The best workers don't always do exactly what they're told.
Wayfair's global senior director of talent management and employee development Marcy Axelrad says that the best employees go beyond their assignments.
"Employees who are constantly questioning what exists, in a respectful way, tend to be proactive and dedicated to their work," she says.
That doesn't mean you'll become a top worker if you start acting like a loose cannon and doing whatever you feel like. It's just means that you need to make yourself invaluable by bringing your A game at every opportunity and experimenting to figure out if there's a better, more efficient way of going about your job.
Top workers are always thinking out of the box and trying to innovate. They don't do things a certain way just because of convention and tradition.
"Your ability to question the status quo and push to the next level helps you better identify changes that will have the greatest impact to the business and prioritize accordingly," Axelrad told Business Insider.