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 D.
Rockefeller
Founder
of Standard Oil:
John
D. Rockefeller
Main
Life Accomplishments:
John
Davison Rockefeller was an American industrialist and philanthropist.
Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the
structure of modern philanthropy. In 1870, he founded the Standard Oil
Company and ran it until he officially retired in 1897. Standard Oil began
as an Ohio partnership formed by John D. Rockefeller, his brother William
Rockefeller, Henry Flagler, chemist Samuel Andrews, and a silent partner
Stephen V. Harkness. Rockefeller kept his stock and as gasoline grew in
importance, his wealth soared and he became the world's richest man and
first American billionaire, and is often regarded as the richest person in
history.
Standard Oil was convicted in Federal Court of monopolistic practices and
broken up in 1911. Rockefeller spent the last 40 years of his life in
retirement. His fortune was mainly used to create the modern systematic
approach of targeted philanthropy with foundations that had a major effect
on medicine, education, and scientific research.
His foundations pioneered the development of medical research, and were
instrumental in the eradication of hookworm and yellow fever. He is also
the founder of both University of Chicago and Rockefeller University. He
was a devoted Northern Baptist and supported many church-based
institutions throughout his life. Rockefeller adhered to total abstinence
from alcohol and tobacco throughout his life.
He married Laura Celestia ("Cettie") Spelman in 1864. They had
four daughters and one son; John D. Rockefeller, Jr. "Junior"
was largely entrusted with the supervision of the foundations.
Basics:
Born:
July 8, 1839 Richford, New York, USA
Died: May
23, 1937 (aged 97) The Casements, Ormond Beach, Florida, USA
Nationality: American
Religion: Baptist
Fields: Business
Main Accomplishments: One of the richest Americans in
history, John D. Rockefeller was the founder of the Standard Oil Company
and, later, a philanthropist whose wealth bankrolled the Rockefeller
Foundation. Hard-working and meticulous, Rockefeller started out small and
then made his fortune via hard-nosed and sometimes controversial business
tactics, which have since made him an entrepreneurial hero to some, a
greedy fiend in the eyes of others. He started in the oil business, and by
the end of the century the Standard Oil Trust controlled so many other
interests that it fell afoul of anti-trust laws. In 1911 the U.S. Supreme
Court called Standard Oil a monopoly and forced the Trust to separate into
competing companies. By that time Rockefeller himself was no longer
involved in running the business, having devoted himself completely to
philanthropy since 1896. He gave away millions to schools, health
organizations and civic projects through the Rockefeller Foundation, which
endures today.
Chronology
of Life Events:
Jul
18, 1839
John
Rockefeller born in Richford, New York, USA
1851
Young
Rockefeller moves to Moravia.
1853
In
1853, Rockefeller's family bought a house in Strongsville, a town close to
Cleveland, Ohio.
1855
When
Rockefeller was 16 he got his first job as a clerk. At that time he
promised when he retired he would give 1/10 of his money to charity.
1864
He
got married with the schoolteacher named Laura C. Spelman
1872
Undeterred, Rockefeller continued with his self-reinforcing cycle of
buying competing refiners, improving the efficiency of his operations,
pressing for discounts on oil shipments, undercutting his competition, and
buying them out. In six weeks in 1872, Standard Oil had absorbed 22 of its
26 Cleveland competitors.
1874
Rockefeller's
secret agreement with antagonists.
1882
Standard
Oil gradually gained almost complete control of oil production in America.
At that time, many legislatures had made it difficult to incorporate in
one state and operate in another.
1884
Rockefeller
provided major funding for a college in Atlanta for black women that
became Spelman College (named for Rockefeller's in-laws who were ardent
abolitionists before the Civil War). Rockefeller also gave considerable
donations to Denison University and other Baptist colleges.
1892
Separation
of Standard Oil of Ohio.
1900
Rockefelle
r gave $80 million to the University of Chicago under William Rainey
Harper, turning a small Baptist college into a world-clas s institutio n
by 1900.
