Identifying
SuperAttainers
The
SuperAttainment Research Center is funding a multi-year study of high achieving individuals across a great variety of fields and geographies. The purpose is to determine key attributes indicating an propensity toward superior achievement that can be recognized by most people with experience managing other people.
The work is ongoing and is being expanded continuously.
The
SuperAttainment Research Center is an initiative to help people
in management positions identify high potential leaders and channel
them toward meaningful contributions to their organizations and to
society at large.
The
8 attributes of SuperAttainers listed below are considered some of
the
most common and easiest to identify when accompanied by other
aspects of career success.
8
Attributes of
SuperAttainers
1. Early Success
The Early Bird Gets the Worm…and Everything Else
SuperAttainers usually begin doing amazing things early in their life. In fields like music and sport, it has long been
understood that for a child to have a chance at greatness, he needs to begin around age 3 and then work at it for many years. In business and politics, unusual ability is also recognized early in a SuperAttainer’s career and is followed with many years of continued achievement. In the greatness game, it is the rabbit who wins the
race -- as long as he persists like the tortoise.
2. Contrarian
When in Rome, Don’t Do As the Romans
SuperAttainers generally think of themselves as different and apart from other people. They can often be described as rebellious and
disobedient by those who try to rule over them and are never willing crowd followers. Tremendous success seems to require doing things tremendously different.
Doing things a little better will yield results that are only a little better than others and this is not what SuperAttainers are interested in.
3. Conceited
The Pride Before The Rise
In order for someone to be thought of as great in the minds of others, he must first be thought of as great in his own mind. The tremendous achievements of SuperAttainers seem to be merely a realization in the outer world of what is already in their inner world. Predictably, it is uncommon for such people to be overly shy about describing their abundant abilities. Many SuperAttainers have come to recognize that being known as arrogant does not help their purpose and they do a good job of appearing modest. However, a bit of digging into their personality should uncover a deep feeling of self-significance.
4. Hard-Knocked
Nothing Succeeds Like Suffering
SuperAttainers have often experienced traumatic periods when their careers or even their lives were in great peril. It is during these times that they gain a deep seated feeling of personal vulnerability that can stay with them for the rest of their lives. The advantage to the future SuperAttainer is that they become consumed by the realization that they must accomplish all they can while they have the chance because it can all come crashing down at any time. It is a psychological condition that will drive them to greatness for
the rest of their lives.
5. Loner
One is Company, Two is a Crowd
SuperAttainers are often described by others as dreamers, outsiders, cold-hearted and similar labels often given to loners. They are comfortable spending long periods in the company of themselves to ponder, learn and envisage the future. Many develop a love of solitary activities such as book-reading early in their life. They are not usually enthusiastic participants in team activities except when they are
leading the group.
6. Mentored
& Motivated
Behind Every Great Man are His Parents
Parents often play
the key role in the cultivation and realization of SuperAttainers,
spending immense amounts of time and money to give their offspring
the skills, experiences and relationships required for immense
amounts of success. They tutor baby SuperAttainers from the crib,
send them to the best schools and put them in touch with the best
mentors. It has been shown that mothers, in particular, can play a
strong role if they are supremely confident in their son's innate
abilities and then take devoted and continuing action to develop
them.
7. Discontent
Patience is No Virtue
SuperAttainers have an abnormally intense need for continuous accomplishment. Success does not bring these people a sense of inner peace. There is always someone else to overtake or a higher target to aspire to. They are impatient, dissatisfied and edgy when not engaged in activities that lead to the fulfillment of their personal goals. They seem psychologically unstable in this regard compared with most people.
8. Promoted
Self-Flattery Gets You Everywhere
There have been many great people who have lived and died in the history of our species but nobody knows most of them because their achievements were inadequately documented. In order to be thought of as a great success by large numbers of people, someone needs to be a great success at publicizing the SuperAttainer. In most instances, it is the SuperAttainers
themselves who are great self-promoters. In other cases, another talented person takes on the critically important role.
TWO
TYPES OF SUPERATTAINERS
1. Aristocratic SuperAttainers
Pampered and pompous, these people excel despite having been given it all. They grow up with all the best things, attend the best schools and hobnob with the best minds. Because they are so deeply bonded to a powerful and privileged elite, they are often conservative and elitist. Real change seldom happens with these people in charge. On the plus side, they are less likely to lead themselves and their followers down paths of mutual destruction. Examples of Aristocratic SuperAttainers include: Winston Churchill, Peter the Great, Louis XIV and Frederick the Great.
2. Come-From-
Nothing
SuperAttainers
Rags to riches, these people pull themselves up to greatness through tremendous obstacles. Luck plays a role but most of their success is due to relentless force of character. Since they come from outside the establishment, they can be great agents of change. Unfortunately, they are prone to crash and burning when they inevitably overstretch themselves and their supporters. Examples of Come-From-Nothing SuperAttainers include: Joseph Stalin,
Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Mao Zedong.
