How Important Is Your Job Title? (9 Minutes)

1:30title of an attorney, you know, they put the 18 titles on their business card that no one understands. Each one is $300 an hour. So it depends on how many titles you add, you add the money. Get a title. Everybody wants a title. I remember in my business days, Baruch Hashem, Hashem took me out of it. That was probably the best mercy He's ever done for me, at least the one that I know about. And I remember all my employees would constantly negotiate with me about what they were allowed to put on their business card as a title for themselves. financial advisor, registered representative, vice president, senior vice president, director, all these titles, senior consultant, senior wealth management, it's all shtuyot. Anyone that sees a business card of someone in the financial services business, he sees the business card, he sees the title, you could just cross it off and put shtuyot.

2:39Nonsense. It means absolutely nothing. Everyone takes the same license, and some of them don't even have a license. Some people work with a license because they work through a self-regulatory system called FINRA. It used to be called NASD. And some don't work with them; they work through the SEC. And through the SEC, you don't have to have a license. In so many words, meaning... Everyone's doing the exact same thing, just calling it a different name. The guy who's an insurance salesman, all of a sudden he's a wealth manager. He has 15 bucks in the bank, but he calls himself a wealth manager. The guy giving you stock advice calls himself a consultant or a director. He just got the job last week, he's 18 years old, and he's already a consultant. He doesn't even know how to spell "consultant" yet; he has to use spell check. But I would have these guys, these young guys come to me and negotiate. They'd say, "I want to be a financial advisor. I want to be vice president." I'd ask, "Do you even know how to spell vice president?" I'm like, what do you care about these titles? And they would respond, "Yeah, you probably don't care because your card says President, CEO. That's why you don't care." I would say, "Yes, but I built a business that got me to be President and CEO, without focusing on the title."

4:00So, it's not really true what you're saying. Because, yes, you're already president, you're already CEO, so that's why you're getting more business. The reality is quite different. Quite different. The world gives too much value to these titles. And the reality is that if you're so focused on your title, you're usually not focused on what the title is supposed to mean. If you're so focused on having "CEO" under your name, you're probably not a good CEO, because a real CEO doesn't care about a business card. Somebody else makes it for him. He's too busy making money and building a company. If you're so busy being a consultant, you don't have time to make a business card and think about how the business card is going to look and what it's going to say. You're busy being a consultant and helping people. If you're so busy trying to figure out whether people should call you Rav, or Rabbi, or The Rav HaGaon, or The Rav HaGaon HaMekubal, or The Rishon LeTzion Mekubal Gaon, and Yad HaYemina Shel Hashem, Halach Hashem, and all these different things that people call themselves, the reality is sometimes quite different. A humbling story about Rav Moshe Feinstein.

5:27is that one day, a father yells after his kid, "Moshe, Moshe," you know, a little kid running around, and he's trying to stop him, "Moshe, Moshe, don't go into the street, Moshe!" And Rav Moshe Feinstein turns around, and says, "Yes, yes, what can I do?" The father quickly responds, "No, Kvod Harav, I'm sorry, I would never call you, Kvod Harav, Moshe." But Rav Moshe Feinstein simply says, "But I'm Moshe." That's his name. To him, he didn't understand why wouldn't Moshe be his name. Because the fact that he was Gadol HaDor meant nothing to him. Because he knew this Mishnah. He says, all this Torah that I know, it's no credit that I deserve. Why? Because that's what I was created to do. You don't get an extra cookie for having two arms. You have two arms.

6:29There's no extra credit for it. You don't get an extra cookie for coming to work on time. You're supposed to come on time. That's what you're paid to do. But for some reason, we are constantly looking for extra credit for the basic things we're supposed to do. Oh, I went to minyan every day this week. Good. Fine. What would you like for us to do? Clap for you? Do a standing ovation? What do you want to do? You came to Minyan. Oh, I donated money to the Beit Knesset. What are you looking for here? Oh, you want the name because you donate for the light? You know, sometimes people donate to the Beit Knesset. Why? Not because they care about the Beit Knesset. Because they want a plaque, a poster on the wall. He donated $320 for this light bulb. Twenty years have passed, the light bulb has been there, it's already old and needs replacing, yet they still remember that the guy donated $320 for the light bulb. He donated for the sign, for everyone to know, not because he cares for people to have a light. So when we have a confused mind about what we're supposed to do, we look for credit. When we know what we're supposed to do, we focus on actually doing something about it.

7:51And that's one of the most important things that a person needs to know in life. If you're so focused on getting credit, in reality, you're never going to have a real reason to get credit for. And if you are getting so much credit for whatever good deeds you're doing in this world, you're going to be the most miserable person in the world when you get to Shamayim. Because they're going to tell you, oh my friend, you got so much credit, you got the building with your name on it, you got the community that always praised your name like it was Moshe Rabbeinu of the generation. So all of the credit that you were supposed to get, you spent 99% of it in that world. This is the 1% you have left. Once you see the 1% that you have left, and how amazing it is. You got the community that always praised your name like it was Moshe Rabbeinu of the generation. So all of the credit that you were supposed to get, you spent 99% of it in that world. This is the 1% you have left. Once you see the 1% that you have left, and how amazing it is, you're only going to cry about the fact that you didn't have the whole 100%. You're only going to cry about the fact that someone even knew you actually did a mitzvah bechlal. Because if someone knows the true value of a mitzvah, they want to do everything they can to hide it. You give a donation, anonymously. You don't tell anyone you donated, and even if you want to get to the highest level of donation, you want to find a way... You're only going to cry about the fact that you didn't have the whole 100%. You're only going to cry about the fact that someone even knew you actually did a mitzvah b'chelal. Because if someone knows the true value of a mitzvah, they want to do everything they can to hide it. You give a donation anonymously. You don't tell anyone you donated, and even if you want to get to the highest level of donation, you want to find a way...

9:14that the one who received your money doesn't know you gave. That's the highest level of tzedakah (charity).