Jethro and Moses

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the burnout syndrome in its list of diseases. The term used to be restricted to business, but since the COVID-19 pandemic, testimonies of “parental burnout” have abounded. Parents with experience of long-distance flights with toddlers or of driving their (often ungrateful) preteens to their extracurricular activities all weekend long know that managing a family can be exhausting. Imagine running a business with thousands of employees or a country with millions of citizens. Clearly, going at it alone would be impossible. But hiring the wrong people to do the job would be equally problematic.

In a recent parasha (weekly reading of a section of the Torah), Jethro, an experienced priest from Midian, gives his son-in-law Moses, who is leading a large group of recently freed Israelites through the desert, useful advice on these topics. At the time, Moses was spending hours every day settling all sorts of disputes among the people by himself. Jethro warned Moses he would wear himself out if he were to continue this way, and instead advised him to delegate minor disputes to worthy people, organized as chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. These “middle managers” would thus share the burden and bring to him only the major disputes.

To this end, Jethro recommended that Moses seek men (1) of ability (i.e., capable people, with the strength to lead a great multitude, and who do not need to flatter or show favor to anyone), (2) of truth (i.e., who do not lie, who command confidence, and who are deserving of trust), (3) who despise unjust financial gains (i.e., who will not accept bribes, gifts or favors, and will not be influenced by money when rendering their judgement), and (4) who fear God (i.e., who do not fear men, who are wise and understanding).

The Oracle of Omaha

Legendary investor Warren Buffett, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, heeds a similar advice: “We look for three things when we hire people. We look for intelligence, we look for initiative or energy, and we look for integrity. And if they don’t have the latter, the first two will kill you, because if you’re going to get someone without integrity, you want them lazy and dumb”.

Sources

• Torah, Shemot (Exodus), chapter 18, and commentaries by Rashi, Nahmanides, and Ibn Ezra, via Sefaria.
• Transcript of a speech by Warren Buffett to University of Georgia students: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/warren-buffett-speech-university-georgia-students-part-1-archive-2001-2013-04-21