A great title for my last column

Another year is coming to pass, ladies and gentleman, and as such, this will be my final column for the foreseeable future. Without getting nostalgic, I wonder where the last 25 percent of college went. There has been some heartbreak, a little triumph, but mostly just a lot of hazy nights spent partying or reading over lecture notes, groggy mornings and the comfort of relative irresponsibility. Yes, at the conclusion of my junior year, I feel that much of college thus far has been a blur, and I can hardly believe that at this time next year, it will be 2012, and I will be among the crop of imminent graduates, ready to reveal my talents to the waiting world.

I often wonder if I am ready for life after college, even with a whole year left. I can only imagine how nervous seniors are as they ponder their new jobs or their entrance into graduate school. Are they ready? Has Duke given them what they need to succeed? Coming from Duke, our reputation precedes us. Undeniably, the majority of us are smart, hardworking and ambitious—our future employers or institutions already know this much. Hopefully our education has given us the knowledge to make informed decisions in the world and sparked our passions. But, at the end of the day, have we been given enough?

Many of us have huge ambitions: to become corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, policymakers and the like. Few people could deny that most of us have the smarts to be those types of people and that the sky is the limit. Academically, Duke has provided the spark that most of us needed to be successful in our endeavors. We have not only gained knowledge, but we learned how to prioritize, to understand what we are good at and ultimately how to become better at achieving what we want to achieve. Through direct or indirect means, we learn how to manage everything—from academics, to relationships and careers.

Yet I ask again: Is it enough? Any person who wants to achieve great things in the realms of business, medicine, law, politics and even science, must be taught not just to manage, but to lead.

What is the difference between a manager and a leader? As Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus write in their book “Leaders, Strategies for Taking Charge,” “‘To manage’ means ‘to bring about, to accomplish, to have charge of or responsibility for, to conduct.’ ‘Leading’ is ‘influencing, guiding in a direction, course, action, opinion.’” This distinction between managing and leading is crucial. Many people in positions of authority nowadays are managers. They are concerned with the bottom line, with achievement not in the sense of breaking new ground, but in fulfilling deadlines, making sure their employees are on task, etc. A leader challenges established order. In the face of adversity, the leader takes a bold step forward. A leader innovates, creates, inspires and collaborates. In America, we are facing a paucity of leaders—that is why the roads are cracking, there is unacceptable pollution in our rivers and streams, and it seems like nothing is ever done about any of it in our nation’s capital. Executives at large corporations are content with their seven-figure bonuses … all the while ignoring the complaints of their employees, environmental organizations, human rights advocates and so on (cough Wal-Mart, Nike, McDonald’s cough). Take a closer look at your own life, at your beliefs and your fears, to see which category you fall into. You may not be happy with what you find.

Will the leaders of tomorrow come from Duke? Maybe the man who finally begins to solve some of our environmental problems will graduate from Duke next month. Perhaps the woman who risks her career on a potential cure for HIV/AIDS will throw her square hat into the sky at the Class of 2011 graduation. It depends on if he or she is willing to step outside the established boundaries of society and challenge the norms that we have heretofore been forced to accept. In short, it depends on if he or she is ready to take risks and to truly become one of the leaders of our generation.

There are amazing academic opportunities at Duke, and the quality of the education here means that recent graduates are often given positions of authority. It makes me wonder if Duke truly does prepare us for the responsibility associated with such positions. Namely, are we prepared to challenge our roles, to be innovators? Or are we simply glorified placeholders? As of now, it is up in the air. Manager or leader: Which are you?

Milap Mehta is a Trinity junior. This is his final column of the semester.