By Abhijit Bhaduri –
That was the summer of ’82. It seems such a long time ago. Memories are not time dependent. We may forget where we put the keys but recall vividly something that happened decades ago. It is true especially if one is talking about the iconic Fr McGrath. That is my claim to fame – I am a student of Fr McGrath.
I joined XLRI in 1982 to study what was then called Personnel Management. None of us had any clue about what that meant and I certainly was the most ignorant of them all. We just felt that we were about to embark on something very important. The first class began with us being seated in the hall. A tall American with movie star good looks and a charismatic smile was welcoming each student as we settled down. He gave us all a slip of paper and asked us to write down the name by which we would like to be addressed. We then went around trying to remember the names of our fellow classmates. He picked people at random and asked them to recall everyone’s name. Most of us managed a dozen names. The professor then dazzled us by rattling out all ninety names (yes, that’s how many we were) and flawlessly at that.
That professor was Fr McGrath. His first lesson to us was simple. “Names matter. Never refer to a co-worker in the factory by his employee number. He is a human being. Call him by name. When you meet someone new, look at his or her face and then refer to the name as often as you can during the conversation. That is the first step towards treating everyone as an individual. When you talk to the person, try to step into his world. Understand his world view, theek hai?” He would surprise us with a few sentences in Bengali or Oriya or Tamil depending on who he was speaking to.
He was nicknamed Maggie. Yes, XLRI had Maggie long before anyone had heard of it. But I digress. Several professors remember the names of students, but Maggie remembers names forever and for every student in every batch. He was there every morning, pacing up and down the cobbled pathway around the students hostel, reading the Bible (I think). In the evening he played basketball with us and on Sundays he introduced us to baseball and played frisbee with us.
He rode a Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle. Whoever has had the opportunity to ride the pillion with Maggie will tell you that it is an unforgettable experience. He is a man in a hurry. One time in the summer of ’82 when I rode the pillion, I experienced being caught in a tornado as Fr McGrath rode his “Bullet” at a speed that will teach a thing or two to the actors of Fast and Furious.
He taught us a course called Basic Managerial Skills. That is also the title of a book he has written. The book has illustrations by Gopi Gajwani – the popular illustrator. The book explains the basics, the kind of stuff we are supposed to know but actually don’t. How to take notes in class or in meetings, how to write a resume, how to give a speech or a vote of thanks, how should you introduce a speaker and my favourite piece – how to read a book …
Yes, there is a way to read a book, according to Maggie. The method is called “Survey Q3R” – Survey, Questions, Read, Recall, and Review. You start by surveying and skimming through the contents and the key headlines and topics. Then frame questions about the topics that you scanned through. That’s the Q in Survey Q3R. Then you read the book and try to recall the key ideas. Then go back to review what you have missed, he had told us. Years later I taught my children the same method. It works.
The course on Basic Managerial Skills remains the most valuable course I took. That book has since been revised several times over. I still refer to it. When our batch of students went to XLRI for the twenty fifth year reunion, we all bought copies of the book and got it signed by Maggie.
Some years back I went to meet the head of HR of one of India’s largest conglomerates. I noticed a copy of Basic Managerial Skills on his bookshelf.
“Are you an alumni of XLRI?’ I asked him.
“No I am not. My first boss used to refer to this book all the time. So I bought it. I want to write to Fr McGrath and ask him for a sales commission. I have gifted it so many people and they in turn have done the same.”
“He taught me.” I added. I knew I was showing off.
Five years after I graduated from XLRI, I came back to Jamshedpur for a five year stint with the Management Development Center of Tata Steel which is located in the campus of XLRI. By that time Fr McGrath had moved to Bhubaneswar to continue his work with the underprivileged. But he would keep coming back to XL to offer his ever popular course on Basic Managerial Skills.
If today you complain about people not knowing the basics of how to operate in the workplace, you may have reason to complain. Fr McGrath passed away on 4th August 2017. Nobody else can teach that course the way he does. When an iconic player passes away from the game, his jersey number is retired too. That is how it is. That course has to be retired. No one can teach it way Maggie does.
Abhijit Bhaduri is a coach to CXOs and advisor to organizations on issues of leadership. He is the former Chief Learning Officer of Wipro. He has led HR teams at Microsoft, PepsiCo, Colgate & Tata Steel. He is on the Advisory Board of the prestigious CLO program by the Univ of Pennsylvania. He is on the Governing Council of MICA, Ahmedabad. A popular keynote speaker, he has spoken at TEDx, INK, NASSCOM and at several top B Schools in India and abroad. He can be reached at [email protected]