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.
 +632 892 6703
 +63 908 880 4178
 leaders@chalre.com
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SuperAttainer:
George Eastman
Founder
of Eastman Kodak:
George
Eastman
Main
Life Accomplishments:
During
his lifetime, he donated $100 million, mostly to the University of
Rochester and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (under the alias
"Mr. Smith").[9] The Rochester Institute of Technology has a
building dedicated to Mr. Eastman, in recognition of his support and
substantial donations. He endowed the Eastman School of Music of the
University of Rochester.
MIT has a plaque of Eastman (the rubbing of which is traditionally
considered by students to bring good luck) in recognition of his donation.
Eastman also made substantial gifts to the Tuskegee Institute and the
Hampton Institute. Upon his death, his entire estate went to the
University of Rochester, where his name can be found on the Eastman
Quadrangle of the River Campus. His former home at 900 East Avenue in
Rochester, New York was opened as the George Eastman House International
Museum of Photography and Film in 1949. On the 100th anniversary of his
birth in 1954, Eastman was honored with a postage stamp from the United
States Post Office.
Eastman
had a very astute business sense. He focused his company on making film
when competition heated up in the camera industry. By providing quality
and affordable film to every camera manufacturer, Kodak managed to turn
its competitors into de facto business partners.
In 1926 George Eastman was approached by Lord Riddell, the Chairman of
Royal Free Hospital, to fund a dental clinic in London. He agreed to give
£200,000 which was matched by £50,000 each from Lord Riddell and Sir
Albert Levy, the Royal Free's honorary treasurer.
The Eastman Dental Clinic was opened in 20 November 1931 by the American
Ambassador in the presence of Neville Chamberlain. The building, which
resembled the Rochester Dispensary, was totally integrated into the Royal
Free Hospital and included three wards for oral, ear, nose, and throat and
cleft lip and palate surgery and was dedicated to providing dental care
for children from the poor districts of central London.
Basics:
Born:
July 12, 1854(1854-07-12)
Died: March
14, 1932 (aged 77)
Nationality: American
Religion: Atheist
Fields: Business
Main Accomplishments: George Eastman founded the Eastman
Kodak Company and invented the roll of film, helping to bring photography
to the mainstream. The roll film was also the basis for the invention of
the motion picture film in 1888 by world's first filmmaker, Louis Le
Prince, and a decade later by his followers Léon Bouly, Thomas Edison,
the Lumière Brothers and Georges Méliès.
Chronology
of Life Events:
1854
Born
in Waterville, New York.
1888
Began
marketing the first easy-to-use cameras for nonprofessionals.
1900
Introduced
the “Brownie” camera for children.
1910
Began
profit-sharing program for employees.
1928
Marketed
first Kodak using color film.
1932
George
Eastman died.
Early
Life:
Born
in Waterville, New York, he was the third and youngest child of George
Washington Eastman and Maria Kilbourn, both from the bordering town of
Marshall. His third sister died shortly after her birth. In 1854, his
father established the Eastman Commercial College in Rochester. The
Eastman family moved to Rochester in 1865. Two years later after his
father's death, George Eastman left high school to support his mother and
sisters. At age 14 he began working as an office boy.[1]
In 1874, Eastman became intrigued with photography, but found the process
awkward. It required coating a glass plate with a liquid emulsion, which
had to be quickly used before it dried. After three years of
experimentation with British gelatin emulsions, Eastman developed a dry
photographic plate, and patented it in both Britain and the US. In 1880 he
began a photographic business.
In 1884, Eastman patented a photographic medium that replaced fragile
glass plates with a photo-emulsion coated on paper rolls. The invention of
roll film greatly sped up the process of recording multiple images.
Eastman
then received a patent in 1888 for a camera designed to use roll film. He
coined the marketing phrase, "You press the button, we do the
rest."[3] The phrase entered the public consciousness. It was even
incorporated into a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta (Utopia, Limited).
The camera owner could send in the camera with a processing fee of $10.
The company would develop the film, print 100 pictures, and also send
along a new roll of 100-exposures film.[4]
On September 4, 1888 Eastman registered the trademark Kodak. The letter
"K" had been a favorite of Eastman's. He said, "[I]t seems
a strong, incisive sort of letter".[5] Eastman and his mother devised
the name Kodak with an anagram set. He used three principal concepts to
create the name: it must be short, it could not be mispronounced, and it
could not resemble anything else or be associated with anything but
Kodak.[6]
By 1896, 100 Kodak cameras had been sold. The first Kodak cost USD $25. In
an effort to bring photography to the masses, Eastman introduced the
Brownie in 1900 at a price of just $1. It became a great success.
In 1925, Eastman gave up his daily management of Kodak, to become chairman
of the board. He thereafter concentrated on philanthropic activities, to
which he had already donated substantial sums. He was one of the major
philanthropists of his time, ranking only slightly behind Andrew Carnegie,
John D. Rockefeller, and a few others, but did not seek publicity for his
activities. He concentrated on institution-building and causes which could
help people's health. He donated to the University of Rochester,
establishing the Eastman School of Music and School of Dentistry; to
Tuskegee Institute; and to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT), donations which provided the capital to build several of their
first buildings at their second campus along the Charles River.
In his final two years, Eastman was in intense pain, caused by a
degenerative disorder affecting his spine. He had trouble standing and his
walking became a slow shuffle. Today it might be diagnosed as spinal
stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal caused by calcification in the
vertebrae. Eastman grew depressed, as he had seen his mother spend the
last two years of her life in a wheelchair from the same condition. On
March 14, 1932, Eastman committed suicide.[7] He left a suicide note that
read, "To my Friends, My work is done. Why wait?"[8] His funeral
was held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Rochester. Eastman, who never
married, was buried on the grounds of the company he founded at Kodak Park
in Rochester, New York.
Father
Background:
His
father, George Washington Eastman, ran a business school where he taught
bookkeeping and penmanship, but had to work a second job selling fruit
trees and roses, which forced him to split his time between Waterville and
Rochester, New York.
George's
father died, the college failed and the family became financially
distressed.
Mother
Background:
Maria
Kilbourn Eastman mother of George who took care of them when his father
died in 1862.
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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