Genghis Khan Military Leader Research Paper

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Genghis Khan: Background

Genghis Khan (nee Temujin) was born around the year 1162 on what is now the border between Mongolia and Siberia (“Genghis Khan,” n.d.). At the time Temujin was born, the Mongols were far from being the mighty empire history would remember them for. On the contrary, the Mongols were a collection of nomadic tribes that warred with each other frequently. Temujin was himself witness to the wanton violence and aggression of patriarchal clan leaders, one of which was his own father. His father had kidnapped his mother, forced her into marriage, only before being poisoned himself by another enemy clan (“Genghis Khan,” n.d.). After his father’s death, Temujin’s family was kicked out of their own clan and forced to fend for itself. Unlike his peers, Temujin cultivated a desire to create major changes in Mongol society. Temujin married Borte in 1178, and started to forge strategic alliances with clan leaders throughout the Mongolian steppe. Little by little Genghis Khan built himself a reputation as an effective leader. His goal was to unite the warring Mongol tribes and effectively conquer the world. By 1205, Temujin assumed the title Chinggis (Genghis) Khan, meaning “Universal Ruler” after he united disparate nomadic tribes and established a unified kingdom. From there, Genghis Khan continued to expand his territories, stepping across Asia and into Europe. At the time, the Mongol empire was the largest in the world.

Personality Analysis

One of Genghis Khan’s most immediately salient and remarkable personality traits is egalitarianism. Genghis Khan did not play favorites or use nepotism, as his forebears did. His followers were not just Mongols but also Muslims, Christians, and Buddhists; kinship ties, ethnicity, ancestry, and religion were irrelevant to Genghis Khan, who as ruler “abolished inherited aristocratic titles,” (“Genghis Khan,” n.d., p. 1). This allowed him to gain the trust of those who worked hard and demonstrated loyalty and competence. For instance, when he first embarked on the campaign to unite the Mongol tribes, Temujin “put competent allies rather than relatives in key positions,” (“Genghis Khan,” n.d., p. 1).

Part of his worldview stems from the norms and values of Mongol society: “the Mongol society didn’t really differentiate between a civilian tribal member and a soldier,” (Mandal, 2016, p. 1). In fact, Genghis Khan has even been quoted to reveal his view on gender equity in the military, as he presumably stated, “women could form a large unit within the army,” (Alvarez, 2014). His views coincide with the Mongol view that being a citizen was akin to being a soldier; each person in Mongolian society would have been trained from the time they were children in the core aspects of military arts: such as horse riding and archery. “There was no such thing as a civilian population in Mongolia,” (“Mongol Army: Tactics, Weapons, Revenge, and Terror,” n.d., p. 1). As his kingdom grew to encompass diverse groups of people, he banned slavery and “allowed freedom of religion well before that idea caught on elsewhere,” (“Genghis Khan,” n.d., p. 1). Egalitarianism was the personality trait that helped Genghis secure the admiration and respect even of those who he had conquered.

Another personality trait that enhanced Genghis Khan’s military prowess and ensured his long-term success was his penchant for strategy and his organizational skills. As a warrior, Genghis did not just rely on brute force. Instead, Genghis carefully honed his military tactics through deft organization of resources.

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Genghis Khan reportedly spent “months before an attack scouting defenses, mapping roads and escape routes, noting supply sources, and gathering intelligence on local defense and infrastructure,” (“Battle Tactics,” n.d.). He devised several different strategic maneuvers he could use to inculcate in his troops the situational awareness they needed to respond to the unexpected like surprise attacks or betrayals. Genghis Khan also understood the importance of capitalizing on a diverse military, with each division dedicated to a specialized task like espionage or communications (“Battle Tactics,” n.d.). At its peak, the Mongol army was about 100,000 strong; by some estimates there were 129,000 Mongol cavalrymen alone (Alvarez, 2014). A diverse and scattered group of nomads fighting in unity depended on a strong and organized leader. Genghis Khan embarked on every military campaign with methodic precision, rarely acting rashly but instead considering the strengths, weaknesses, and traits of his opponents and planning appropriate strategies to defeat them. Finally, although it would seem contrary to the personality of a fierce and often ruthless leader, Genghis Khan was noted for his kindness in the way he treated others, especially his most loyal soldiers. He is quoted as saying, “I want to feed them with juicy meat, let them live in beautiful yurts, and let them pasture their livestock on rich soil,” (Alvarez, 2014, p. 1).

Leadership Style

Genghis Khan’s personality traits, such as egalitarianism and organization, helped him to become a remarkably effective leader. The primary leadership styles that Genghis Khan demonstrated included both visionary and transformational leadership. Genghis Khan was certainly a visionary, being the first person to unite the nomadic Mongol tribes under a common rubric. As a proud Mongol, Genghis Khan inspired the same in his people, switching their worldview from one that viewed their neighboring tribes as enemies and instead seeking to find strength in unity. Genghis Khan also cultivated a strong vision of the future: one in which the Mongols would prove their merits against other cultures and kingdoms. It was not just that Genghis Khan wanted to engage in colonization; for in allowing freedom of religion and promoting tolerance and diversity this was not part of his strategy. Genghis’s vision was to etch forever in history the greatness of his people—and he succeeded.

As a transformational leader, Genghis Khan was noted for his ability to empower leaders through a clearly defined chain of command (“Mongol Army: Tactics, Weapons, Revenge, and Terror,” n.d.). A sample chart of the Mongol chain of command is as follows:



[Image Credit: http://www.camrea.org/2016/12/09/the-mongol-military-part-ii/]

Transformational leaders also work hard to inspire others to buy into their vision, then allowing each person the freedom to pursue the situational strategies necessary to achieve the desired outcome. Genghis Khan had to do this regularly because his conquests had become too extensive to count on regular centralized meetings. Granted, sometimes Genghis Khan used harsh disciplinary tactics against military leaders who were weak or untrustworthy, with the death sentence not uncommon (Mandal, 2016). Thus, Genghis Khan understandably demonstrated a bit of autocratic leadership in addition to his being mainly a visionary and transformational leader.

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