Rabeinu Bachye writes in Chovos HeLevavos (Sha’ar HaK’niah 10) that someone once asked a wise man, “Why is it that you were able to become the leader of your entire generation?”
The wise man replied, “It is because I never met someone that I didn’t see in him a quality that he is greater than me in. If he was smarter than me, I would say that he must have more Yiras Hashem than me, since his wisdom is greater than mine. If he had less wisdom than me, I considered that his final judgement at the end of our lives will be better than mine, and he will be held less accountable than I will be. This must be because my Aveiros were done on purpose, but his Aveiros were all done by accident.
If he was older than me, I would reason that surely his Zechusim must be greater than mine, since he came to this world before me. If he was younger, I would think that he surely did less Aveiros than me, because he wasn’t here as long as I have been. If we were the same age and we had had the same level of wisdom, I would say to myself that perhaps his heart is more devoted to Hashem than mine is, because I know of all my past Aveiros, but I don’t know of any Aveiros that he committed.
If he was wealthier than me, I would say that he can serve Hashem better than me because of his wealth, and he could give to various Tzedakah causes and support poor people more than I could. If he had less money than me, I would think that he was more-humble than me, due to his being poor, and he is really a better person than I am. And because of this, I would honor all people and humble myself before them.”
He explained that this was the reason he was appointed as the leader of all the people!