1901
Rockefeller
wealth, distributed as it was through a system of foundations and trusts,
continued to fund family philanthropic, commercial, and, eventually,
political aspirations throughout the 20th century.
1904
One
of the most effective attacks on Rockefeller and his firm was the 1904
publication of The History of the Standard Oil Company, by Ida Tarbell, a
leading muckraker.
1937
Rockfeller
died in Ormand Beach, Florida, USA.
Early
Life:
Rockefeller
was the second of six children born in Richford, New York, to William
Avery Rockefeller (November 13, 1810–May 11, 1906) and Eliza Davison
(September 12, 1813–March 28, 1889). Genealogists trace his roots back
to Germany in the 1600s[7][8]. His father, a travelling salesman who the
locals referred to as "Big Bill", was a sworn foe of
conventional morality who had opted for a vagabond existence. Throughout
his life, William Avery Rockefeller expended considerable energy on tricks
and schemes to avoid plain hard work.[9] Eliza, a homemaker and devout
Baptist, struggled to maintain a semblance of stability at home as William
was frequently gone for extended periods. Young John D. Rockefeller's
contemporaries described him as articulate, methodical, and discreet.
When he was a boy, his family moved to Moravia, New York and, in 1851, to
Owego, New York, where he attended Owego Academy. In 1853, his family
bought a house in Strongsville, a town close to Cleveland. In September
1855, when Rockefeller was 16 he got his first job as an assistant
bookkeeper. Working for a small produce commission firm called
"Hewitt & Tuttle", the full salary for his first three
months' work was $50. At that time he promised when he retired he would
give one tenth of his money to charity.
In 1859, Rockefeller went into the produce commission business with a
partner, Maurice B. Clark. Their firm, Clark & Rockefeller, built an
oil refinery in 1863 in "The Flats", then Cleveland's burgeoning
industrial area. The refinery was directly owned by Andrews, Clark &
Company, which was composed of Clark & Rockefeller, chemist Samuel
Andrews, and M. B. Clark's two brothers. In February 1865, in what was
later described by oil industry historian Daniel Yergin as a
"critical" auction, Rockefeller bought out the Clark brothers
for $72,500, and established the firm of Rockefeller & Andrews.
In 1866, John D. Rockefeller's brother, William, built another refinery in
Cleveland and he was brought into the partnership. In 1867, Henry M.
Flagler became a partner, and the firm of Rockefeller, Andrews &
Flagler was established. By 1868, with Rockefeller borrowing heavily and
reinvesting most of the profits while controlling cost and utilizing his
refineries' waste, the company owned two Cleveland refineries and a
marketing subsidiary in New York, and it was the largest oil refiner in
the world.[10][11] Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler was the predecessor
of the Standard Oil Company.
Wife
Background:
John
married in 1864, taking schoolteacher Laura C. Spelman as his wife. They
would bear five children; four daughters and a son, who would later very
actively resume their father's philanthropist lifestyle.
Father
Background:
William
Avery Rockefeller, Sr. (November 13, 1810 – May 11, 1906) was the father
of American oil tycoon and billionaire, John Rockefeller (July 8, 1839 –
May 23, 1937) and William Rockefeller (1841–1922), who both founded the
Standard Oil company.
"Big Bill" was a quack doctor and a confidence trickster. An
unreliable father, he played virtually no role in his son's business
career, but he lived to a great age.
Rockefeller was born in Granger, New York to Godfrey Rockefeller
(September 24, 1784, Albany, New York–September 28, 1857, Richford, New
York) and Lucy Avery (February 11, 1786, Great Barrington,
Massachusetts–April 6, 1867), married in 1806. He was one of 10 children
Mother
Background:
William
met his future wife (and John D.'s mother), Eliza Davison (1813-1889), 30
miles northwest of his home in Richford, New York, where he was posing as
a deaf-mute peddler. He made the majority of his money as a
self-proclaimed "Celebrated Cancer Specialist," charging each
patient $25, the equivalent of about two month's pay.
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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