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
Gershwin
American
composer and songwriter:
George Gershwin
Main
Life Accomplishments:
George Gershwin (September 26, 1898 – July 11,
1937) was an American composer. He wrote most of his vocal and theatrical
works in collaboration with his elder brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin.
George Gershwin composed songs both for Broadway and for the classical
concert hall. He also wrote popular songs with success.
Many of his compositions have been used on television and in numerous
films, and many became jazz standards. The jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald
recorded many of the Gershwins' songs on her 1959 Gershwin Songbook
(arranged by Nelson Riddle). Countless singers and musicians have recorded
Gershwin songs, including Fred Astaire, Louis Armstrong, Al Jolson, Bobby
Darin, Art Tatum, Bing Crosby, Janis Joplin, John Coltrane, Frank Sinatra,
Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Madonna, Judy
Garland, Julie Andrews, Barbra Streisand, Marni Nixon, Natalie Cole, Patti
Austin, Nina Simone, Maureen McGovern, John Fahey, The Residents, Sublime,
and Sting.
Basics:
Born:
September 26, 1898 Brooklyn, New York
Died: July
11, 1937 (aged 38) Hollywood, California
Religion: Jewish
Nationality: American
Fields: Arts
Main Accomplishments: American composer George Gershwin
(1898-1937) was eminently successful in popular music, as well as in the
classical field with several concert works and an opera that have become
standards in the contemporary repertory.
Chronology
of Life Events:
September 26, 1898
Born.
1918
George began his professional career as a
pianist/vocalist for the Jerome Remick music publishing company.
1919
"At fifteen. he left school to become a
pianist demonstrating new songs in the salesrooms of a music publisher;
three years later, he started his won career as a songwriter
1920 - 1924
He wrote many of the songs in the productions
of George White's Scandals.
1924
Rhapsody in Blue, one of Gershwin's most
famous works.
Jul 11,1937
Died of a brain tumour. He was interred in the
Westchester Hills Cemetery, Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.
Early
Life:
Gershwin was born as Jacob Gershowitz in
Brooklyn, New York to Ukrainian Jewish immigrant parents. His father,
Morris (Moishe) Gershowitz, changed the family name to Gershvin sometime
after immigrating from St. Petersburg, Russia. Gershwin's mother, Rosa
Bruskin, having already immigrated from Russia, married Gershowitz four
years later. (George changed the spelling of the family name to Gershwin
after he became a professional musician, and other members of his family
followed suit.)
George Gershwin was the second of four children. He first displayed
interest in music at the age of ten, when he was intrigued by what he
heard at his boyhood friend's, Max Rosen's, violin recital.[1] The sound
and the way his friend played captured him. His parents had bought a piano
for his older brother Ira Gershwin, but to his parents' surprise and Ira's
relief, it was George who played it. Although his younger sister Frances
Gershwin was the first in the family to make money from her musical
talents, she married young and became a housewife and mother, giving up
her own singing and dance career—settling into painting, a hobby of George
Gershwin's.
Gershwin tried various piano teachers for two years, and then was
introduced to Charles Hambitzer by Jack Miller, the pianist in the
Beethoven Symphony Orchestra. Hambitzer acted as George's mentor until his
death, in 1918. Hambitzer taught George conventional piano technique,
introduced him to music of the European classical tradition, and
encouraged him to attend orchestral concerts. (At home following such
concerts, young George would attempt to reproduce at the piano the music
he had heard.) He later studied with classical composer Rubin Goldmark and
avant-garde composer-theorist Henry Cowell.
Father
Background:
Morris Gershovitz, George Gershwin's father,
moved from Russia to New York, U.S.A. in 1890.
As soon as he arrived he began searching for Rose Bruskin, the girl he
loved. Rose was already somewhere in New York City.
First Morris had to find a tailor named Greenstein.
You see...Greenstein was Morris' uncle and he knew where Rose was. Morris
not only found Rose, but he married her in 1895.
Mother
Background:
Rose Gershovitz, Russian immigrants who had
settled in New York in the early 1890s.
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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