Sacrifice: Does It Exist for Emerging Sage Leaders?

A second differentiator is age. While not many of the emerging sages are in their late 20s or early 30s, those who are face unique challenges. Some of the younger emerging sage leaders talk about feeling alienated from their peer group—that while in addition to their paid work they are working in several nonprofit organizations their friends are “enjoying life.” These emerging sages don’t have time to be self-indulgent. They find it difficult to meet others of their own age with the same kind of passionate commitment to some specific community issue. And they don’t easily find friends, so feelings of isolation and being under-appreciated abound. As the developmental theorist Bernice Neugarten has noted, it is very difficult for people who are out-of-sync with their peer group. They have “grown-up” too fast and are assuming the burdens of mature adulthood without going through what Erik Erikson calls the “moratorium”—a stage for safe exploration of alternative identifies, values, and life-styles.

There also is a third differentiator. For some of the emerging sages, civic engagement is closely tied to their workplace. For others, civic engagement is essentially unrelated to the work they do for pay. It’s a bit easier for the first group, although virtually all of the emerging sages report the need to set boundaries and avoid taking on too much—regardless of the alignment between their paid and unpaid work.

The Nature of Sacrifice II: Managing Boundaries

It should be noted that even though sacrifice is clearly present, emerging sages speculate about the rejuvenation that comes through their civic engagements. Even when volunteer work is closely related to work being done for pay, there is something about it that brings new energy to the paid work and provides a level of gratification that a formal “job” rarely does. Several of the emerging sages observe this symbiosis: civic engagement may serve as an “antennae” for what is really happening in the community. And this may benefit the emerging leader’s paid work as well.

This doesn’t mean the conflict over seeking balance among family, career, and civic engagement is absent or reduced. A considerable amount of tension and struggle is still present and expressed by many of the emerging sage leaders. Even when a good balance is struck for a brief period, something usually happens and everything goes off-kilter again. As one emerging leader observes, “It is very easy to get all-consumed in volunteer work, given my passion for it and the outcomes it yields.” And this is a person who doesn’t have children and doesn’t have to balance volunteer work with family time. Another emerging leader, an elected official, says the sacrifice to his private life is an unresolved trade-off against the gratification he receives from his public service.