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:
Immanuel Kant
German Philosopher:
Immanuel
Kant
Main
Life Accomplishments:
German
philosopher Immanuel Kant's position as one of the greats in Western
metaphysics comes from works he published late in life, including Critique
of Pure Reason (1781) and The Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of
Ethics (1785). He grew up in Königsberg and never really left home,
spending most of his professional life attached to the university there as
a lecturer on philosophy. His lectures made him internationally famous,
and he followed an outstanding academic career with published works that
became standards in Western philosophy. Kant, influenced by the works of
David Hume, held that we could only know what we experience, what he
called the phenomenal, and that we could never know that which is beyond
experience, what he called the noumenal. In doing so, Kant ruled out the
possibility of our demonstrable knowledge of God, without ruling out the
existence of God. But he also argued for an absolute morality based on
free will and rationality, referred to as the categorical imperative:
"Act as if the maxim from which you act were to become through your
will a universal law." His brilliant, sometimes impenetrable
arguments about the limits of human understanding are part of the canon of
Western thought. His works include Prolegomena (his 1783 attempt to better
explain Critique of Pure Reason), Critique of Practical Reason (1788) and
Critique of Judgment (1790).
Kant's belief that our understanding of objects would always be skewed by
our limited capacity to understand can be seen in his famous quote:
"Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing can ever be
made."
Basics:
Born: Saturday,
April 22, 1724 in Königsberg
Died: 12-Feb-1804
Königsberg, East Prussia (Kaliningrad)
Nationality: German
Religion:
Lutheran
Fields: Philosophy
Main Accomplishments: Immanuel Kant is one of the most
influential philosophers in the history of Western philosophy.
Chronology
of Life Events:
April
22, 1724
Immanuel
Kant born
1732
A
Pietist boarding and day-school, where he masters Latin and develops a
dislike of religious dogmatism and formalism.
1737
Death
of Kant’s mother: Anna Regina (Reuter) Kant,
1740
Coronation
in Königsberg of Friedrich II
1745
Translation
into German of George Berkeley’s Siriz
1746
Death
of Kant's father (Johann Georg Kant)
1758
The
Russians begin their occupation of Konigsberg.
1765
Kant's
decline possible offer of a mathematics professorship at Halle.
Apr
1766
Kant
begin work as a assistant librarian at the Castle Library in Konigsberg,
continuing this until May 1772.
Dec
15, 1769
Kant
declines an offer of the Logic and Metaphysics chair at Erlangen.
1779
Kant
begins his second term as dean of the Philosophy Faculty, this involves
membership on the Academic Senate for the winter semester.
Jun
1780
Following
professor the death of Prof. Christiani, Kant joins the Academic Senate as
a permanent member.
Oct
10 1785
Kant
begins his fourth term as a dean of the Philosophy faculty.
1787
Kant
moves into his own house, with little furniture and bare walls save for a
small portrait of Jean- Jacques Rousseau.
1798
Kant
becomes a responding member of the Siena Academy Sciences.
1801
Kant
agrees to retire from his professorship and the Academic Senate.
1804
Kant's
death in Konigsberg.
Early
Life:
Immanuel
Kant was born in 1724 in Königsberg, as the fourth of eleven children
(five of them reached adulthood). He was baptized as 'Emanuel' but later
changed his name to 'Immanuel'[3] after he learned Hebrew. He spent his
entire life in and around his hometown, the capital of Prussia at that
time, never traveling more than a hundred miles from Königsberg.[4] His
father Johann Georg Kant (1682–1746) was a German craftsman from Memel,
at the time Prussia's most northeastern city (now Klaipėda,
Lithuania). His mother Anna Regina Porter (1697–1737), born in
Nuremberg, was the daughter of a Scottish saddle and harness maker. In his
youth, Kant was a solid, albeit unspectacular, student. He was raised in a
Pietist household that stressed intense religious devotion, personal
humility, and a literal interpretation of the Bible. Consequently, Kant
received a stern education – strict, punitive, and disciplinary – that
favored Latin and religious instruction over mathematics and science.
The
fourth of nine children of Johann Georg and Anna Regina Kant, Immanuel
Kant was born in the town of Königsberg on April 22, 1724. Johann Kant
was a harness maker, and the large family lived in modest circumstances.
The family belonged to a Protestant sect of Pietists, and a concern for
religion touched every aspect of their lives. Although Kant became
critical of formal religion, he continued to admire the "praiseworthy
conduct" of Pietists. Kant's elementary education was taken at Saint
George's Hospital School and then at the Collegium Fredericianum, a
Pietist school, where he remained from 1732 until 1740.
In 1740 Kant entered the University of Königsberg. Under the influence of
a young instructor, Martin Knutzen, Kant became interested in philosophy,
mathematics, and the natural sciences. Through the use of Knutzen's
private library, Kant grew familiar with the philosophy of Christian
Wolff, who had systematized the rationalism of Leibniz. Kant accepted the
rationalism of Leibniz and Wolff and the natural philosophy of Newton
until a chance reading of David Hume aroused him from his "dogmatic
slumbers."
The death of Kant's father in 1746 left him without income. He became a
private tutor for 7 years in order to acquire the means and leisure to
begin an academic career. During this period Kant published several papers
dealing with scientific questions. The most important was the
"General Natural History and Theory of the Heavens" in 1755. In
this work Kant postulated the origin of the solar system as a result of
the gravitational interaction of atoms. This theory anticipated Laplace's
hypothesis (1796) by more than 40 years. In the same year Kant presented a
Latin treatise, "On Fire", to qualify for the doctoral degree.
Kant spent the next 15 years (1755-1770) as a nonsalaried lecturer whose
fees were derived entirely from the students who attended his lectures. In
order to live he lectured between 26 and 28 hours a week on metaphysics,
logic, mathematics, physics, and physical geography. Despite this enormous
teaching burden, Kant continued to publish papers on various topics. He
finally achieved a professorship at Königsberg in 1770.
Father
Background:
Johann
Georg Kant (1682–1746) was a German craftsman from Memel, at the time
Prussia's most northeastern city (now Klaipėda, Lithuania).
Johann
Kant was a harness maker, and the large family lived a humble life. The
family belonged to a Protestant religious group of Pietists (a German
religious movement whose members strongly believed in religious experience
and biblical study), and a concern for religion touched every aspect of
their lives. Although Kant became critical of formal religion, he
continued to admire the "praiseworthy conduct" of Pietists.
Kant's elementary education was at Saint George's Hospital School and then
at the Collegium Fredericianum, a Pietist school, where he remained from
1732 until 1740. Here he gained a deep appreciation for the classics of
Latin literature, especially the poet Lucretius.
Mother
Background:
His
mother Anna Regina Porter (1697–1737), born in Nuremberg, was the
daughter of a Scottish saddle and harness maker. In his youth, Kant was a
solid, albeit unspectacular, student. He was raised in a Pietist household
that stressed intense religious devotion, personal humility, and a literal
interpretation of the Bible. Consequently, Kant received a stern education
– strict, punitive, and disciplinary – that favored Latin and
religious instruction over mathematics and science.
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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