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
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SuperAttainer:
Otto von Bismarck
German Statesman:
Otto
von Bismarck
Main
Life Accomplishments:
He
was a Prussian and German statesman of the 19th century. As
Minister-President of Prussia from 1862–90, he oversaw the unification
of Germany. From 1867 on, he was Chancellor of the North German
Confederation. When the second German Empire was formed in 1871, he served
as its first Chancellor and practiced Realpolitik which gained him the
nickname "Iron Chancellor". As Chancellor, Bismarck held an
important role in German government and greatly influenced German and
international politics both during and after his time of service.
Basics:
Born: 1
April 1815 Schönhausen, Prussia
Died: 30 July 1898 (aged 83) Friedrichsruh, Germany
Nationality: Prussian and German
Religion:
Fields: Politics, Military
Main Accomplishments:
Chronology
of Life Events:
1815
Born
April 1
1847
Married
and Appointed to Newly Created Prussian legislature,Vereinigter Landtag
1849
Elected
to the New Post-Revolution Prussian legislature, Landtag
1849
Prussia's
Representatives at the Erfurt Parliament, an Assembly of German States
1851
Elected
to be Prussia's Envoy Diet of the German Confederation in Frankfurt
1858
Appointed
Prussia's Ambassador to the Russian Empire
1862
Appointed
the Ambassador to France
1862
Appointed
Bismarck Minister-President and Foreign Minister
1871
Raised
to the Rank of Fürst (Prince) von Bismarck
1878
Instituted
the Anti-Socialist Laws
1883
Appeased
Socialists and Allowed Health Insurance Act
1884
Accident
insurance was 'Allowed' by Bismarck: and Old Age Pensions Followed
1898
Died
on July 30, in Friedrichsruh, Germany
Early
Life:
Bismarck
was born in Schönhausen, the wealthy family estate situated west of
Berlin in the Prussian Province of Saxony. His father, Karl Wilhelm
Ferdinand von Bismarck (Schönhausen, November 13, 1771 - November 22,
1845), was a landowner and a former Prussian military officer; his mother,
Wilhelmine Luise Mencken (Potsdam, February 24, 1789 - Berlin), the
educated daughter of a politician. A.J.P. Taylor later remarked on the
importance of this dual heritage: although Bismarck physically resembled
his father, and appeared as a Prussian Junker to the outside world - an
image which he often encouraged by wearing military uniform, even though
he was not a regular officer - he was also more cosmopolitan and highly
educated than was normal for men of such background. He was fluent in
English, and as a young man would often quote Shakespeare or Byron in
letters to his wife.
Bismarck was educated at the Friedrich-Wilhelm and the Graues Kloster-Gymnasium.
From 1832-33 he studied law at the University of Göttingen, where he
spent only a year as a member of the Corps Hannovera before enrolling in
the University of Berlin (1833-35).
Whilst at Göttingen, Bismarck had become the lifelong friend of an
American student John Lothrop Motley, who described Bismarck as Otto v.
Rabenmark in his novel Morton's Hope, or the Memoirs of a Provincial
(1839). Motley was later an eminent historian.
Although Bismarck hoped to become a diplomat, he started his practical
training as a lawyer in Aachen and Potsdam, and soon resigned, having
first placed his career in jeopardy by taking unauthorised leave to pursue
two English girls, first Laura Russell, niece of the Duke of Cleveland,
and then Isabella Loraine-Smith, daughter of a wealthy clergyman. He did
not succeed in marrying either. He also served in the army for a year and
became an officer in the Landwehr (reserve), before returning to run the
family estates at Schönhausen on his mother's death in his mid-twenties.
Round about the age of thirty Bismarck had an intense friendship with
Marie von Thadden, newly-married to a friend of his. Under her influence,
he became a Pietist Lutheran, and later recorded that at Marie's deathbed
(from typhoid) he prayed for the first time since his childhood. Bismarck
married Marie's cousin, the noblewoman Johanna von Puttkamer (Viartlum,
April 11, 1824 - Varzin, November 27, 1894) at Alt-Kolziglow on July 28,
1847. Their long and happy marriage produced one daughter (Marie) and two
sons (Herbert and Wilhelm, known as "Bill"), all of whom
survived into adulthood. Johanna was a shy, retiring and deeply religious
woman - although famed for her sharp tongue in later life - and in his
public life Bimarck was sometimes accompanied by his sister Malwine
("Malle") von Arnim.
Whilst on holiday alone in Biarritz in the summer of 1862 (prior to
becoming Prime Minister of Prussia), Bismarck would later have a romantic
liaison with Kathy Orlov, the twenty-two year old wife of a Russian
diplomat - it is not known whether or not their relationship was sexual.
Bismarck kept his wife informed of his new friendship by letter, and in a
subsequent year Kathy broke off plans to meet Bismarck on holiday again on
learning that his wife and family would be accompanying him this time.
They continued to write to one another until Kathy's premature death in
1874.
Wife
Background:
Johanna
von Puttkamer (11 April 1824 - 27 November 1894) was a Prussian
noblewoman, also known as Johanna von Bismarck. She was the sister of
statesman Robert von Puttkamer.
She married Otto von Bismarck in 1847. They had three (3) children: one
daughter and two sons (Herbert and Wilhelm).
Father
Background:
His
father, Ferdinand von Bismarck-Schönhausen, was a Junker squire descended
from a Swabian family that had ultimately settled as estate owners in
Pomerania. Ferdinand was a typical member of the Prussian landowning
elite. The family’s economic circumstances were modest—Ferdinand’s
farming skills being perhaps less.
Mother
Background:
His
mother, Wilhelmine Mencken, from Leipzig, was born February 21, 1790,
originally belonged to a well-off commoner family.
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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