Rules
for Managers
Rules
for Self-Help
Rules
for Parents
Men
Vs. Women
The
SuperAttainment Research Center is operated as a CSR
(Corporate Social Responsibility) activity of Chalre
Associates Executive Search to help business people identify and
develop future leaders for their organizations and society at
large.
Chalre
Associates is a regional provider of Executive Search services
in the emerging countries of the Asia Pacific region.
Multinational companies use them to bridge the gap between the local
environment and their world-class requirements in countries like
Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
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SuperAttainer:
Augustus Caesar
First
Emperor of Rome:
Augustus
Caesar
Main
Life Accomplishments:
He
was the first and among the most important of the Roman Emperors. Although
he preserved the outward form of the Roman Republic, he ruled as an
autocrat for 41 years, longer than any subsequent Emperor; and his rule is
the dividing line between the Republic and the Roman Empire. He ended a
century of civil wars and gave Rome an era of peace, prosperity, and
imperial greatness, known as the Pax Romana, or Roman peace, which lasted
for over 200 years.
Basics:
Born:
September 23, 63 BC in Rome, Roman Republic
Died: August 19, AD 14 at Rome, Roman Empire
Nationality: Roman
Religion: Roman Religion
Fields: Politics, Military
Main Accomplishments: He started the Pax Romana, or the golden
age of Ancient Roman civilization. He's responsible for reforming the
Roman tax system to make it more honest and reforming the legal system by
creating a set of laws for people who were not citizens
Chronology
of Life Events:
Sep
23 63 BC
Birth
of Augustus
59
BC
His
father died
52
or 51 BC
Octavius
delivered the funeral oration for his grandmother Julia
44
BC
Octavius
was in Apollonia, Illyria, studying and undergoing military training
37
BC
Antony
deserted Octavia and went back to Egypt to be with Cleopatra
31
BC
The
Western half of the Roman Republic territory had sworn allegiance to
Octavian prior to Actium
27
BC
Octavian
officially returned power to the Roman Senate and offered to relinquish
his own military supremacy over Egypt.
26
BC
Augustus
had become bedridden
23
BC
Augustus
renounced the consulship, but retained his consular imperium,Augustus
married his daughter to Agrippa
22
BC
Augustus
failed to stand for election as consul
19
BC
The
Senate voted to allow Augustus to wear the consul's insignia in public and
before the Senate, with an act sometimes known as the Third Settlement
Mar
6 12 BC
He
additionally took up the position of pontifex maximus
*Agrippa
died
Aug
19 14 AD
Augustus
died
Early
Life:
Augustus
was born in Rome (or Velletri) on September 23, 63 BC with the name Gaius
Octavius. His father, of the same name, came from a respectable but
undistinguished family of the equestrian order and was governor of
Macedonia.
Shortly
after Octavius's birth, his father gave him the cognomen of Thurinus,
possibly to commemorate his victory at Thurii over a rebellious band of
slaves. His mother, Atia, was the niece of Julius Caesar, soon to be
Rome's most successful general and Dictator. Octavius spent his early
years in his grandfather's house near Veletrae (modern Velletri).
In
59 BC, when he was four years old, his father died. He was brought up
by
his mother and his stepfather, Lucius Marcius Philippus.
In
52 or 51 BC, Octavius delivered the funeral oration for his grandmother
Julia, elder sister of Caesar. He donned the toga virilis four years
later, and was elected to the College of Pontiffs. According to Nicolaus
of Damascus, Octavius wished to join Caesar's staff for his campaign in
Africabut gave way when Atia protested. The following year, 46 BC, she
consented for him to join Caesar in Hispania, where he planned to fight
the forces of Pompey, Caesar's enemy who was already dead by then, but he
fell ill and was unable to travel.
When
he had recovered, he sailed to the front, but was shipwrecked; after
coming ashore with a handful of companions, he made it across hostile
territory to Caesar's camp, which impressed his great-uncle considerably.
Velleius Paterculus reports that Caesar afterwards allowed the young man
to share his carriage. When back in Rome, Caesar deposited a new will with
the Vestal Virgins, naming Octavius as the prime beneficiary.
Wife
Background:
She
was born on 30 January 58 BC as the daughter of Marcus Livius Drusus
Claudianus by his wife Aufidia, who was a daughter of Aufidius Lurco, a
Roman magistrate from an Italic town. The diminutive Drusilla often found
in her name suggests that she was a second daughter.
In
42 BC, her father married her to Tiberius Claudius Nero, her cousin of
patrician status who was fighting with him on the side of Julius Caesar's
assassins against Octavian. Her father committed suicide in the Battle of
Philippi, along with Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus, but
her husband continued fighting against Octavian, now on behalf of Mark
Antony and his brother. In 40 BC, the family was forced to flee Italy in
order to avoid Octavian's proscriptions, and joined with Sextus Pompeius
in Sicilia, later moving on to Greece.
