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:
James Cook
British Explorer:
James
Cook
Main
Life Accomplishments:
He
was an English explorer, navigator and cartographer, ultimately rising to
the rank of Captain in the Royal Navy. Cook was the first to map
Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean during
which he achieved the first European contact with the eastern coastline of
Australia and the Hawaiian Islands as well as the first recorded
circumnavigation of New Zealand.
Basics:
Born: 7
November 1728, Marton, Yorkshire, England
Died: February 14, 1779 (aged 50) Hawaii
Nationality: British
Religion:
Fields: Exploration
Main Accomplishments: Cook was the first to map Newfoundland
prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean.
Chronology
of Life Events:
27
October 1728
Birth
of James Cook at Marton, Yorkshire, England
22
October 1729
Birth
of Johann Reinhold Forster, at Dirschau (Tschew), Polish Prussia
26
November 1754
Birth
of Georg Forster (JR Forster's son) at Nassenhüben, near Danzig, Germany
1758
During
service in the Royal Navy along the Canadian coastline, James Cook learns
military surveying using the plane table
1763-1767
James
Cook surveys the cost of Newfoundland during a number of summer voyages
April
1768
Lt.
James Cook appointed to lead British expedition to the Pacific in HMB
Endeavour
August
1768
Cook's
first Pacific voyage begins HMB Endeavour departs from Plymouth - visits
Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia
3
June 1769
Observation
of the transit of Venus at Tahiti
1769-1770
Circumnavigation
of New Zealand
28
April 1770
Cook
anchors at Botany Bay, Australia
10
June 1770
HMB
Endeavour strikes the Great Barrier Reef, repaired at site of Endeavour
River, near Cooktown
13
September 1770
At
Possession Island, James Cook claims British possession of the east coast
of the Australian continent
July
1771
Cook's
first Pacific voyage ends
June
1772
Following
the withdrawal of Joseph Banks, Johann Reinhold Forster is appointed
naturalist for Cook's second Pacific voyage
July
1772
Cook's
second Pacific voyage begins. HMS Resolution and HMS Adventure depart -
travels in Antarctic Circle, New Zealand, Polynesia and Melanesia
1773
Publication
of official account of first voyage - edited by John Hawkesworth
July
1775
Second
voyage ends with arrival of HMS Resolution in England
July
1776
Cook's
third Pacific voyage begins. HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery depart from
Plymouth - search for Northwest passage in northern Pacific passage visits
New Zealand, Hawaii, Polynesia
March
1777
Publication
of George Forster's 'Voyages round the world'
May
1777
Publication
of official account of second voyage - written by James Cook, edited by
John Douglas
1778
Publication
of JR Forster's 'Observations made during a voyage round the world'
May
1777
Publication
of official account of second voyage - written by James Cook, edited by
John Douglas
14
February 1779
James
Cook killed at Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii
January
1780
News
of Cook's death reaches London
October
1780
Cook's
third Pacific voyage ends HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery arrive back in
England
1782
With
the assistance of King George III, Göttingen University acquires a large
Pacific ethnographic collection from England
1784
Publication
of official account of third voyage - written by James Cook, edited by
John Douglas
10
January 1794
Death
of Georg Foster in Paris, France
9
December 1798
Death
of Johann Reinhold Forster in Halle, Germany (Prussia)
1799
Göttingen
University purchases a Pacific ethnographic collection from Johann
Reinhold Forster's estate
Early
Life:
Cook
was born in relatively humble circumstances in the village of Marton in
Yorkshire, today a suburb belonging to the town of Middlesbrough. He was
baptised in the local church of St. Cuthbert's where today his name can be
seen in the church register. Cook was one of five children of James Cook,
a Scottish farm labourer, and his locally-born wife Grace. In 1736, his
family moved to Airey Holme farm at Great Ayton, where his father's
employer, Thomas Skottowe paid for him to attend the local school (now a
museum). In 1741, after 5 year's schooling, he began work for his father,
who had by now been promoted to farm manager. When he had time off from
the farm, he'd take himself off up nearby Roseberry Topping, climbing
which gave him his first taste for adventure and exploration which was to
stay with him for life. Cook's Cottage, his parents' last home, which he
is likely to have visited, is now in Melbourne, having been moved from
England and reassembled brick by brick in 1934.
In 1745, when he was 16, Cook moved 20 miles to the fishing village of
Staithes to be apprenticed in a grocery/haberdashery business, where he
first felt the lure of the sea while gazing out of the shop window.
After 18 months, not proving suitable for shop work, his boss William
Sanderson took Cook to the nearby port town of Whitby and introduced him
to John and Henry Walker. The Walkers were prominent local ship-owners and
Quakers, and were in the coal trade. Their house is now the Captain Cook
Memorial Museum. Cook was taken on as a merchant navy apprentice in their
small fleet of vessels plying coal along the English coast. His first
assignment was aboard the collier Freelove, and he spent several years on
this and various other coasters sailing between the Tyne and London.
As part of this apprenticeship, Cook applied himself to the study of
algebra, geometry, trigonometry, navigation and astronomy, all skills he
would need one day to command his own ship.
His three-year apprenticeship completed, Cook began working on trading
ships in the Baltic Sea. He soon progressed through the merchant navy
ranks, starting with his 1752 promotion to Mate (officer in charge of
navigation) aboard the collier brig Friendship. In 1755, within a month of
being offered command of this vessel, he volunteered for service in the
Royal Navy, as Britain was re-arming for what was to become the Seven
Years' War.
Despite the need to start back at the bottom of the naval hierarchy, Cook
realised his career would advance more quickly in military service. On
June 17 he began as able seaman aboard HMS Eagle under the command of
Captain Hugh Palliser. He was very quickly promoted to Master's Mate. By
1757, within two years of joining the Royal Navy, he passed his master's
examination qualifying him to navigate and handle a ship of the King's
fleet.
Wife
Background:
In
1762, James Cook married Elizabeth Batts at Barking, just to the east of
London. Traditionally, information about Elizabeth's origins has been
limited and sketchy. She was known to be the daughter of Mary and Samuel
(many works continue to call him John or even James) Batts who ran the
Bell Alehouse at Execution Dock in Wapping. Mary, herself, was the
daughter of Charles Smith, a Bermondsey currier. Samuel Batts died in 1742
and three years later Mary married a man called John Blackburn. Apart from
these facts, little else was known.
Father
Background:
James
Cook, a Scottish farm labourer
Mother
Background:
Thornaby, a
settlement from the arrival of the Danes in 800 AD is the birthplace of
Cook's mother Grace Pace.
On October 10th 1725 she married James Cook, a day farm labourer, who had
come south from the banks of the River Tweed in Roxburghshire, Scotland,
following the Jacobite rebellion of 1715. The centre of Thornaby has moved
in recent years and is now part of Stockton-on-Tees. In Stockton parish
church there is a memorial to Captain James Cook and an altarpiece made of
wood from the Resolution.
Grace and James Cook had eight children. Four died in childhood. Only the
second son James and his sisters Margaret and Christiana survived.
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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