{"id":65020,"date":"2025-05-22T12:24:02","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T19:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=65020"},"modified":"2025-05-22T12:24:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T19:24:03","slug":"impact-difference-maker-mike-lepper-balances-zest-for-success-with-personnel-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2025\/05\/impact-difference-maker-mike-lepper-balances-zest-for-success-with-personnel-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Impact Difference Maker Mike Lepper Balances Zest for Success with Personnel Development"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Mike Lepper<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mike Lepper freely admits that he\u2019s addicted to success. Suffice to say, the dealership under Lepper\u2019s guidance\u2014Impact Networking of Lake Forest, Illinois\u2014hopes there is no remedy for curing chronic competitiveness. It\u2019s baked into his ascension to the top leadership role at the $200 million managed IT-fueled dealership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet there is another layer to Lepper that isn\u2019t connected to being competitive, but it is part and parcel of leadership traits. He\u2019s learned the value of caring about others more than one\u2019s self, because the personal wins will pile up in the process. Lepper is endlessly positive, and knows the secret to success lies in a mixture of 10% strategy and 90% execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is possible to be a young gun and an old soul wrapped into one. \u201cI truly love coaching and developing the people,\u201d said Lepper, a 2025 ENX Magazine<\/em> Difference Maker. \u201cIt\u2019s about having strong relationships, building rapport and always be willing to do anything myself that I ask my people to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Success came early and often for Lepper, who hooked up with Impact following a sales and marketing career fair at Northern Illinois University (where he majored in sales and minored in economics). In a short 15 years, he\u2019s won several awards\u2014including sales rep of the year and top general manager\u2014while garnering a reputation for leveraging the talents of those surrounding him. Those who know him well say Lepper\u2019s work ethic is without peer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have certainly been some life-changing moments from a professional standpoint. The first came in August of 2016 in Aspen, Colorado, when he was awarded partnership at Impact. Equally compelling was Lepper\u2019s ascension to CEO late last year, which was trumpeted via a pair of coming-out parties: the Executive Connection Summit in January, followed by the Impact all-company meeting in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The moves were in conjunction with the elevation of CEO Frank Cucco and President Dan Meyer to the company\u2019s board of directors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matter of Trust<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cucco has been a strong influence for Lepper, with the pair having first met at a baseball game work event. \u201cHis wisdom about building trust and maintaining strong client relationships has shaped my leadership style and continues to guide my decision-making,\u201d Lepper noted of Cucco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, it\u2019s about constant improvement. He recently garnered certification for C-suite leaders at Northwestern University\u2019s Kellogg School of Management. The end game is always enabling Impact to thrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI focus on being the best version of myself every day I show up,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the home front, Lepper and his wife, Amy, are the parents of two: son Rocky, 6, and daughter Madi, 4. They\u2019re slated to move into a new home closer to the Lake Forest corporate office by year\u2019s end. The young family enjoys spending time in the pool or at the beach, with Florida or any sun-splashed destination topping their list of favorite vacations. He\u2019s an avid golfer, but treasures family time, including his children\u2019s sporting events, more than anything.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mike Lepper freely admits that he\u2019s addicted to success. Suffice to say, the dealership under Lepper\u2019s guidance\u2014Impact Networking of Lake Forest, Illinois\u2014hopes there is no remedy for curing chronic competitiveness. It\u2019s baked into his ascension to the top leadership role at the $200 million managed IT-fueled dealership. Yet there is another layer to Lepper that isn\u2019t connected to being competitive, but it is part and parcel of leadership traits. He\u2019s learned the value of caring about others more than one\u2019s self, because the personal wins will pile up in the process. Lepper is endlessly positive, and knows the secret to success lies in a mixture of 10% strategy and 90% execution. It is possible to be a young gun and an old soul wrapped into one. \u201cI truly love coaching and developing the people,\u201d said Lepper, a 2025 ENX Magazine Difference Maker. \u201cIt\u2019s about having strong relationships, building rapport and always be willing to do anything myself that I ask my people to do.\u201d Success came early and often for Lepper, who hooked up with Impact following a sales and marketing career fair at Northern Illinois University (where he majored in sales and minored in economics). In a short 15 years, he\u2019s won several awards\u2014including sales rep of the year and top general manager\u2014while garnering a reputation for leveraging the talents of those surrounding him. Those who know him well say Lepper\u2019s work ethic is without peer. There have certainly been some life-changing moments from a professional standpoint. The first came in August of 2016 in Aspen, Colorado, when he was awarded partnership at Impact. Equally compelling was Lepper\u2019s ascension to CEO late last year, which was trumpeted via a pair of coming-out parties: the Executive Connection Summit in January, followed by the Impact all-company meeting in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The moves were in conjunction with the elevation of CEO Frank Cucco and President Dan Meyer to the company\u2019s board of directors. Matter of Trust Cucco has been a strong influence for Lepper, with the pair having first met at a baseball game work event. \u201cHis wisdom about building trust and maintaining strong client relationships has shaped my leadership style and continues to guide my decision-making,\u201d Lepper noted of Cucco. In the end, it\u2019s about constant improvement. He recently garnered certification for C-suite leaders at Northwestern University\u2019s Kellogg School of Management. The end game is always enabling Impact to thrive. \u201cI focus on being the best version of myself every day I show up,\u201d he added. On the home front, Lepper and his wife, Amy, are the parents of two: son Rocky, 6, and daughter Madi, 4. They\u2019re slated to move into a new home closer to the Lake Forest corporate office by year\u2019s end. The young family enjoys spending time in the pool or at the beach, with Florida or any sun-splashed destination topping their list of favorite vacations. He\u2019s an avid golfer, but treasures family time, including his children\u2019s sporting events, more than anything.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":64660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3626,80,1650,82,1638],"tags":[4584],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65020"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65020"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65024,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65020\/revisions\/65024"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}