Bruyette Leadership Academy Speaker Eric Kapitulik

With compelling stories about his experiences as an athlete, a U.S. Marine Corps Infantry and Special Operations Officer, an Alpinist and a family man, Eric Kapitulik enlightened students on how to become better leaders and teammates.

 

Kapitulik’s presentation in Werner Centennial Center Sept. 13, kicked off the Bruyette Leadership Academy program, which provides training for more than 100 students who serve on the Prefect Board, Student Council, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Board and as Peer Leaders, Student RAs, varsity team captains and co-heads of programs such as John Hay, Dramat and the Dance Ensemble.

 

Kapitulik is the founder of The Program, a veteran-owned leadership and team-building company. In his address, he told students: “On whatever your chosen battlefield, individuals and individual talent can win games, but great teams compete for championships. And great teams are comprised of great teammates and great team leaders.”

 

Talent, he said, allows students to be great in their chosen field, but making a commitment to do that much better every morning when they wake up allows them to be that much greater.

 

“Repeat after me: Make a commitment, be a great teammate and leader,’’ he shouted to students, engaging  them to respond.

 

Great teammates set the examples, but they also hold each other accountable, Kapitulik then said.

 

“What do they do?” he asked.

“Hold each other accountable,” students shouted.

 

In Kapitulik’s view, all of us care about being well liked. We all have egos, and we all want to be good friends to each other. And being good friends to each other is never a problem except when being good friends for one another becomes more important than being great teammates for one another. Good friends are nice to each other, but niceness, he noted, can be laziness.

 

“Of course, we are going to be nice to each other, but great teammates are kind to each other. They hold each other accountable, which is a form of kindness,” he said.

 

That can be uncomfortable, he acknowledged. “But show me a team that is accountable to each other, and I will show you a team that cares very deeply about each other,” he said.

 

He also said that great leaders adhere to two additional standards: They ensure they accomplish the mission, and they always take care of their teammates.

 

“What do they do?” he shouted, prompting students to repeat those standards.

 

Kapitulik drew from his own personal experiences from facing a physical challenge like climbing Mount Everest to dealing with emotional disappointment when his family had to return a baby six days after they had adopted it because the birth mother changed her mind.

 

So, even though you give 100 percent effort, you can still fail, he noted. Successful leaders and teammates require physical toughness, but also mental and emotional resilience, which can be developed, Kapitulik said.

 

Coaches and advisors valued his advice. “Eric’s message was impactful to our students because he shared tangible examples of how to operate as a great teammate and team leader in very challenging environments,” said Joe Rodrigues ’96, P ’23, ’27, director of alumni engagement and giving and head boys’ lacrosse coach. “This message resonated with our students, who are also learning how to operate in their own challenging environments as student-athletes and leaders.”

 

Kapitulik graduated from the United States Naval Academy, where he was a four-year varsity letter recipient on their Division 1 lacrosse team. ​After graduation in 1995, Eric went on to serve in the United States Marine Corps as both an Infantry Officer and Special Operations Officer with 1st Force Reconnaissance Company, 1st Marine Division. He has completed numerous Ironman triathlons and has summited five of the Seven Summits (the highest peaks on each of the seven continents).

 

​After serving eight years he left active duty to earn his MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in 2005. In 2008, he founded The Program that uses a combination of elite military and pro-athletic experience to facilitate leadership development and team building.