Sage Leadership Project: Vision, Purposes and Methodology

Phase One: Getting Started

The first challenge was to understand what might go into an operational definition of sagacity, which is associated with wisdom and is most often linked to Ancient World myths, legends, and stories about demigods, oracles, shamans, prophets, and the lives of distinguished philosophers. In this meaning of the term, sagacity has to do with wise or holy figures who possess insight and understanding beyond ordinary people, who are custodians of rare knowledge, and who are examples of goodness, virtue, and wisdom.

For our purposes, we have loosely defined sagacity to mean wisdom in action, or active reflective practice. Sagacity implies unusual effectiveness that only exposure to experience can achieve. And we also link sagacity to generativity, the motive of wanting to leave behind a legacy from our lives, something that has lasting human value.

The second challenge was to define leadership characteristics of fully human sages that could be used to guide the project’s identification and selection of community sage leaders in Grass Valley Nevada City. After much discussion, it was concluded that sage leaders tend to possess five unique traits: 1) They have strong orientation to others and demonstrate their respect and care in everyday life. 2) They possess a quiet self-confidence that has a calming effect on others. 3) They possess and can articulate a working theory of human nature, of organizations, and of leadership. 4) They possess a broad world view. 5) They are active students and teachers.

Using the general definition of sagacity and the five traits of sage leadership, the project coordinator and senior advisers next sought the voluntary involvement of a small leadership group of men and women who most reflect these qualities and also possess undisputed reputations for civic involvement in Grass Valley or Nevada City as either Senior Sage Leaders (ages 56+) or Emerging Sage Leaders (ages 25-55). Five men and five women were selected by the project coordinator for each of the two age groups, and this 20-person leadership team became the Sage Leader Project Coordinating Committee. These two, ten-person teams proceeded to nominate numerous individuals who possess the sage leader qualities that were being sought. From these nominations, 80 community leaders were selected by the two teams based on three additional criteria: 1) Their civic engagement in a wide range of nonprofit and/or public service community activities in Grass Valley and/or Nevada City. 2) Their gender, with the goal of achieving as close a balance between men and women as possible. 3) Their length of residence in the region’s immediate communities.