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 Marlborough
British
Military Commander:
John
Churchill Marlborough
Main
Life Accomplishments:
He
was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of
five monarchs throughout the late 17th and early 18th centuries. His rise
to prominence began as a lowly page in the royal court of Stuart England,
but his natural courage on the field of battle soon ensured quick
promotion and recognition from his master and mentor James, Duke of York.
When James became king in 1685, Churchill played a major role in crushing
the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion; but just three years later, Churchill
abandoned his Catholic king for the Protestant William of Orange.
Honoured at William's coronation, Churchill, now the Earl of Marlborough,
served with distinction in Ireland and Flanders during the War of the
Grand Alliance. However, throughout the reign of William and Mary, their
relationship with Marlborough and his influential wife Sarah, remained
cool. After damaging allegations of collusion with the exiled court of
King James, Marlborough was dismissed from all civil and military offices
and temporarily imprisoned in the Tower of London. Only after the death of
Mary, and the threat of another major European war, did Marlborough return
to favour with William.
Marlborough's influence at court reached its zenith with the accession of
Sarah's close friend Queen Anne. Promoted to Captain-General of British
forces, and later to a dukedom, Marlborough found international fame in
the War of the Spanish Succession where, on the fields of Blenheim,
Ramillies and Oudenarde, his place in history as one of Europe's great
generals was assured. However, when his wife fell from royal grace as
Queen Anne's favourite, the Tories, determined on peace with France,
pressed for his downfall. Marlborough was dismissed from all civil and
military offices on charges of embezzlement, but the Duke eventually
regained favour with the accession of George I in 171
Basics:
Born:
Born 26 May 1650 in Ashe House, Devon
Died: Died 27 June 1722 ( years old) at Windsor Lodge
Nationality: American
Religion: Anglican
Fields: Military, Politics
Main Accomplishments: Duke of Marlborough.
Chronology
of Life Events:
May
26, 1650
Birth
of John Marlborough
Sep
14, 1667
He obtained a commission as ensign in the King's Own Company in the 1st
Guards
1668
Churchill
sailed for the North African outpost of Tangier,
1672
Churchill
went to sea again. Whilst fighting the Dutch navy at the Battle of Solebay
off the Suffolk coast
1677
Colonel
Churchill married Sarah sometime in the winter of 1677–78
Aug
1685
He
was awarded the lucrative colonelcy of the Third Troop of Life Guards
1688
Churchill slipped from the royal camp and rode towards William in
Axminster
1689
Churchill
was created Earl of Marlborough
Aug
25, 1689
Marlborough won praise from the Dutch commander, Prince Waldeck,
1690
Marlborough
was appointed a member of the Council of Nine to advise Queen Mary in the
King's absence
1691
Marlborough
had been in contact with James at Saint-Germain.
1696
Marlborough,
together with Godolphin, Russell and Shrewsbury, was yet again implicated
in a treasonous plot with King James, this time instigated by the Jacobite
militant Sir John Fenwick
May
15, 1702
Marlborough
was given command of the British, Dutch and hired German forces, but the
command had its limitations
1702
He
had captured Venlo, Roermond, Stevensweert and Liege in the Spanish
Netherlands
May
23, 1706
Marlborough
inflicted "the most shameful, humiliating and disastrous of
routs" on French forces,
1708
Marlborough
was able to regain the strategic initiative for the Allies
1716
The
Duke (John) suffered a paralytic stroke at Holywell House
1719
The
Duke and Duchess were able to move into the east wing of the unfinished
palace
1722
He
suffered another stoke
Jun
27, 1722
John
Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, died.
Early
Life:
John
Churchill was born about June 1, 1650, at Ashe in Devonshire, was educated
at St. Paul's School in London, and as early as 1667 had a position with
the Duke of York and a commission in the guards. Strikingly handsome and
charming, Churchill was also ambitious and acquisitive. He might have
married for wealth and position, but he married for love, choosing the
beautiful and imperious Sarah Jennings, already (1678) a favorite with
Princess Anne. When the Duke of York became king, Churchill continued to
enjoy his favor. He became Baron Churchill in 1685 and held military
commands but took no active part in politics beyond consolidating his
position with Princess Anne.
The Revolution of 1688 saw Marlborough desert James II at a critical
point, and his wife helped persuade Anne to desert the King, her father.
