I’ve been blessed with several wonderful mentors in my professional life, including legendary tax expert, author and instructor, Sid Kess, and retired CCH Editorial Vice-President and former boss, Jim Rooney. But the person who has made the greatest impression on me is a 79-year old plumber from South Chicago. A child of the Great Depression and an orphan by the time he was age 11, this self-made man overcame tremendous obstacles in his life to become a master plumber, a father of six children, and a great role model for me and countless other people. This special person is my Dad, John Gornick.

John Gornick, Master Plumber

I’d like to share some of my Dad’s words of wisdom and guidelines he has used in his life that have made a huge impact on me in my professional career:

Measure twice, cut once. That last extra check before moving forward (or pushing the send key!) has saved me more times than I’d like to admit, and I’m so grateful every time I’ve remembered to do it.

Draw out your plans in detail, so you can better plan your projects and accurately estimate your time and resources. My Dad is a classic example of someone who has operated in his trade knowing that “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” He’s a visual guy and I’m amazed at the quality and detail of the schematics he draws out on paper before tackling a job, like re-piping a house – and how spot-on he is in estimating time and materials required to complete a project. (The picture below is the schematic he drew before installing the boiler in my house.)

John Gornick's Boiler Installation Schematic

If you use the right tool, the job is much easier. There’s a reason there are a dozens of different kinds of pipe wrenches, tube cutters, and faucet stem and cartridge pullers. Regardless of what industry, profession or trade you’re in, if you attack a task or a problem equipped with the right tool, you’ll save lots of time and effort and avoid extra headaches and frustration.

Give it your best effort, every time. If you’re going fall short, don’t let it be because you didn’t give it your best shot. We all make mistakes and miss the mark sometimes, but if you put forth your best effort each time, you can sleep well at night.

My Dad has an amazing work ethic. He’s like the Superman of plumbers. I can’t tell you how many times when he has helped me with projects around my home that he has absolutely worn me out. I have had to request that we take a break, sometimes after working 5-6 hours straight. If I didn’t ask for a break, he’d just keep going – even now at almost 80 years old!

Share what you have and what you know with others. My Dad is the most generous person I know. Even though he raised six children on a plumber’s income, he always gave to charities and shared his time, talents and knowledge with others – and still does today! He’s a great teacher, because he loves what he does and he loves to help others and share with others what he knows.

Study and work hard in school and don’t stop learning, so you don’t have to work as hard as I have had to in my life. Even though my Dad didn’t go to college and struggled at times in school, he has always been very curious about a lot of different things and has committed himself to continuous learning throughout his life – and he always encouraged us to focus on our studies. My Dad has constantly re-educated himself. His regular reading includes Discover Magazine, National Geographic and Popular Mechanics – and his interests range from history and space exploration to music and machinery. Whether on a construction site and talking to the electricians to understand how or why they performed a task a certain way, buying himself a computer and mastering how to use a sophisticated music writing software package in his 60s, or watching the television show, “How It’s Made”, my Dad has had an instinctive drive to broaden his knowledge base. The biggest payoff is the sharp mind he has today at almost 80 years old.

If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Geez, if I heard this one once, I heard it a million times! How true and how important… but how hard it can be at times to bite your tongue!

If you say you’re going to do something, then do it. Credibility comes from following through on your commitments. Everyone knows they can count on my Dad. He’s not just willing to help others, but he follows through and does what he says he’s going to do.

Be humble and don’t “toot your own horn”. My Dad is humble and self-effacing. (I think I saw his picture in the dictionary next to the word “humility”!) One of my sisters - Christine, a manager with Nokia Siemens Networks, recently reflected on our Dad and how his accolades and acknowledgements over the years came his way because of what he has done – not because he bragged about them. In fact, he has been very much the opposite his whole life, being his own harshest critic and pushing himself to improve and learn new things.

Don’t concern yourself about what someone else has or what they got. Chris also reminded me about a story from years ago, when my Dad and one of his apprentices learned that their boss got a sizable year-end bonus – as a result of the great work that my Dad and the apprentice had done all year long. My Dad and the apprentice either got no bonus or a very small one that year. When the apprentice started ranting about this injustice, my Dad asked him, “Did you get paid what you agreed to get paid?” to which the apprentice reluctantly replied, “Yes”. So my Dad told him, “Then, stop your complaining!” Life is not always fair – and remembering that truth can be great medicine for reducing your blood pressure.

Bonus sayings. Some of the more colorful sayings my Dad uses all the time include: “Your sh*t is my bread and butter” (perfect for a plumber, eh?), “Sh*t always flows down downhill” (I’m sure we’ve all heard about or experienced a boss passing the buck down on a subordinate when trouble hit), and “It’s good enough for the girls we date.”  

In regards to the last saying, one of my brothers - Nick, a Project Manager for Motorola, says there is an expression used by project managers in their work with engineers. The PM has to know when to proverbially “shoot the engineer” – i.e., you need to know when something is really “good enough” and at the stage where more effort on a particular item is of no real benefit. Great advice for balancing time, quality and cost! (NOTE TO MY WIFE AND MY MOM – Don’t worry, it’s just a funny saying, not related to you at all. You are both the best!)

Joe Gornick sitting in front of his Dad, John Gornick

CONCLUSION: I hope some of these lessons that I’ve learned from a master plumber can be of some benefit to you in the work you do and how you approach life.

I’d love to hear some lessons you learned from your Dad (or Mom) that have made a difference in your professional life. Please feel free to share!