Who Is Your Jethro?
My trip to Chicago was a whirlwind. We had 11-hour days - consisting of classes, meals, group activities, and fireside chats. Between that and trying to answer some email, phone calls, and dealing emotionally with losing Bev, I am exhausted!
I have many take-aways from each day I was there. The first day we were taught by Hal Lewis who wrote, From Sanctuary to Boardroom. While the book was extremely dry and hard to get through, his teaching style was phenomenal. We spoke about leadership and at the end he had his top “Ten Things Every (Jewish) Leader Needs to Know”.
#5: Leaders need someone to tell them the truth
He told the story of Jethro and Moses. As the story goes, Moses sits and attends to those who are seeking justice for their conflict and claims, “stood upon [him] from morning until evening.” Jethro, his father-in-law, sees Moses sitting there with a gaggle of contestants bearing down upon him. Jethro, a priest, says to his son-in-law: “What is this thing that you do to the people? Why do you sit alone as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning til evening?” Moses replies with, “Because the people come to me to seek G-d’s will.”
Jethro doesn’t buy it and replied, “What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.” Not only is Jethro worried about Moses, but also the people that are standing there waiting in line. He tells Moses to teach other people how the decrees and laws and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. Jethro tells him to select capable men - men that fear G-d, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain, and appoint them as officials over people.
I bet you are thinking this teaches us to share the load and by teaching others, it helps us in the long run. While that’s a great takeaway - what does that have to do with “Leaders need someone to tell them the truth”? In leadership, the higher up you go, the less access you have to the truth about your leadership. Jethro was able to see Moses as a leader but still tell him the truth about his actions being wrong. Letting him know that this really wasn’t what was best for Moses or any of the people.
How did it all workout? Moses took his advice and chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They served as judges for the people at all times. They brought the difficult cases to Moses and decided the simple ones themselves.
I ask you, who is your Jethro? Who do you have in your life that will tell you the truth or push you when you need pushing? This can be someone from home or someone at work. Think about who that person is for you and if you don’t have a Jethro, it might be a good idea to start looking for one.
