A BBC documentary on Genghis Khan – how did he managed to rise from the Steppes of Mongolia to become leader of most of Europe and Asia? In took a long list of lessons to be learned, some of them harsh, but he did learn.

The first thing he was born properly, the son of a small family clan run by his father. He eventually married the daughter of another family clan who was slightly more important than his fathers. He received a great wedding present. One of his fellow clans members was jealous of his wife, led a raid and capture her. Khan gave the wedding present to another leader of a clan to cement relationships and led a successful raid to get his wife back and destroy the enemy.

Khan realized he needed a professional trained army and there was strength in unity. You can easily break one stick or arrow, it is hard to break 6 sticks or arrows. The professional army needed skills such as archery and when the horse is off the ground the arrow should be shot which results in better controlled shots.

In one of his battles, he used psychological warfare he had his army light 5 fires for each person and the opposition scouts seeing it would think there are more people. His attacks were without mercy, but each tactic was planned and executed. He would regroup and charge again; he would fall back and led the opposition into a trap to be defeated.

When Khan went to China he took the fight to the enemy, he offered mercenaries similar or more money to fight with them; in terms of siege warfare he learned the value of patience and new tactics. In China he learnt about gunpowder, and plunder without mercy. The plunder without mercy and taking of slaves sends a reputation which he was happy to send to other countries – if you do not submit, the town will be burnt down. Sometimes he was content to impale the opposing armies.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, taking away the killing, in order to continue to be successful companies have to learn and continue to learn. While attacking without mercy is likely to lead to government regulators, the planning of tactics and the execution of them never go out of learning. Think about your company and its biggest profit center how well is it protected and promoted?

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.