I woke up this morning thinking of the plague. A documentary I’d recently watched had left an impression, and it came back to me today—lingering after a coaching session with a wonderful client who was exploring ways the global health community might respond to the election results in the U.S. As we worked through insights, he began to feel clarity again, and afterwards my mind drifted back to life in that distant time.
Let me share a story from those troubled times—one that may offer perspective, and perhaps even a sense of ease, on what you may be facing right now.
The spread of the Black Death from Central Asia to East Asia and Europe from 1346 to 1351.
One man in particular is credited with accelerating the spread of the plague: a descendant of Genghis Khan named Jani Beg. He murdered his own brother to seize power, and pushed the Mongol empire westward. In 1343, he set his sights on Caffa, a Genoese colony (now part of disputed territory between Russia and Ukraine). But another, more deadly force struck his troops: the plague. It hit his army hard, killing soldiers faster than they could be replaced. This gave him a new, gruesome idea: using his dead soldiers as weapons. He ordered their plague-infected bodies catapulted over the city walls, terrorising and infecting Caffa’s population.
Biological warfare wasn’t new—Romans and Assyrians had poisoned wells. But this was another level entirely. Infected Genoese sailors soon fled Caffa, unwittingly sailing the Black Death into Europe—the most densely populated continent on Earth—where it spread like wildfire along trade routes. The Black Death killed between 30% and 60% of Europe’s population. It also killed between 30 to 50 million people in Asia and North Africa representing 30-40% and more of the population in many regions.
After Caffa, the devastation led to a profound reshaping of Europe’s demographics, economies, and even societies. European trade practices shifted, new health regulations took hold, and the way we understood military and public health strategy changed. Labour shortages contributed to the end of feudalism and the eventual rise of capitalism…
The aftermath of the Black Death was a very different world. No one has used biological warfare in quite the same way since. The international community has, thankfully, worked to ban it.
Reflecting on these momentous cycles of history and the familiar themes of power, conflict, and human impacts, I felt a strange sense of relief. Perhaps my mind was reframing, searching for ease amid my own anxieties—maybe about the US election, maybe something else. It’s hard to imagine a historical challenge on the scale of the Black Death and living through the siege of Caffa. But the more significant point, I think, is that life’s cycles of destruction and creation are ancient, persistent, and beyond our control. We don’t get to choose which cycle we land into on the wheel, but we can choose how we respond.
Whatever’s happening in your life today, you have the power to shape your response. The wheel of history keeps turning, but how we meet it—that’s up to us.
Reflection: What’s missing in the world and how can you start to give it? Who can help you?
Have a wise week,Amina
P.S. Want a safe-enough space to explore leadership in turbulent times? Join us for a thought-provoking conversation on high performance, social impact, and leadership in a BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear, Incomprehensible) world. Bring your questions, insights, and challenges as we explore what it means to lead today to our next Transformational Conversation.
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