Always stay a student...🧑‍🎓

The strategy behind the Mongol Empire

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or have zero knowledge about world history, then you probably have an idea of who Genghis Khan is. In that’s not the case, allow me to tell you a couple of things about this unique individual and his feats while I pull you out of the pit of ignorance:

Genghis Khan, originally named Temujin, was the founder of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contigous empire in the history of human kind.

Despite losing his father who was poisoned by a rival tribe, and later being abandoned by his own, Temujin rose to power by displaying strong military and leadership skills.

At his forty eight years of age, he successfully united an already fragmented Mongol tribes, thus earning the title of “Genghis Khan”, meaning Unviersal Ruler.

After that, came a waterfall of achievements which made the Mongol Empire paramount for modern history.

When the Mongol Empire was at its peak, in the late 13th century, it would become the largest empire that ever existed ‘till this day spanning aproximately accross 24 million square kilometers. The Mongol Empire stretched from Eastern Europe and parts of the Middle East in the west to the Sea of Japan in the east, and from Siberia in the north to the Indean subcontinent, the Iranian plateau, and Southeast Asia in the south.

Not only was Genghis Khan one of the gretest military minds that ever existed, but his philosophy regarding knowledge and how to acquire it, eventually made him nearly unstoppable.

Socrates’ wisdom

For many scholars, Genghis Khan was the perfect example of a perpetual student.

In fact, if there is one theme that ruled while he reigned, it was: appropiation.

The Mongols where as ruthless about stealing and absorbing the best of each culture as they were about conquest itself.

One of Socrates’ greatest strengths and skills that allowed him to gather and spread knowledge beyond belief what his ability to admit to himself that he knew nothing, thus being open to learn as much as possible.

Genghis Khan shared the same philosophy.

As one biographer puts it:

He became the greatest conqueror the world ever knew because he was more open to learning than any other conqueror.

Here’s some examples of how Genghis Khan used knowledge from the tribes he conquered to further increase his odds of succeeding in upcoming fights:

Khan’s first powerful victories came from the reorganization of his military units by splitting his soldiers into groups of ten. Later, he then stole from neighboring Turkic tribes, and unknowingly converted the Mongols to the decimal system.

Throughout the Tangut raids, Khan learned about “walled cities” and the ins and outs of war against this fortified towns as well as strategies critical to laying siege.

With the help of the Chinese engineers, he taught his soldiers how to build siege machines that could knock down city walls.

In his campaign against the Jurched, Khan learned the importance of winning the heart and minds of the people rather than the sole use of brute force and fear. By working with the scholars and royal family of the lands he conquered, Khan was able to hold on to and manage these territories in ways that most empires could not and longer as well.

In fact, it’s believed that the cannon, a piece of artillery that shaped modern military equipment and revolutionized warfare was said to be a result of the fusion between Chinese gunpowder, Muslim flamethrowers and European metalwork.

For every country and city he held, Khan would call for the smartest astrologers, scribes, doctors, thinkers, and advisers - he knew that anyone that possesed any sort of knowledge could prove to be useful for his army.

The inevitability of new challenges

As we start to acquire a taste for success, we’ll inevitably face new situations, hence, new challenges:

• The chef that became restaurant owner must now learn to manage

• The salesman that was recently promoted must learn to lead others

• The freshly promoted soldier must now learn ins and outs of politics

It’s in this kind of situations in which we must set aside our ego and be humble enough to admit that:

We’ll know less and less, even as we know and grasp more and more

Unfortunately, success not only breeds new challenges but also sets a fertile ground for ego to grow.

With accomplishments comes an increasing pressure to pretend that we know more than we actually do, like we have something to prove as a result of our success disregarding the reality that mastery is a continual never-ending process.

As author Ryan Holiday puts it: it’s not enough to be a student at the beginning. It is a position that one must assume for life.

It is often our intelligence assisted by our ego that force us to stay in our comfort zone where we are to remain unchallenged, and avoid the feeling of ignorance and unfamiliarity our ego hates.

This is where the silent toll is taken.

This is why we must adopt a professional mindset as Steven Pressfields talks about in several of his books.

The pro finds learning enjoyable, unlike the amateur who despises it.

And if you want to further improve yourself, then not only focus on learning, but how you learn.

As business man Peter Drucker puts it: