It seems to me that if you are someone who operates in the top 1-3% sphere of whatever it is that you do, you have to be obsessed.
Your craft/company/area of focus is always on your mind, and represents nearly all of your mental and physical efforts. You love what you do, and you can’t imagine doing anything else.
Not only do you deliberately avoid distraction from “your thing”, but you are so inclined to focus on what you do that your tunnel vision necessarily turns into obsession, and only obsession can possibly lead to the exceptional.