A
general amnesty was announced, and Livia returned to Rome, where she was
personally introduced to Octavian in 39 BC. At this time, Livia already
had a son, the future emperor Tiberius, and was pregnant with the second (Drusus
the Elder). Legend said that Octavian fell immediately in love with her,
despite the fact that he was still married to Scribonia. Octavian divorced
Scribonia in 39 BC, on the very day that she gave birth to his daughter
Julia the Elder ( Dio Cassius 48.34.3). Seemingly around that time, when
Livia was six months pregnant, Tiberius Claudius Nero was persuaded or
forced by Octavian to divorce Livia. On 14 January, the child was born.
Octavian and Livia married on 17 January, waiving the traditional waiting
period. Tiberius Claudius Nero was present at the wedding, giving her in
marriage "just as a father would" (Dio Cassius 48.44.1-3). The
importance of the patrician Claudii to Octavian's cause, and the political
survival of the Claudii Nerones are probably more rational explanations
for the tempestuous union. Nevertheless, Livia and Octavian remained
married for the next 51 years, despite the fact that they had no children
apart from a single miscarriage. She always enjoyed the status of
privileged counselor to her husband, petitioning him on the behalf of
others and influencing his policies.
Father
Background:
He
was the biological father of Augustus. He descended from an old, wealthy
equestrian branch of the Octavii family, of whom he was the first to enter
the Roman Senate.
His
great-great-grandfather fought as a middle-ranking officer in the Second
Punic War. His father was a municipal magistrate who lived to an advanced
age. Like his father, he bribed voters during elections.
After
his praetorship, he subsequently became governor of Macedonia. He was
commissioned by the Senate on his way to Macedonia to disperse a rebellion
of slaves who had previously taken part in the rebellions under Spartacus
and Catiline. He proved a capable administrator in Macedonia, governing
"courageously and justly", his deeds including victory in a
battle against the Thracian Bessian tribe. Cicero had high regard for his
diplomatic dealings.
Octavius
died in Nola on his way to stand for the consulship in Rome in 59 BC,
supposedly in the same bedroom where Augustus would later pass away. By
his first wife, Ancharia, he fathered Octavia Major; by his second, Atia
Balba Caesonia, he fathered Octavia Minor and Augustus.
Mother
Background:
Atia Balba
Caesonia (85 BC-43 BC) married the Macedonian governor and senator Gaius
Octavius. Their children were Octavia Thurina Minor and Gaius Octavius
Thurinus, later Augustus. In 59 BC, Gaius Octavius died on his way to Rome
to stand for the consulship, and Atia married Lucius Marcius Philippus,
the consul of 56 BC and a supporter of Julius Caesar. He loved raising his
stepchildren alongside his own son and daughter from a previous marriage
and arranged Octavia's first marriage, to the consul and senator Gaius
Claudius Marcellus Minor.
She died
during her son's first consulship, in August/September 43 BC. Octavian
gave her the highest honours at her funeral. Philippus later married one
of her sisters.
SuperAttainer
ANALYSIS SECTION:
1. Early Success
When did the SuperAttainer first display ability
that was greatly above average and what were his accomplishments?
REFERENCES:
1.
2. Contrarian
What actions did the SuperAttainer take that demonstrated a mindset that was very different from those around him?
REFERENCES:
1.
3. Conceited
What are the actions and documented statements that exhibit an elevated sense of self importance of the
SuperAttainer?
REFERENCES:
1.
4. Hard-Knocked
During what events did the SuperAttainer experience personal misery and severe anxiety?
REFERENCES:
1.
5. Loner
Is there evidence of the SuperAttainer being comfortable spending time apart from others?
REFERENCES:
1.
6. Mentored & Motivated
Who was vital to developing the SuperAttainer and guiding his career and what significant actions were taken?
REFERENCES:
1.
7. Discontent
What evidence is there that the SuperAttainer was unsatisfied with even great personal accomplishment?
REFERENCES:
1.
8. Promoted
What actions or events were responsible for
publicizing the tremendous achievements and abilities of the SuperAttainer?
REFERENCES:
1.
Overall
Score:
x
out of 8 = xx%
PASS
SuperAttainer
Type:
Describe the factors in the SuperAttainer’s background to indicate
whether he is a Come-From-Nothing or Aristocratic type..
Conclusion:
Executive Search
& Management Consulting:
Chalre
Associates provides its Executive Search & Management
Consulting services throughout the emerging countries of the Asia Pacific
region with specific focus on Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam
and Singapore.
Regional
Managers use us to help bridge the gap between local environments and
the world-class requirements of multinational corporations.
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