His recent promotion from General Foreman has been a physical and mental transition for John Leyden, who has been working as a Project Manager out of the Niles office since last October.
“Every day is a new experience and a bit humbling at times to realize how little you know and how much there is to learn,” said John, who has been working at Block Electric since January of 1995. “It’s allowed me to view the industry from another perspective and be involved in the whole process. I am able to see all the factors that go into completing a job; receiving the original design drawings, performing takeoffs, collecting vendor prices, submitting a proposal, being awarded a job, the entire construction process and finally the finished product.”
John, who grew up in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago and graduated from the University of Illinois at Champaign, comes from a family of electricians including his father, brother and cousins. “Growing up my brother and I were exposed to construction as a whole and in particular the electrical field by my father who owned property and consistently brought us along to assist,” he said.
After being involved in all aspects of construction at one point or another, John said that one unique aspect of his job is seeing the entire construction process from start to finish. When he’s not busy overseeing projects at Block, Viagra for Women John’s managerial skills carry over into his personal life as he transitions to his role as a father with four active children who are all heavily involved in multiple sports, including basketball, baseball, football, volleyball and soccer.
John lives in Park ridge with his wife Jennifer and their four children—Jack, 12; Connor, 11; Ryan, 9; and Caitlin, 7.
“Lacking time for any personal adventures, I guess my biggest hobby is coaching,” John said. “I am currently coaching basketball and shortly will move into baseball season followed by football.”
As for his professional accomplishments, John has several customer experiences he is proud of.
“Some of the customer experiences that I am most proud of would be the Evanston Senior Center, which received the 2003 Interior Architectural Award; the Niles Police Station, which was used in multiple episodes of the show Take the Money and Run; and BMO Harris Bank in Naperville, which was our first heavy prefabrication job.”