I love reading about the great leaders, and despite Genghis Kahn’s reputation for being a rough customer, he was definitely one of the all-time great leaders.
A friend passed along an article today titled “Thoughts from the Genghis Kahn School of Management“. It’s a quick and interesting read.
Among his accomplishments mentioned in the article:
- Kahn was the greatest conqueror of all time, measured by the land mass he controlled
- His empire at its peak was more than 5 million square miles, more than twice that of Alexander the Great
- He had more than 700 tribes and cities under his rule, and his domain stretched from the Caspian Sea to the Sea of Japan
- He managed to capture in only 25 years more land than the Romans had conquered in more than 400 years
- He introduced a writing system (still in use today) to communicate with people not standing in front of him, a postal service to deliver his communiqués, and he was the first to introduce paper money.
Amazing. If we could all be a fraction as productive as he was, we would having stunning accomplishments.
So what are the key lessons to take away from his leadership model? According to the author, they are:
- Keep only the best people
- Look after their needs
- Organize so that no one is in the dark
- Train, train, train
- Go after it hard!
I think that’s good advice for anybody trying to lead an organization in today’s day and age, even if you don’t have the benefit of a 50,000 man army to help you pull it all off!
MRC
