If you are the kind of employee who waits for your supervisor to provide feedback before you work on improving yourself, you’re in for a long, painful life of disappointment.

The employee of today must constantly be focusing on improvement with a self-motivated plan. It is important to evaluate your performance not only in the area of skills but also in the area of attitude.

Here are some questions to help you hold the mirror up to your performance. Answer them as honestly as possible, and revisit them every few months to see where you need to make future improvements.

  Are you an innovator? Do you always look at every project as one that could be done better?

  Are you a visionary? Do you have the ability to see the organization’s goals and values in total?

  Are you a risk taker? Are you willing to try new ideas of your own with no guarantee of success?

  Are you confident? Do you have the ability to say “I don’t know” or “I made a mistake” or “I like their idea better than my own”?

  Are you a leader? Do you have the ability to excite others and motivate them to action toward accomplishing your ideas?

  Do you have courage? Do you have what it takes to think for yourself and stand up for your ideas?

  Do you anticipate the needs of the organization? Do you see unfulfilled needs and suggest ideas to meet those needs?

  Do you take criticism well? Do you seek out criticism as an avenue for personal growth?

  Are you intuitive? Do you have those strong feelings based on hunches? Are you willing to follow them?

  Are you an avid reader? Do you devour books, magazines, and tapes both in your field and on personal development topics?

  Do you have high integrity? Do you ask yourself before making a decision what would be the ethical thing to do?

  Do you live up to your promises? Do you meet the commitments you make to customers, coworkers, and your boss?

  Do you deal with conflict productively? Do you attack the problem without attacking the person?

  Do you defend the reputation of your boss and your company? Do you always speak positively of your organization in public?

  Do you give credit where credit is due? Do you make sure to recognize people for their accomplishments?

  Are you goal oriented? Do you have an organized and effective approach to accomplish the important goals as opposed to just the urgent goals?

  Do you suggest what else you can do to help? Do you offer to take more responsibility without being asked?

  Are you a problem solver? Do you come to your boss with solutions as opposed to whining about the problem?

  Do you have good relationships with your associates? Do you treat your coworkers with respect?

  Do you keep your nose clean of office gossip? Are you the type of person whom your boss perceives as being confidential?

We all need work, and we all make mistakes. The real winners at work and in life are constantly aware of their behaviors and are committed to continuously improving.