits of Top Performers,” has a final word of advice:

“Visionary employees see beyond the basic job description. While they certainly may have personal ambitions to succeed, their main interests lie with growing and improving their company.”

How did Shackleton win his crew’s loyalty? What lessons can we take from him as we attempt to lead our own teams through the rough and unpredictable terrain of today’s business world?

The Growth Mindset

Shackleton’s qualities as a leader parallel current research on what makes an effective manager.

Stanford University psychology professor Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, describes two types of mindsets that leaders exhibit: “fixed” and “growth.” Those with “fixed mindsets” think that talent rather than hard work is the basis for success, and that they can achieve only as much as their natural talents allow. Fixed mindset leaders are often scared of change and innovation because it may ultimately lead to failure.

Leaders with “growth mindsets,” on the other hand, have faith in progress over time, an endless capacity for learning and the ability to always improve what they do. They believe in hard work and taking risks in order to learn.

Ronald Heifetz, Alexander Grashow and Marty Linsky, authors of the Harvard Business Review article, “Leadership in a (Permanent) Crisis,” define leadership as “an improvisational and experimental art.” They note that a problem that often occurs during crisis situations is that “[Leaders will] default to what they know how to do in order to reduce frustration and quell their own and others’ fears.” However, those with a growth mindset “change key rules of the game, reshape parts of the organization and redefine the work people do.”

No matter how difficult the circumstances of his initial voyage, Shackleton managed to maintain a growth mindset. Rather than surrendering in the face of bone chilling weather or possible starvation, Shackleton instead remained flexible, frequently changing his route as circumstances changed in order to keep moving forward.

When ice and topographical conditions prevented his team from taking the planned route, Shackleton revised it. Later, when his horses had difficulties carrying the team’s supplies through the deep snow, Shackleton and his men carried their own provisions as well as food for the horses themselves. When several horses fell into crevices in the ice, disappearing along with the team’s food, Shackleton didn’t turn around. Instead, he cooked a Christmas dinner of horse fodder mixed with their remaining rations. Shackleton never gave up. He looked for creative solutions and took risks in order to achieve his goals.

While we may imagine a strong leader as stern, focused and unbending, Shackleton’s story shows us that the best leaders are often just the opposite: flexible, creative and capable of improvisation.

Teamwork and Tenacity

After the loss of their horses, Shackleton and his team continued on, lugging 1,000 pounds of gear and quickly-dwindling provisions through the snow and ice. Having learned from the death of the horses, Shackleton created a plan to prevent his team from suffering the same fate: rope his team together and move just a few yards at a time. Because the crew had too many supplies to carry at once, they had to leave things behind and backtrack later to retrieve what they’d left, often traveling 18 miles for every 6 miles they progressed.

These images highlight the importance of teamwork and tenacity in times of slow progress. Even as Shackleton struggled fiercely to reach his goal, his commitment to the well-being of his team was foremost on his mind.

Great leaders don’t operate alone. They harness the strengths of each team member to help their organizations thrive. They rely on others to carry some of the weight. And they are committed to their team members as people.

“Executives need to relax their sense of obligation to be all and do all—they need to become more comfortable sharing their burden with people operating in diverse functions and locations throughout the organization. By pushing responsibility for adaptive work down into the organization, you clear space for yourself to think, probe and identify the next challenge on the horizon,” say Heifetz et al.

In the end, Shackleton saw the journey as a success. He shows us that the strongest leaders are those who can positively encourage team members to take on new challenges and push themselves in support of their organization’s goals: In essence, to be more and do more than they ever imagined.

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