Respectful Noun for Really Hard Worker

I'm reading Jon Gertner's The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation. In describing the history of the telephone, Gertner describes Thomas Edison (whose inventions helped improve transmitting voices) with:

Edison usually worked eighteen hours a day or longer, pushing for weeks on end, ignoring family obligations, taking meals at his desk, refusing to pause for sleep or showers.

This perseverance reminded me of a personality in David Kushner's history of software company id in Masters of Doom. It cites game engine designer John Carmack as saying:

If you want to set off and go develop some grand new thing, you don't need millions of dollars of capitalization. You need enough pizza and Diet Coke to stick in your refrigerator, a cheap PC to work on, and the dedication to go through with it. We slept on floors. We waded across rivers.

I recall the book also having an anecdote where Carmack's co-workers test his resolve. They play a movie at high volume while Carmack is working. After turning around briefly to see what's going on, Carmack continues his work as before. And throughout the book Carmack puts that kind of effort into every project he attempts.

I would like a noun that captures more intensity than hard worker. There are hard workers and then there are very devoted workers, who may agree with Gustave Flaubert's quote:

L'homme n'est rien, l'oeuvre – tout [which translates to] The man is nothing, the work - all

At the same time I would like the noun to be respectful, if not praise the subject for their industry. For this reason I'd like to avoid workaholic, which has a compulsory and involuntary aspect to it, as shown in this WebMD quote from Are You a Workaholic?:

But for workaholics, the day of rest never comes. There is always one more email to read, one more phone call to take, one more critically important trip to the office that can't wait until Monday.

Weekends? Holidays? Family? As the uber-workaholic Ebenezer Scrooge put it, "Bah, humbug!"

Similarly, busy bee is not serious enough for my situation.

The word I like most so far is workhorse, defined by MW to be:

a dependable person who does a lot of work

Unfortunately I am drawn to think of being overworked to the point of injury, such as Black Beauty, who "collapses from overwork," or Boxer in Animal Farm, who "[despite] his injuries... continues working harder and harder, until he collapses while working on the windmill."

Is there a complimentary, respectful, or more neutral noun to describe a really hard worker?

Solution 1:

A person who works extremely hard in every way can be called a Trojan:

Trojan 1 n.

2. A person of courageous determination or energy. AHDEL

Trojan n

2. a person who is hard-working and determined [Collins]

The metaphor seems to be derived from the phrase 'worked like a Trojan'. From The Phrase Finder:

WORK LIKE A TROJAN -

"Trojan originally referred to the inhabitants of Troy, the ancient city besieged by the Greeks in their efforts to retrieve their queen, Helen, who had been abducted by the son of the King of Troy. According to legend, as recorded in both Vergil's 'Aeneid' and Homer's 'Illiad,' the Trojans were a hard-working, determined, industrious people. Hence: 'He worked like a Trojan.' " From "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris....

In a far less formal register, in Britain the term grafter is almost always taken as a real compliment; both the following definitions from Collins English Dictionary:

grafter noun

(British, informal) a hard worker [: Fred's a real grafter]

but not in the US:

grafter noun

(informal) a person who acquires money, power, etc, by dishonest or unfair means, esp by taking advantage of a position of trust

Solution 2:

Someone who is more than just a hard worker can be described as persevering:

To persist in or remain constant to a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement. The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense. ― Thomas A. Edison I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature. - John D. Rockefeller

passionate:

having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling; fervid; zealous. I have no special talents. I am passionately curious. -Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) When natural inclination develops into a passionate desire, one advances towards his goal in seven-league boots. - Nikola Tesla I think I overcame every single one of my personal shortcomings by the sheer passion I brought to my work. I don’t know if you’re born with this kind of passion, or if you can learn it. But I do know you need it. - Sam Walton

disciplined:

Controlled behavior resulting from disciplinary training; self-control. Does thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that’s the stuff life is made of. - Ben Franklin Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle. - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves… self-discipline with all of them came first. - Harry S. Truman (1884-1972)

dedicated:

Wholly committed to a particular course of thought or action; devoted. It is rather for us here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

zealous:

Filled with or motivated by zeal; fervent. Allowing only ordinary ability and opportunity, we may explain success mainly by one word and that word is WORK! WORK!! WORK!!! WORK!!!! - Frederick Douglass (1818-1895)

ardent: Displaying or characterized by strong enthusiasm or devotion; fervent.

syn: perseverance, persistence, tenacity imply determined continuance in a state or in a course of action. perseverance suggests effort maintained in spite of difficulties or long-continued application; it is used in a favorable sense: The scientist's perseverance finally paid off in a coveted prize. persistence, which may be used in a favorable or unfavorable sense, implies steadfast, unremitting continuance in spite of opposition or protest: an annoying persistence in a belief. tenacity is a dogged and determined holding on: the stubborn tenacity of a salesman. (TFD)

Solution 3:

Perhaps diligent:

diligent

1. constant in effort to accomplish something; attentive and persistent in doing anything.
2. done or pursued with persevering attention; painstaking.

Dictionary.com

Edit: In light of the updated question, some more options include achiever:

achiever (one who achieves), i.e.

1. to bring to a successful end; carry through; accomplish
2. to get or attain by effort; gain; obtain

Dictionary.com

Or man of action:

man of action:

1. A person who prefers to act rather than contemplate and gets things accomplished quickly an efficiently.

TheFreeDictionary.com

The latter does have connotations of the "shoot first, ask questions later" type, however.

'Nother edit: thanks to medica's suggestion, I found a definition for high achiever:

high achiever:

1. a person who achieves more than the average person in their work

Cambridge Business English Dictionary - Cambridge Dictionaries Online

Solution 4:

A trooper would fit. A trooper is a soldier, but the term is often used colloquially to mean someone who works hard, or is persevering.

Jane is a real trooper she stayed in all weekend to get the report done by monday.

Also a team-player. A team-player is someone who works for the good of the team.

Jim is a great team-player, he changed his lunch plans so he could help out at a critical meeting we had.