-- conscientious
-- innovative
-- communicative
-- ambitious
You can almost immediately tell who has ideas, is interested in the work, and stands out from the rest.
A responsible corporate leader then offers the opportunity to advance from this beginning having proven their adaptability. Honestly, it is too dangerous / risky to hire people from "unusual" backgrounds into much higher responsibility roles.
This is the old type training environment that companies used to have, especially in manufacturing for example. But with the decline of that, and the offloading of expensive training and apprenticeship to a contractor-run world, this gateway for people to prove themselves is becoming rarer and rarer. And it is a failing of our society to take up that slack with enlightened public policy that realizes this is happening. All we seem to want now is to have someone else grow the crop, and we pick and cut the most attractive.
As far as what type of work I enjoy and/or am successful at, I'm honestly not sure. I haven't enjoyed any work to a high degree since leaving university. So far at least, I've been fairly successful in my work as a software developer for an insurance tech company.
Tie your personal gratification to the result, and (in the 2nd case) tangibly through someone else's recognition of your work. That may be how you learn to value and feel good about performing more than is just necessary. Look to work on or create a project where the recipient of the work is not looking for just good enough.
Also, find a small team whose people can push you to see and value the extra effort, and the aspect of not letting them down. You probably would benefit from finding a mentor who could hook you up with some receptive team willing to give you a shot.
Good luck!