The Mongol Way

At its peak, the Mongol empire included all of China, Russia, the Middle east, Persia, & Eastern Europe. Had Genghis Khan not passed away, forcing General Subotai to return for the great gathering to elect the new Khan, the empire would have likely stretched all the way to the Atlantic. While brutality is a trait that Mongols are known for, brutality was a consequence of their conquest & not the basis for it. Having read 2 books on Mongol history & military strategy, & heard the Hardcore History podcast series “Wrath of the Khans”, I’ve learnt that there were some key traits that made Mongols such a vaunted military machine. My intent behind writing this is to list their core “values”. I leave to the reader to draw lessons.

1. Speed above everything else

The Mongol military was almost always smaller in size compared to their enemies. This put them at a disadvantage relative to their enemies who were often well stocked & numerous. However, Mongols emphasized speed & mobility as virtues above everything else. Speed afforded them many tactical advantages. They were able to engage the enemy on their own terms when they wanted & where they wanted, they were able to flee when they made a mistake, they avoided disease that often paralyzed slow moving armies, & they were able to communicate across many different regiments who were all marching towards the same battle from different points of approach.

However, mobility wasn’t just a consequence of being nomadic, though that certainly helped. Mobility was a strategic objective. To enable this, the Mongol army was exclusively cavalry based. There was no infantry of note. Each soldier carried at least 3 remounts (horses, mostly). Their horses too were trained to tail their formation & didn’t need supervision. They carried raw horse meat under the saddle which cured the meat as they rode, giving them food on the go. In addition, they had dried milk which they could mix with water & drink for nourishment.

It’s clear that the Mongols understood their strengths & designed their strategy to leverage & amplify these strengths.

2. Meritocracy & autonomy

Per historians, Genghis Khan was the first leader in history to understand the importance of meritocracy. While many of his contemporaries appointed family members to positions of leadership, Genghis Khan was systematically meritocratic. His top Orloks (literally Eagles, equivalent of Field Marshals), Jebe & Subotai are illustrative examples here.

The earliest battles Genghis Khan fought were against other Mongol tribes as he strived to unite all of Mongolia. Jebe was a rival archer who shot Genghis Khan’s horse from under him in one of the battles. Genghis Khan so admired Jebe’s skills & bravery, that he appointed him as one of his top commanders. The other was Subotai who wasn’t even a mongol but a son of a blacksmith, and didn’t ride a horse till he was 15 (compared to most Mongols who started riding horses when they were 3). However, Subotai went on to become the top general for Genghis as well as his descendants, as he proved himself in many battles over the years.

Further, Genghis Khan and his descendants understood that his top generals needed autonomy to achieve the strategic objectives he had laid out. To enable this, compared to contemporaries, Genghis Khan’s military had wide ranging tactical autonomy in achieving the strategic objectives that the Khan set in consultation with his military leaders.

3. Compete on your own terms

I’ve pointed out that Mongol armies were smaller than their foes. However, Mongols always wanted to dictate the terms of the fight. For instance, their tactical doctrine stated that they won’t engage their enemy directly in hand to hand combat unless waves of light cavalry has already weakened them. This implied that they used speed & stamina (through remounts) of their cavalry to weaken the enemy by a barrage of fire, before any direct fighting (first military force in history to do so).

They also leveraged their advantage in communication to converge multiple regiments to a single point of attack. This ensured they weren’t as vulnerable prior to the final offensive.

Lastly, they went to great pains in timing their attacks. They attacked parts of Russia in winter because their horses could dig through snow to find grass (unlike their enemies) while they avoided attacking Baghdad in summer to avoid Malaria.

4. Focus on what matters

Mongol focus & discipline was legendary. At the very top, the Mongol military’s singular intention was to disrupt the enemy commander to sow confusion & destroy the morale of the opposing soldiers. To do this, they developed the doctrine, later adopted by the west as “deep battle” where they pummeled the opposing infantry with a barrage of light & heavy fire. When sufficiently weakened, they concentrated their forces and marched down the enemy formation to attack the commander. As a result, they won almost all battles against larger armies.

Further, they didn’t want their enemies to regroup. As a result, they spared no resource in pursuing enemy commanders to kill them. That Subotai pursued the Khwarismian Shah with an army of 30,000 after defeating him in battle for over 2,000 miles & several months across deserts, is a testament to their focus on their objectives.

There are also numerous instances where Mongol scouting raids didn’t loot or plunder enemies they defeated because they were singularly focussed on recon missions & understood that carrying loot would slow them down.

5. Learn from failures

In early battles against the rulers in China, the Mongol army failed miserably at siege warfare. The Chinese cities were protected by moats & 40 foot walls which didn’t exactly allow Mongol to leverage their primary strength — speed. Genghis Khan learnt that he needed to develop a heavy cavalry consisting of the most sophisticated siege machinery in the world. To achieve this goal, he often enrolled & promoted siege specialists from the ranks of his enemies, in exchange of sparing their lives. He was relatively egoless & very practical in this regard. He was very good at diagnosing causes of his failure, and spared no effort in fixing them.

I can think of many parallels that some of the top organizations today have, in terms of values, ranging from speed, focus & the ability to learn from failures & experiment. The context of course couldn’t be more different — we’re not in the killing business though the zero-sum game of monopolizing a market is still as real.

Leaders don’t wear a cape

When I returned to work on Monday, I found this note on my desk. It was left there by an intern who worked on our team over the summer, & left on Friday. It caught me by surprise, mainly because (as the note suggests) we didn’t work together a whole lot, and I also don’t remember “acting like a leader”. On thinking more about it, it reminded me of some very important aspects of leadership.

Leadership happens when you think no one’s watching

We often feel that leadership happens is when a situation requires it. For example, when you’re in a crisis, or  you’re making a speech, or reviewing a product, or leading a meeting. While leadership matters in these scenarios, the reality is that many around you are observing your “run of the mill” behaviors. They will emulate you, unbeknownst to you. How you conduct yourself when you think no one is watching is integral to leadership.

Leaders don’t need a cape

Many of us assume that being a leader requires a special title, e.g. a manager, or a director, or a CEO. We are all enamored with this “cape” that we expect leaders to have on when they act like a leader. Again, the reality is that leadership doesn’t require a cape or a fancy title. At its core, leadership is about making your team mates & others around you better, and ensuring their contribution & impact is outsized. To do this, you don’t need a fancy title, you just need to help those around you achieve & exceed their individual & team goals.

Leadership is a continuous state

There is no on/off switch to being a leader. Many of us feel that being a leader requires us to be strong & exhibit leadership behaviors in specific situations. Here the reality is that one can be as much of a leader when they are vulnerable as when they are strong. You can be as much of a leader when you screw up & make amends, as when you make a good decision and follow it up with great execution. Leadership is all the small things & the big things, all the good & the seemingly bad.

Ultimately, this note reminded me of a poem by John Wooden, titled “The little chap who follows me”

“I must be careful as I go
Through summer’s sun and winter’s snow,
Because I am building for the years to be;
This little chap who follows me.”