Business Advice from Jethro, the Priest of Median

As Jews, Christians and students of the Bible already know, Jethro, the priest of the ancient desert land of Midian was the father-in-law of Moses. What many people may not realize is that Jethro also is the father of organizational hierarchy. It may seem hard to believe for many but this is true. This man of God laid out the foundation for the hierarchy that most businesses and governments follow.

One Man Can Not Do it All

Jethro introduced this methodology to Moses when he witnessed Moses at work with the Israelites. Moses was the leader, their connection to God and the law. Of course everyone came to Moses with their disputes regardless of how simple or complex.

Jethro saw that Moses spent an entire day handling these disputes and concerns. This troubled Jethro because he knew this to be a physical strain on any man. So Jethro gave Moses sound, Godly advise that when examined is the model for organizational hierarchies.

Delegation is Important

"Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. Let them judge the people at all times; and let it be that every major dispute they will bring to you, but every minor dispute they themselves will judge so it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you." - Exodus 18:21-22 NASB

Think of some of the levels a lot of businesses have:

- CEO

- Presidents

- VPs (one or many)

- Directors

- Managers

- Supervisors

- Team Leaders

These different leadership levels do lead over the numbers Jethro laid out to Moses, the thousands, hundreds, fifties, and the tens. Can you imagine a large company with just the CEO and the regular workers producing the product or services? Imagine how boggled down that CEO would be directly overseeing payroll, production, contracts, accounting, etc. Such a large company would not last very long without organizational hierarchy.

So the next time you look at your employer's organizational structure you know what person actually is due the credit. Hate it or love it, no company of substantial size can operate without this structure. Be thankful that this structure exists because more of us might be unemployed without it.

Works Cited

The Lockman Foundation. (1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995). New American Standard Bible.