If only Tony Blair had paid attention to Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan's inexorable rise from illiterate young man to ruler of 'the greatest land empire in history' has much to teach us, says William Leith

John Man, an expert on the life of Genghis Khan, begins this short book on leadership with a picture of the young Genghis as he was at the age of 19 or 20. Actually, he isn't called Genghis at this time, but Temujin, and he is, as Man puts it, "khan of nothing and no one". Temujin is on the run, hiding out in the hills. His pursuers, horsemen from a rival group of Mongols, chase him for a while and then decide to back off. The year is 1181.

  1. Leadership Secrets of Genghis Khan
  2. by John Man
  3. Find this on the Guardian bookshop

Temujin decides, there and then, that he must be "in divine hands". He takes his hat off, "drapes his belt around his neck" and performs a ritual, kneeling down several times, facing the sun, pouring mare's milk on his fingers and flicking it on the ground. He feels, at this moment, that he is destined to be a great leader of his people. Twenty years later, he will have united the warring tribes of the Mongols, and 20 years after that he will rule most of Asia, from China to Afghanistan - "the greatest land empire in history".

How did this illiterate young man do it? The author, quite rightly, believes Genghis Khan might be the greatest leader in history - far better, for instance, than the short-sighted Attila the Hun. Using the categories invented by Jim Collins in his leadership book Good to Great, Man sees Attila as a leader "stuck on level 4 ... egotistical, charismatic, driven by short-term gains, unable to look after his succession". Lots of leaders, when you think about it, get stuck on level 4 - Napoleon, Stalin, Hitler, Tony Blair. But not Genghis Khan.

To start with, he was hardy. Northern Mongolia was an unforgiving place to grow up; freezing cold and rocky, with little to eat. Worse, Temujin's high-born father died when he was nine and the depleted family scraped a living as virtual outcasts. Temujin would have learned to ride a horse at the age of four. As a little boy, he would have killed sheep by cutting their chests open and stopping their hearts with his tiny hand. Mongols, as Man says, are "among the toughest people on earth"; Temujin would have been among the toughest of the lot.

He had a strong bond with his close family. He respected women. And, although Man doesn't make a big deal of it, he was attractive to the opposite sex, which must have gained him respect among men. When he began to lead horsemen into battle, he made it clear he would share their hardship. He listened to advice, not just from his lieutenants, but from his mother and his wives. He was decisive, rewarded loyalty and kept his promises.

Mostly, Genghis (pronounced Chingis) led armies of horsemen across Asia, killing people who got in his way. He discovered a belt of grass growing all the way across Asia. As long as the grass was there his army could survive; each rider started out with several horses, some of which they ate along the way. In contrast, his rivals - the Chinese to the east and Muslims to the west - lived in more complex, sophisticated societies. And these societies, with their poetry, spices and afternoon tea, simply could not cope when faced with what must have seemed like tens of thousands of sabre-wielding maniacs.

Man makes the point that, unlike Hitler, Genghis Khan did not practise genocide per se. He arrived at a city and offered a choice: "Surrender or we will kill every male who is taller than this whip." Sometimes, people surrendered, sometimes the Mongols killed all the men; during one campaign, it is estimated that his 50,000 troops killed 24 people each. Importantly, unlike many leaders, Genghis was not distracted by the silks and spices. His mission was to unite his people and then conquer the world. And he just kept on going.

On the cover of this book is a picture of a BlackBerry with an arrow sticking out of it; Man clearly wants us to apply the lessons of Genghis Khan's leadership to the modern world. To be a great leader, it seems, you should be high born but have known hardship; you should be a fighter, but also a lover; you should dress casually; you should not be interested in wealth. Most important, you should always keep in mind that you, the leader, are not bigger than your project. These are all good points and this is a thought-provoking book. I suppose it also helps, when you are negotiating a deal, to be backed by 50,000 bloodthirsty maniacs.

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