The New Standard of Leadership, with Eric Kapitulik

Eric Kapitulik was born and raised in Thompson, CT and attended Pomfret Preparatory School where he was a three-sport varsity athlete. Upon graduating, he attended the United States Naval Academy. While there, he was a 4-year varsity letter winner and played on three NCAA Division I Lacrosse Tournament teams. During his junior year, Eric received the Lt. JG Frank McKeone Award, given to the Navy player who most demonstrated spirit and sportsmanship and who served as the unsung hero. Eric was also named Navy’s Most Outstanding Defenseman and received North-South All-Star honors his senior year at the Academy. He graduated in 1995 and went on to serve as both an Infantry Officer and Special Operations Officer with 1st Force Reconnaissance Company, 1st Marine Division. As a Force Reconnaissance Platoon Commander, Eric led 20 covert operations specialists in Special Forces related missions including long-range reconnaissance patrols, hostage rescue, high altitude jump exercises, ship takeovers, and gas-oil platform takedowns. He left active duty after eight years of service and graduated from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in 2005.

Eric has been extensively involved with the Force Reconnaissance Scholarship Fund, which he established for the children of six Marines who died in a helicopter crash while serving under his command. Since 1999, he has been helping to raise funds and has done so through public speaking engagements covering Leadership and Attacking Adversity and through participation in Iron Man Triathlons and other ultra-endurance races around the world. In addition to finishing 8 Iron Man triathlons, Eric has competed in numerous marathons, the Canadian Death Race Ultra Marathon, the Eco Challenge, the American Birkebeiner Ski Marathon and was a competitor on The Outdoor Life Networks Global Extremes Challenge.

Eric is also an avid high altitude mountaineer. He has summited five of the Seven Summits (the highest peaks on the seven continents); Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. McKinley, Mt. Aconcagua, Mt.Elbrus and most recently Mt. Everest.

Eric sits on the board of directors for the Massachusetts Soldiers Legacy Fund and is the Founder and President of The Program LLC, a team-building and leadership development company for high school and collegiate student-athletes and corporate teams.

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As a former D1 lacrosse player and Special Operations Officer with 1st Force Reconnaissance Company, Eric Kapitulik maintains a standard of excellence in every facet of his life. The lessons he took away from those experiences are invaluable, so Eric is paying it forward by teaching structure, discipline, and an unrivaled leadership methodology to athletes and executives who want to take their teams to the next level.

Eric’s program has one mission: to develop better leaders and create more cohesive teams—that’s all they do. He facilitates personal development, leadership development, and team building through shared adversity, and helps individuals and teams grow by stepping outside of their comfort zones. Eric works with collegiate and professional athletic programs and corporations across North America to reinvent their standards of leadership. Then, they commit the lessons to memory through experiential training.

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Ways to contact Eric Kapitulik:

• Book: The Program: Lessons From Elite Military Units for Creating and Sustaining High-Performance Leaders and Teams
• Website: www.TheProgram.org
• The Program’s Facebook: