Judaic sources do not attribute Moses’ stunning rise to power to his intellect or to his amazing oratory. In fact, Moses had impaired speech. He may have been an amazing strategist and tactician, but these are not seen as his most praiseworthy attributes. According to the Jewish tradition, his greatest asset was humility.
The following story from the Torah illustrates this humility. Moses’ father-in-law was Jethro, a powerful tribal leader as well as a chieftain, a scholar, and a mystic. When Moses became Jethro's son-in-law, he was a fugitive on the run from Pharaoh's wrath and had not yet had a Godly revelation. Jethro was an idolater and Moses was a believer in monotheism. Needless to add, these were factors that could not have been conducive to a wholesome father-in-law/son-in-law relationship.
Often when in-laws disagree, each side can become entrenched in their own views, unwilling to see the other's perspective, regardless of the rights and wrongs of the case. Moses and his father-in-law did not see eye to eye on most things. Yet it seems that they did not get ensnared in this trap. As soon as Jethro heard about the miraculous splitting of the Sea of Reeds and the wonders that God performed for the children of Israel upon leaving Egypt, he realized that his son-in-law's theology was correct and his own religious beliefs were flawed. He immediately traveled into the desert to learn from Moses and to find the truth. When he arrived, a warm and respectful encounter ensued (Exodus 18:7), "Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and he bowed to him and kissed him, and they asked each other about their welfare and they came into the tent."
After hearing–first hand–about all the miracles that God had performed for the children of Israel, Jethro did not resent the fact that he had been mistaken and his son-in-law's theology had been proved right. On the contrary, "Jethro rejoiced because of all the goodness which the Lord had done to Israel." He made a dramatic u-turn — denouncing idol worship with the words, "Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods."
The very next day, in true father-in-law style, Jethro criticized Moses' leadership and gave him unsolicited advice. Jethro saw that Moses stood all day judging the people, and there was a long line waiting for him; some had to wait for many hours to get an audience. Jethro told Moses that he had to delegate the judging process to others. Many family feuds have started because an in-law offered unsolicited advice or criticism. Moses, however, was unperturbed. In fact, he was grateful for the sensible advice and implemented it immediately.
The ability for these two strong personalities to have such a wonderful relationship and show each other such respect and admiration lies in their humility. This does not mean that they did not realize their greatness; they did. But they knew that there were things beyond themselves—a greater truth that needed to be grasped and understood. Moses and Jethro were both humble. They did not allow their egos to get in the way of doing what was right. Jethro felt that he had found truth with idolatry but, being a quintessential truth seeker, once he saw the errors of his ways he was more than willing to change.
Moses was no different. When Jethro pointed out to him that as the solitary judge of his people he was not serving them efficiently, he was grateful for the advice and then made the necessary improvements. Neither cared from where or from whom the truth came; the fact that it was the truth was all that mattered.
But Moses’ ability to follow his father-in-law’s advice is more remarkable then Jethro’s acknowledgment that Moses was right about theology. Moses had proven his ideas. God had split the sea for him. He had defeated the mighty pharaoh with the help of God and was now leading his people through the desert for a rendezvous with God at Sinai. Jethro had no such track record, and Moses could have just ignored his advice and would have been justified in doing so. But that was not who Moses was. He was humble, and when good advice was given he was more than willing to accept it no matter from whom it came. The lesson is clear: humility has nothing to do with the way one stands or holds oneself. Humility is the ability to see beyond the self. A humble person is able to do things that don’t directly benefit themselves and may even detract from themselves for the sake of the bigger picture and others.
There is a major misconception about arrogance. Often people will mistake healthy self-esteem and pride for it. A person should know their own qualities and be proud of them. It is just as important for us to be fully aware of our talents, qualities, and abilities as we must be cognizant of our shortcomings and failures. Real arrogance has to do with an inflated sense of one’s own abilities or importance, not to be confused with having a realistic idea of one’s talents, abilities, and import.