Jason Lippert
CEO at LCI Industries
Jason Lippert is the third-generation leader of Lippert and LCI Industries, a $5.1 billion publicly traded company with more than 15,000 team members. He has served in many capacities and multiple leadership positions since coming on board with the company since earning his degree in 1994.
Since 2003, Jason has been the CEO of the Lippert Components subsidiary and has had an intense focus on building strong teams, bettering our communities and growing the company significantly with new product innovations. Jason has successfully built upon the strong foundation set by his father and grandfather before him, transforming a steel roofing business in Alma, Michigan into a thriving, international supplier of components to the leisure vehicle and mobile transportation industries.
Jason received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Miami University in Oxford, OH in 1994 where he focused on accounting and IT and held general leadership positions within his fraternity and the Greek Inter- Fraternity Council. During his summers off, he received training in various positions throughout the company.
Upon graduation, Jason initiated a management training program with Lippert that would prove to be integral in building a long-term, diverse team from outside the business. Since its inception, the training program has brought in a few hundred college-educated individuals who otherwise would have never found our niche industry. As a result, the talent that this program has brought to Lippert helped contribute to the success the company has had with its aggressive growth and great results over the years. The program is still running strong 20 years later.
In the last few years, Jason and his team have pursued a diversification strategy, identifying and capturing several business opportunities in markets adjacent to its $2 billion dollar core RV towable OEM business. Today, Lippert sells to many different industries and manufacturers components for buses, marine, cargo and equestrian trailers, heavy trucks, and other specialty vehicles. Jason’s team is also developed the aftermarket business for all these mobile and leisure markets as well as founded a business that serves the international RV market, marine and rail markets. Combined, these new markets have added more than $1 billion in total sales. Lippert plans to continue this strategy in an effort to more evenly spread sales over a broader range of industries.
Today, Jason is President & CEO of the operating company, Lippert, and its parent, LCI Industries. He and his executive team have created an inspiring company culture of excellence, starting with senior leadership and reaching to the front lines of its workforce of over 15,000 people. For more than 28 years, Jason has focused on “leadership, quality, innovation, customer experience and taking care of team members.” He is consistently quoted as saying “This foundation will continue to guide Lippert as the company matures and grows in the RV market, adjacent industries and beyond.”
Why We Chose Him:
Bob Chapman nominates LCI Industries CEO Jason Lippert as a Social Capital CEO, describing him as a very forward-thinking leader who practices care as a leadership principle within his company and sees how it is possible to change the world through changing the way you lead your business.
Interestingly, it seems Bob was a critical force in Jason’s adoption of Social Capital principles; Jason has credited Bob’s TED Talk “Truly Human Leadership” for changing him from a hard-driving boss who suffered employee turnover of greater than 100% to one who now considers his workforce to be “team members and leaders.”
Of his business -- a $5-billion global manufacturer of components parts for various industries, with more than 100 divisions globally and more than 15,000 team members – Jason says, “We’ve been on our culture journey for about 11 years, and I can tell you that we’ve reduced turnover from 125% to 30% by focusing on culture.” Jason’s goal is to make sure the core values and leadership values live and breathe in the organization every second of every day.
“One of the key things we’ve done to prove to our people that culture matters here is to put our money where our mouth is” – actually putting resources toward a culture department. “Here at LCI industries,” Jason continues, “we’ve got a culture and leadership department, led by a chief culture and leadership development officer and 30 people in that department.”
LCI holds its people accountable to its values, and, working in that environment 40 to 50 hours a week they eventually build very healthy habits as a result and that carries over into the rest of their life at home and outside the work walls. “When our team members live out our values at home, it helps make better and stronger family units and kids grow up learning more about values.” And significantly, he adds, “This can only help make our communities and ultimately the world a better place.”
To ensure his employees stay on track to improve themselves, he’s made it a requirement that employees write out both a personal and professional growth plan. This, Jason believes, will make the business better and flow outward to benefit its communities, “and the world starts to become a better place as people work on becoming better human beings through these growth plans.”
Jason has discovered an unanticipated side effect of working at culture so hard: businesses have taken notice. More than 100 businesses have reached out and are paying LCI to help them create a better culture for them. Pointing out that this means their team members are getting treated better and cared for in better ways, and those people go home and live happier healthy lives and create better and stronger family units, Jason says, “This is the true ripple great culture-minded businesses can have -- to help other businesses get on the journey.”
In fact, Jason shares, “Ultimately, we have a line around here in our company that ‘we believe business can be a force for good in the world.’”
We couldn’t say it better ourselves.
We are pleased to honor Jason as one of this month’s Top 10 Social Capital CEOs.
Company Name | Tenure at Current Position | Previous Position |
|---|---|---|
| Lippert Components | CEO of Lippert Components | |
Education | Industry | Sub Industry |
| Miami University (Oxford, Ohio), Bachelor of Science |