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:
John Calvin
Founder
of Calvinist Christian Theology:
John
Calvin
Main
Life Accomplishments:
He
was a French Protestant theologian during the Protestant Reformation and
was a central developer of the system of Christian theology called
Calvinism or Reformed theology. In Geneva, his ministry both attracted
other Protestant refugees and over time made that city a major force in
the spread of Reformed theology. He is famous for his teachings and
writings, in particular for his Institutes of the Christian Religion.
Calvin is also known for his contributions to horticulture and the
popularization of bovine milk for human consumption.
Basics:
Born: July
10, 1509(1509-07-10), Noyon, Picardy, France
Died: May 27, 1564 (aged 54), Geneva, Switzerland
Nationality: French
Religion: Reformed Protestant
Fields: Religion
Main Accomplishments: He was a central developer of the system
of Christian theology called Calvinism or Reformed theology.
Chronology
of Life Events:
1509
Calvin
was born in Noyon, France on July 10.
1523
Fourteen
year-old Calvin goes to Paris to study.
1528–29
Calvin
goes to Orleans and then Bourges to study law.
1531
Calvin’s
Father dies.
1532
He
publishes his first work—a commentary on Seneca’s De Clementia.
1533
Calvin
and Nicolas Cop flee Paris. At about this time Calvin undergoes a
“sudden conversion.”
1534
Calvin
visits Lefevre D’Etaples and resigns his two benefices.
1536
In
March, first edition of his Institutes of the Christian Religion is
published.
1536
In
August, Calvin is persuaded by Farel to remain in Geneva.
1538
Calvin
and Farel are banished from Geneva. Calvin goes to Strasbourg as pastor to
the French-speaking congregation.
1539
Cardinal
Sadeleto writes letter to Geneva. Calvin is asked to respond on behalf of
Geneva.
1540
Calvin’s
Commentary on Romans is published. In August, Calvin marries the widow of
an Anabaptist, Idelette de Bure.
1541
Calvin
is welcomed back to Geneva September 13.
1542
Calvin
writes a treatise on free will against the Roman Catholic theologian
Albert Pighius.
1549
Calvin’s
wife, Idelette, dies. Consensus Tigurinus is signed with Zurich.
1552
Jerome
Bolsec banished from Geneva.
1553
Servetus
is burned at the stake for heresy.
1559
Calvin
is made a citizen of Geneva. Final edition of Institutes is published.
Academy is established.
1564
Calvin
dies on May 27
Early
Life:
Calvin
was born Jean Cauvin (or Chauvin in standard French, in Latin Calvinus) in
Noyon, Picardie, France, to Gérard Cauvin and Jeanne le Franc. A diligent
student who excelled at his studies, Calvin was "remarkably
religious" even as a young man.
Calvin's father was an attorney who also served as a Noyon Cathedral
business administrator and lawyer. In 1523 Gerard sent his
fourteen-year-old son to the University of Paris to pursue a Latin,
theological education and to flee the plague in Noyon. But when Gerard
fell out of favor with the cathedral chapter, he urged Calvin to change
his studies to law, and he did. By 1532, he had attained a Doctor of Laws
degree at Orléans. It is not clear when Calvin converted to
Protestantism, though in the preface to his commentary on Psalms, Calvin
said:
"God by a sudden conversion subdued and brought my mind to a
teachable frame.... Having thus received some taste and knowledge of true
godliness I was immediately inflamed with so intense a desire to make
progress therein, that although I did not altogether leave off [legal]
studies, I yet pursued them with less ardor."
His Protestant friends included Nicholas Cop, Rector at the University of
Paris. In 1533 Cop gave an address "replete with Protestant
ideas," and "Calvin was probably involved as the writer of that
address." Cop soon found it necessary to flee Paris, as did Calvin
himself a few days after. In Angoulême he sheltered with a friend, Louis
du Tillet. Calvin settled for a time in Basel, where in 1536 he published
the first edition of his Institutes.
After a brief and covert return to France in 1536, Calvin was forced to
choose an alternate return route in the face of imperial and French
forces, and in doing so he passed by Geneva. Guillaume Farel pleaded with
Calvin to stay in Geneva and help the city. Despite a desire to continue
his journey, he settled in Geneva. After being expelled from the city, he
served as a pastor in Strasbourg from 1538 until 1541, before returning to
Geneva, where he lived until his death in 1564.
After attaining his degree, John Calvin sought a wife in affirmation of
his approval of marriage over clerical celibacy. In 1539, he married
Idelette de Bure, a widow, who had a son and daughter from her previous
marriage to an Anabaptist in Strasbourg. Calvin and Idelette had a son who
died after only two weeks. Idelette Calvin died in 1549. Calvin wrote that
she was a helper in ministry, never stood in his way, never troubled him
about her children, and had a greatness of spirit.
Calvin's health began to fail when he suffered migraines, lung
hemorrhages, gout and kidney stones, and at times he had to be carried to
the pulpit to preach and sometimes gave lectures from his bed. According
to his successor, influential Calvinist theologian Theodore Beza, Calvin
took only one meal a day for a decade, but on the advice of his physician,
he ate an egg and drank a glass of wine at noon. His recreation and
exercise consisted mainly of a walk after meals. Towards the end, Calvin
said to those friends who were worried about his daily regimen of work
amidst all his ailments, "What! Would you have the Lord find me idle
when He comes?"
John Calvin died in Geneva on May 27, 1564. He was buried in an unmarked
grave that to this day is not yet credibly identified. The traditional
location is the Cimetière des Rois under a tombstone marked simply with
the initials "J.C.". Beza, Calvin's successor laments the lack
of recognition for Calvin's grave. He is commemorated in the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America's liturgical calendar of saints as a Renewer of
the Church on May 27.
Wife
Background:
Idelette
Storder de Bure Calvin (died 1549) was the only wife of the French
reformer John Calvin (Jean Chauvin). He was so caught up in his labors
that he did not seem to consider marriage until age 30 or so. He asked
friends to help him find a woman who was "chaste, obliging, not
fastidious, economical, patient, and careful for (his) health" [1].
His fellow laborer Martin Bucer had known Idelette and recommended her to
Calvin in confidence that she would fit the bill. She was a widow,
previously married to Jean Storder (an Anabaptist) and mother of several
children. They married in August 1540.
Idelette bore Calvin three children, all of whom died in infancy. In
response to the slander of Catholics who took this for a judgment upon
them for being heretics, Calvin said he was content with his many sons in
the faith. Idelette busied herself attending to Calvin in his many
illnesses, faithfully visiting the sick and afflicted, and making her home
a refuge for those who fled for their lives and their faith.
Though she survived the plague when it ravaged Geneva, Idelette died after
a lengthy illness in 1549. Upon her deathbed she was patient, and her
words, edifying, e.g: "O God of Abraham, and of all our fathers, in
thee have the faithful trusted during so many past ages, and none of them
have trusted in vain. I also will hope"
Father
Background:
Calvin's
father as an administrator in the town's cathedral.
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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