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:
Leonardo Da Vinci
Italian Scientist & Artist:
Leonardo
Da Vinci
Main
Life Accomplishments:
Leonardo
di ser Piero da Vinci, April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was an Italian
polymath, having been a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor,
anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer.
Born as the illegitimate son of a notary, Piero da Vinci, and a peasant
woman, Caterina, at Vinci in the region of Florence, Leonardo was educated
in the studio of the renowned Florentine painter, Verrocchio. Much of his
earlier working life was spent in the service of Ludovico il Moro in
Milan. He later worked in Rome, Bologna and Venice, spending his final
years in France at the home given to him by King François I.
Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the
"Renaissance man", a man whose seemingly infinite curiosity was
equaled only by his powers of invention. He is widely considered to be one
of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely
talented person ever to have lived.
It is primarily as a painter that Leonardo was and is renowned. Two of his
works, the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper occupy unique positions as the
most famous, most reproduced and most parodied portrait and religious
painting of all time, their fame approached only by Michelangelo's
Creation of Adam. Leonardo's drawing of the Vitruvian Man is also iconic.
Perhaps fifteen of his paintings survive, the small number due to his
constant, and frequently disastrous, experimentation with new techniques,
and his chronic procrastination. Nevertheless, these few works, together
with his notebooks, which contain drawings, scientific diagrams, and his
thoughts on the nature of painting, comprise a contribution to later
generations of artists only rivaled by that of his contemporary,
Michelangelo.
As an engineer, Leonardo's ideas were vastly ahead of his time. He
conceptualized a helicopter, a tank, concentrated solar power, a
calculator, the double hull and outlined a rudimentary theory of plate
tectonics. Relatively few of his designs were constructed or were even
feasible during his lifetime, but some of his smaller inventions, such as
an automated bobbin winder and a machine for testing the tensile strength
of wire, entered the world of manufacturing unheralded. As a scientist, he
greatly advanced the state of knowledge in the fields of anatomy, civil
engineering, optics, and hydrodynamics.
Basics:
Born:
April 15, 1452(1452-04-15) Vinci, Florence, in present-day Italy
Died: May 2, 1519 (aged 67) Amboise, Indre-et-Loire, in
present-day France
Nationality: Italian
Religion: Roman Catholic
Fields: Science
Main Accomplishments: He was a famous Italian architect,
anatomist, sculptor, engineer, inventor, geometer, scientist,
mathematician, musician, and painter.
Chronology
of Life Events:
1452
Leonardo is born on April 15 in the village of Anchiano, near the town
of Vinci.
1467
At 15 Leonardo is sent to Florence to work as apprentice to Andrea De
Verrocchio.
1472
20 year-old Leonardo is accepted into the painters' guild of Florence.
1476
Leonardo is accused of sodomy; he is publicly humiliated although the
charges are later dropped.
1478
The Annunciation is painted. The work, initially credited to Da Vinci,
is now believed to have been painted by Lorenzo di Credi.
1481
Leonardo begins work on The Adoration of the Magi, an altarpiece for
the Monastery of San Donato at Scopeto.
He sketches many studies.
1482
Leonardo moves to Milan to work in the service of the city's duke,
Ludovico Sforza. He gains the title of "painter and engineer of the
duke.
1483
Leonardo paints the Virgin of the Rocks.
1485
Leonardo paints Lady with an Ermine.
1495
Leonardo begins work on The Last Supper in the refectory of the
convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan.
1498
The Last Supper is completed.
1499
With the duke Ludovico Sforza'a fall from power, Da Vinci leaves Milan
and spends a short time in Venice.
1500
Leonardo begins painting the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, a
project that he only finishes after 10 years.
1500
Leonardo returns to Florence.
1502
Leonardo begins work as senior military architect and general engineer
for Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI.
1503
Leonardo is commissioned to paint the Mona Lisa.
1503
Leonardo is commission to paint a mural for the council hall in
Florence's Palazzo Vecchio, which is to be the Battle of Anghiari, a work
that would remain unfinished.
1515
Leonardo paints St. John the Baptist.
1516
The king of France invites Leonardo to come work for him.
1519
May 2, Leonardo dies in France.
Early
Life:
Leonardo
was born on April 15, 1452, "at the third hour of the night" in
the Tuscan hill town of Vinci, in the lower valley of the Arno River in
the territory of Florence. He was the illegitimate son of Messer Piero
Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a Florentine notary, and Caterina, a
peasant[5][3] who may have been a slave from the Middle East. Leonardo had
no surname in the modern sense, "da Vinci" simply meaning
"of Vinci": his full birth name was "Leonardo di ser Piero
da Vinci", meaning "Leonardo, son of (Mes)ser Piero from
Vinci."
Little is known about Leonardo's early life. He spent his first five years
in the hamlet of Anchiano, then lived in the household of his father,
grandparents and uncle, Francesco, in the small town of Vinci. His father
had married a sixteen-year-old girl named Albiera, who loved Leonardo but
died young. In later life, Leonardo only recorded two childhood incidents.
One, which he regarded as an omen, was when a kite dropped from the sky
and hovered over his cradle, its tail feathers brushing his face. The
second occurred while exploring in the mountains. He discovered a cave and
was both terrified that some great monster might lurk there, and driven by
curiosity to find out what was inside.
Leonard's early life has been the subject of historical conjecture. Vasari,
the 16th century biographer of Renaissance painters tells of how a local
peasant requested that Ser Piero ask his talented son to paint a picture
on a round plaque. Leonardo responded with a painting of snakes spitting
fire which was so terrifying that Ser Piero sold it to a Florentine art
dealer, who sold it to the Duke of Milan. Meanwhile, having made a profit,
Ser Piero bought a plaque decorated with a heart pierced by an arrow,
which he gave to the peasant.
Father
Background:
Messer
Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a Florentine notary, and Caterina, a
peasant who may have been a slave from the Middle East.
Mother
Background:
His
mother was a Caterina (peasant girl)
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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