#199 Selfless, Tough, and Disciplined: How to Lead and Live with Eric Kapitulik

Jim Harshaw Jr interviews Eric Kapitulik, founder and CEO of The Program How to lead. (46:47)

Born and raised in CT, Eric Kapitulik attended at the US Naval Academy, where he was a four-year varsity letter winner on the lacrosse team.

Graduating in 1995, Eric went on to serve in the Marine Corps as both an Infantry Officer and Special Operations Officer. As a Platoon Commander, he led a team of 20 covert operations specialists on numerous Special Forces-related missions, including long-range recon patrols, hostage rescues, high-altitude jump exercises, ship takeovers, and gas-oil platform takedowns.

In 1999, Eric and his platoon were in a helicopter crash that resulted in the death of seven Marines. In response to this tragedy, Eric created the Force Reconnaissance Scholarship Fund to benefit the children of his fallen men. In order to raise money for the fund, he has participated in eight Ironmans, The Canadian Death Race, The Eco-Challenge, and The American Birkebeiner Ski Marathon. Eric has also summited five of the Seven Summits including Mount Everest.

Since leaving active duty, Eric has received his MBA and founded his company, The Program, with the goal of providing both athletic and corporate teams with the best leadership development and team building services in the country.

His upcoming book is titled The Program, Lessons from Elite Military Units for Creating and Sustaining High-Performance Leaders and Teams.

But first…. If you don’t have time to listen to the entire episode or if you hear something that you like but don’t have time to write it down, be sure to grab your free copy of the Action Plan from this episode– as well as get access to action plans from EVERY episode– at JimHarshawJr.com/Action.