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Joining me today is Eric Kapitulik, founder and CEO of “The Program.” Following his graduation from the US Naval Academy and service as a Marine Corps officer, he launched this leadership development company called “The Program.”
What role did your military experience play in developing the business model for “The Program?”
“My battalion commander often said that a person is the sum of their experiences.”
My battalion commander often said that a person is the sum of their experiences. The Marine Corps was a significant part of my life that shaped “The Program,” along with personal experiences like marriage and parenthood. Our mission is to develop great teammates and leaders to create world-class teams. The military instilled in us the importance of values and standards, which are crucial for building successful teams. The Marine Corps taught me these principles or reinforced them.
You grew up in Thompson, Connecticut, a small town of about 10,000 people. How did this close-knit community upbringing influence your approach to leadership and teamwork in your current role as CEO of the program? If it did?
Yes, very much so. The current population of 10,000 people must be from 2023, because when I was growing up there, I’d be surprised if it was even 40% of that. However, the town I grew up in wasn’t the biggest influence on my life; it was the home I grew up in. My dad was a Connecticut state policeman, and my mom was a high school French teacher. While I don’t believe in luck when it comes to most things in life—you make your own luck—I do believe I was incredibly fortunate when it comes to the family I was born into.
My parents didn’t have a lot of money, so we didn’t always have everything we wanted, but we had everything we needed—love and guidance. The love and guidance my parents provided shaped me to be a great teammate on all the teams I was privileged to be a part of and to try to be a great leader for my teammates. That influence had a huge impact on me and continues to shape who I am today.
During your military service, you survived a helicopter crash off the coast of Southern California that tragically claimed the lives of six fellow marines. How did this profound experience reshape your perspective on leadership and the importance of team dynamics?
People often describe the helicopter crash as life changing. For me, it wasn’t so much life-changing as it was life-affirming. The crash reaffirmed things I had always believed were important, both as a teammate and as a leader. It reinforced certain beliefs into facts.
One of those facts is this: never ask your Marines, your athletes, your coworkers, or your employees to do something you’re not willing to do yourself. A month after the helicopter crash, we had to undertake the exact same mission. I had suffered a compound fracture in my leg from the crash, and I was in a full-length cast. Physically, I couldn’t do the mission. The Marine commander suggested, “Hey, Captain Kapatulik, why don’t you come up in the overwatch helicopter? Just observe what your Marines are doing.”
My Marines—the ones who had survived the crash without severe injuries—were back on the same type of helicopter in which they had nearly lost their lives a month earlier. When the commander made his offer, I quickly accepted. I agreed to go up in the overwatch helicopter, even though deep down I knew it was the wrong thing to do as a teammate and a leader.
That night, I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned, knowing the right thing to do was to get back on the helicopter with my Marines, the one they almost died in a month earlier—the one I almost died in. But now, I had an excuse not to, an easy way out, and I took it.
The following day, as we prepared for the mission, I boarded the overwatch helicopter with the commander. The helicopter blades were already turning, ready for launch. At the last second, I turned to the commander and said, “Sir, I cannot be on this helicopter. I have to be with my Marines.” I got off and crutched over to their helicopter—the same type we had crashed in.
As I boarded, I saw the look in my Marines’ eyes. At that moment, they knew I would never ask them to do something I wasn’t willing to do myself. That experience also reinforced another critical lesson: I would have no moral authority to teach my children about standing up for what is right if I didn’t live by it myself. If you see something wrong, you don’t just tell someone; you address it. Silence is consent. Doing nothing is consent. If you know what is right, you must act on it.
Serving as a Marine is known for its rigorous training. What lessons from this experience do you now apply in your work and corporate teams in athletic programs through “The Program?”
I think it’s twofold. First, let’s talk about physical training. The importance of being physically fit cannot be overstated, whether you’re a teammate or a leader. I’m not saying you can’t be a great teammate or leader without being physically fit, but I am saying that you’ll be a better version of yourself—a better teammate, a better leader—if you are physically fit. Why? It’s very simple. We’re all part of many teams, and each of those teams requires a tremendous amount of energy. The more physically fit we are, the more we exercise, the more energy we must give to all the teammates we’re privileged to work with.
Secondly, adversity and challenges in life are essential for growth as individuals. The military gave me daily opportunities to push beyond my comfort zone, and now it’s become a habit. We either grow or we die; there’s no middle ground, no just maintaining.
In your book “The Program: Lessons from Elite Military Units for Creating and Sustaining High Performance Leaders and Teams”, you share insights from your military experience. What’s the most crucial takeaway you hope readers will gain?
Depending on where you are in life, I think this answer will differ. How I would have answered this question when the book first came out five years ago compared to now has changed, and what we emphasize in our training has evolved as well. Over time, I’ve realized there are two things I would highlight more if I were to completely rewrite the book today.
First, the importance of effective communication. When we hear the term “effective communication,” we often think about how we talk. However, how we listen is a much more important skill for being the best teammate and leader we can be. Specifically, listening to understand rather than listening to respond. That’s the first key point: listen to understand rather than listen to respond.
The second point is the importance of being physically, mentally, and emotionally resilient. To be the best teammate and leader we can be, these aspects are crucial. I touched on this in the book the first time, but if I were to rewrite it, I would place much more emphasis on the importance of emotional resilience—the ability to stay mission-focused in the face of emotional challenges. Even though this isn’t emphasized as much in the original text, I would hope that readers focus on that section more than any other.
As a lifelong endurance athlete, you accomplished many challenges. That includes climbing several of the world’s highest peaks, such as Mount Everest. Can you describe a challenging moment from any of your climbs and explain how it parallels the obstacles leaders face in high pressure business situations?
The hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life isn’t climbing a mountain. We don’t talk about difficult practices or tough economic environments as “hard.” Those aren’t hard—they’re challenging. And we need to think of them that way because that’s how we approach them. As warriors—and by “warrior,” I don’t just mean in a military sense—we love challenges. We want to confront them head-on.
The hardest thing I’ve ever done was during my time in the Marines. My commanding officer came to me one day and asked me to volunteer for a task because he couldn’t order me to do it—I had to choose it willingly. So, I volunteered. That day, I drove home, put on my dress blue uniform, and drove an hour out to the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I pulled up to a family’s driveway, got out of my car, walked up their steps, and rang the doorbell. When the door opened, I had to tell a mother that her son had just been shot and killed in Iraq. That’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
On a mountain, you can turn around and go back down. But that day, out of respect for her son, whom I had never met, and for her and her husband as the parents of that young Marine, I had to be the one to deliver that news. There was no other choice. There was no, “Bad weather’s coming,” or “I don’t feel up to it today.” No, I had to do it. And that moment has stayed with me—it will never leave me. The feeling I had when I rang that doorbell will never fade. That is the only thing I’ve ever done in my life that was truly hard.
Why am I grateful for that opportunity? First, out of respect for that family. But also, if you’ve ever done something like that, nothing else in life ever feels truly hard—just challenging.
“The Program” emphasizes core values as a foundation for effective leadership. Can you elaborate on these values and explain why you believe they’re crucial for developing strong leaders in both athletic teams and corporate environments?
Performance is important. If you don’t win enough games, you’ll get fired. If you don’t sell enough, you could lose your business or get fired from your sales job. Performance matters—absolutely—but not as much as our values. Values are reflected in our behaviors. Yes, we need to be aware that performance is crucial, but every single day, we must stay focused on our values, on our behaviors, and on what we believe are the mission-critical core values for us, our families, our businesses, or our teams.
These values differ for everyone, and there’s no right or wrong—there’s only what’s right for you, right for your marriage, right for your family, or right for your business. But you must have them. Being able to define your values, knowing what they are and how you define them, is crucial—first and foremost, to yourself. Why? Because all of us face adversity in our lives, and when we do, knowing what our values are and how we define them is our true north. We make decisions based on that true north.
The times in life when you’re stressed or unhappy with yourself are often when you make decisions that aren’t in line with your true north, that don’t align with your values. This alignment is important not just for you as an individual, but even more so for all the teams that we’re privileged to be a part of.
In today’s diverse workplace, how does the program address and incorporate principles of diversity and inclusion into its leadership training curriculum?
I really appreciate the question. I think there’s a common misconception about the military. Reflecting on some of the lessons I learned in the military, especially in the Marines, it’s important to understand that the average infantry platoon 30 years ago—or even 20 years ago—was predominantly made up of Black, Hispanic, and Native American individuals. White males were actually the minority in those platoons 25 years ago.
Back then, if you made a racist comment, your career in the Marine Corps was over. So when people talk today about diversity, equity, and inclusion, I think, “Yeah, the Marine Corps was already there 25 years ago.” The only thing that truly mattered was whether the person next to you—whether they were a man or a woman—could hang, whether they would have your back. It wasn’t about the good times, but about those moments when everything goes sideways. Could you depend on that person? Did they care about you on a deeper level? Because without that sense of love, there’s no trust, and without trust, there’s no real relationship.
In the Marine Corps, that’s all that mattered. It was true 25 years ago, and at “The Program,” we continue to reinforce that message. Whether it’s about race, gender, or sexual orientation, the question remains: Can your teammate hang? Do they have your back? Everything else—everything else is just noise when the situation gets tough.
As someone who has achieved success in multiple arenas, business, athletics, and the military, what advice would you offer to young athletes and aspiring leaders here in Boston who are looking to make a positive impact in their communities?
First and foremost, it’s crucial to define what success means to you. Success has a different meaning for each of us, so take the time to clarify what it means to you personally. Once you’ve defined it, I’d challenge you to write down everything in your life that supports you in becoming the best version of yourself, your definition of success. At the same time, make a list of the things you do, or the people you associate with, that hinder your ability to achieve that success. Then, make the difficult but necessary decision to remove those obstacles and negative influences from your life. Life is challenging enough as it is—surround yourself with great teammates and be a great teammate to those who choose to have you in their circle.
Throughout your years of running the program, you’ve worked with numerous athletic teams and corporations. Could you share a particularly memorable piece of feedback you’ve received and explain why it resonates so strongly with your organization’s mission?
Yes, I just shared it with you. That advice came from the former Kansas State Football head coach, who is now in the College Football Hall of Fame. He’s 80 years old and still hired us at “The Program” to work with his team. Despite already being in the Hall of Fame, he was taking notes furiously while we were working with his players. After the session, we debriefed with the team, and this coach, at 80-plus years old and just two years from retirement, was still asking us questions about how to improve his team. All he cared about was getting better.
What I tell young athletes, business leaders, or anyone I interact with, and what I hope to embody as a husband and father, is the same principle: wake up every single morning striving to get better. We’re all going to make mistakes along the way; we’re going to fall short—I know I do. But that’s part of the journey. My expectation for my son and daughter is the same as it is for myself. Yes, when you make a mistake, there are consequences. Accept those consequences, then move forward and improve. If you score 38 points and get 38 rebounds, great—enjoy it. But come tomorrow, we’re moving on.
The Program is North America’s #1 veteran-owned personal development, leadership development, and culture consultancy resource for corporations and sports teams. We offer a unique combination of elite military and pro-athletic experience to help clients develop great teammates, great leaders, and world-class teams. To learn more about how they can help you and your team please visit their website at The Program or give them a call at 781-281-0751.