Churchill's assistance to the new king was rewarded. William III made him
Earl of Marlborough and gave him commands in Ireland and on the Continent.
A rift soon developed between the King and his sister-in-law Anne, and the
Churchills were involved. When Marlborough was discovered writing to the
exiled James, he was dismissed from his posts on suspicion of treason.
Only in 1701, with war against France (over dividing up the Spanish
Empire) about to break out, did William relent, appointing Marlborough
commander in chief. Marlborough was then in his fiftysecond year; had he
died at this point, his name would be practically unknown.
With William III's death (1702) Anne became queen, and she put Marlborough
in charge of military and diplomatic affairs, with his friend Sidney
Godolphin in charge of finances and Robert Harley manager of the Commons.
It was this three-man team which successfully carried on the first 6 years
of the war. These were also the years of Marlborough's great victories.
Campaigns in 1702 and 1703 were uneventful largely because Marlborough was
engaged in strenuous efforts to keep together the Grand Alliance against
Louis XIV of France.
Wife
Background:
Sarah
Jennings was born on May 29, 1660, in Holywell, Hertfordshire. She was the
daughter of Richard Jennings (or Jenyns), a Member of Parliament, and
Frances Thornhurst. Richard Jennings came into contact with James, Duke of
York (the future James II, brother of King Charles II) in 1663, during
negotiations for the recovery of an estate. His first impressions were
favourable, and in 1664 Sarah’s sister, Frances, was appointed maid of
honour to the Duchess of York, Anne Hyde. Although Frances was forced to
give up the post because of her marriage to a Catholic, his memory of the
family remained, as in 1667 Sarah entered court as maid of honour to
James’ second duchess, Mary of Modena.
Sarah became close to the young Princess Anne at this time, and the
closeness, which later developed into friendship, grew stronger as the two
grew older. At the age of seventeen, in 1676, she met, and was courted by,
her future husband John Churchill. Although the two connected, Churchill
had previously been a lover of Charles II’s mistress, Barbara Villiers,
Duchess of Cleveland. Churchill also had little to offer financially, as
his estates were in deep debt.
There was also a rival for John’s hand in marriage in Catherine Sedley,
a mistress of James II. It is likely that John hoped to have Sarah as a
mistress to replace the recently departed Duchess of Cleveland, but
surviving letters from Sarah to John show her unwillingness to be one.
John contemplated marriage to Sedley, but when Sarah’s brother died in
1677, and she and her sister gained significantly more wealth, John chose
Sarah, and the two were married in the winter of 1677-8, with the
permission and support of the Duchess of York.
Father
Background:
Sir
Winston Churchill was an English soldier, historian and politician. He was
the father of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, as well as an
ancestor of his 20th-century namesake, Prime Minister Sir Winston
Churchill.
Churchill was the son of John Churchill, a lawyer, and Sarah Winston,
daughter of Sir Henry Winston. The Churchills were an old Dorsetshire
family. He was educated at St John's College, Oxford, but left university
without taking a degree. Churchill was a fervent Royalist through his life
and fought in the Civil War as a Captain in the King's Horse and, after
the Royalists were defeated, was forced to pay a recompense fee of
£4,446. After the Restoration he sat as Tory Member of Parliament for
Weymouth and Melcombe Regis from 1661 to 1679 and for Lyme Regis from 1685
to 1688. Churchill was also a Commissioner of the Irish Court of Claims
and Explanations between 1662 and 1668 and a Junior Clerk Comptroller to
the Board of Green Cloth from 1664 to 1679. He was knighted in 1664 and
made a Fellow of the Royal Society the same year. He also published a
history of the kings of England, entitled Divi Britannica; being a remark
upon the Lives of all the Kings of this Isle, from the year of the World
2855 until the year of Grace 1660.
In 1643 Churchill married Elizabeth Drake, daughter of Sir John Drake and
his wife Eleanor, niece of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. They
had twelve children, of whom only five survived infancy. Three of their
sons gained distinction. The aforementioned John became a famous military
commander and was created Duke of Marlborough, Charles Churchill became a
Lieutenant-General in the Army while George Churchill became an Admiral in
the Royal Navy. One of their daughters was Arabella Churchill. Churchill
died in March 1688, aged 67.
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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