The Program Podcast: Recent Episodes
The Program Leadership LLC
Eric Kapitulik (Kap) is the Founder and CEO of The Program, a team building and leadership development company that works with corporate teams and leading collegiate and professional athletic organizations around the United States.
For more information about Eric and The Program please visit www.theprogram.org
Mac and Omri discuss the concept of taking 100% responsibility and the choices we get to make when faced with challenges.
Coach Casey D'Annolfo is the Head Coach of the Tufts University Men's Lacrosse Program, the 2024 Division III National Champions.
In this episode, Mac and Omri discuss the concept of hard vs. challenging and the importance of seeking challenges as individuals and teams.
Coach Rick Jones is the current Special Assistant to the Head Coach at The University of Missouri Football Program. He is known for being the Oklahoma and Arkansas 18-time Football Coach of the Year, the National Federation of High Schools National Football Coach of the Year, and the 2018 American Football Coaches Association Power of Influence National Coach of the Year,
Mac and Omri discuss Hard work, Doing One More, and the Compound Effect. What they mean for our teams and how to work on them as individuals.
Mac and Omri discuss some of the most common issues we come across regarding the selection and development of team Captains.
Mac and Omri discuss some of the most common issues we come across regarding the selection and development of team Captains.
Admiral Sandy Stosz (USCG) is the first woman to command an icebreaker on the Great Lakes and to lead a U.S. Armed Forces service academy, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, where she was responsible for developing and educating a corps of 1,000 cadets. Newsweek’s “The Daily Beast” named her as one of “150 Women Who Shake the World.” She is the author of “Breaking Ice & Breaking Glass. Leading in Unchartered Waters.”
After receiving feedback on the "Transfer Portal" episode, Mac and Omri discuss "Managing Talent."
Mac and Omri discuss the NCAA transfer portal, how to use it to your advantage as a coach, and how to view it as an athlete.
Jamey joins Brady to discussfundamentals – what they are, why they are important, and how they apply to anyorganization aspiring to be world-class.
Fred is an executive coach and advisor on leadership and culture. He holds a Ph.D. inEconomics from the University of California, Berkeley. He is the founder andpresident of the Conscious Business Center. Fred is the founder of Axialent, aglobal consulting company that delivered leadership programs to more than15,000 executives at, to name a few, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Google,Cisco, General Motors, Chrysler, Shell, Unilever, Coca-Cola, and Citibank.
In In In2018, Fred accepted a position as Vice President at Google, advising the CEO's office on leadership and culture. During the same year, hepartnered with Tecnológico de Monterrey to create the Center of ConsciousLeadership. Previously, he was Vice President of executive development atLinkedIn.
He isthe author of the trilogy Metamanagement (2001), The Meaning Revolution(2018) and the book that we will be discussing today, Conscious Business(2006).
Today, Mac and Kyle S. discuss Humility.
Kyle is a Police Sergeant with over 20 years of Law Enforcement experience, much of it as a S.W.A.T. operator and Team Leader. He is a long-time Brazilian Jujitsu practitioner and is passionate about leadership and personal development.
Chris Warner, a leadership educator, and authorof “High-Altitude Leadership,” which I strongly recommend to our audience. Heis a keynote speaker, Emmy-nominated film-maker, and entrepreneur. The Marylanderfounded Earth Treks, a chain of climbing gyms that is now one of the largest inthe nation, serving more than 1 million customers per year.
Kap sits down with JR Butler.
JR co-founded Shift Group in 2022 and serves as itsCEO. Shift helps companies find top-quality candidates by connecting athletesand veterans with career opportunities. https://www.shiftgroup.io/
Eric and Brady discuss the "back brief."
The back brief is an effective communication tool that all Program teammates challenge our clients to implement. It is a highly useful but utterly underutilized tool to ensure team transparency, clarity, and alignment.
Brady & Jamey discuss the debrief.
A debrief should occur at the end of any operation, where an organization discusses who and what went well and who and what needs to improve. It is the single best way an organization improves. And typically, it fails to occur.
Kap sits down with Nancy Frates. Nancy is an advocate and thought leader in the ALS community and the mother of Pete Frates, the inspiration of and the man who helped the Ice Bucket Challenge become a global phenomenon. Nancy’s Ted Talk has amassed over 1 million views on Ted.com, Nancy works closely with organizations that support and provide care to those living with the condition, and is an ALS advisor to various pharmaceutical companies.
Kap sits down with his son, Axel.
"I asked Axel to join me because I wanted to hear how I am doing as a teammate and leader from, along with his Mom and sister, my most important teammate."
Welcome to The Program's new Corporate short-form podcast, The Debrief.
Kap sits down with Brady; they discuss "A leader's greatest mistake."
Program Founder and CEO, Eric Kapitulik discusses “Effective Communication” with Naval Aviator and Program Corporate Lead Instructor, Brady Turnage.
Eric Kapitulik, The Program Founder and CEO, sits down to speak with Coach Rand Pecknold, Head Coach of Quinnipiac Men’s Ice Hockey, the 2023 NCAA Men’s Champion.
The Program Principal and Lead Instructor, Jake MacDonald, sits down with Eric Kapitulik, CEO and Founder, to discuss Physical, Mental, and Emotional Toughness on Mt. Everest and how to apply those same lessons learned in the world's highest altitudes to our daily lives.
https://theprogram.org/our-team/
https://theprogram.org/letters-on-leadership/
Kap & Sam sit down to discuss Sam's life as portrayed in section 5 of The Program Book "No Excuses."
Omri & Sam discuss excuses, how to combat them, and how Sam rates his days to ensure he stays on the attack.
Omri & Mac discuss emotional toughness in the third episode of a three-part series on toughness.
Omri and Mac discuss toughness.
https://theprogram.org/our-team/
Operation Spartan Shield
Situation:
You are operating in 2 man sniper/spotter teams near Karbala, Iraq. Intel has identified an IED-making factory inside the city. The exact location is unknown
Mission
Two-man sniper teams will insert covertly at various points in the city. When locating the target, teams will neutralize with precision fire or air assets. Expect resistance. Teams will extract via hello at SAR 2. Don't be late.
Executed as a two-person team
Insert
4 Rounds
Sideline to Sideline Plank Push
11 Warfighters
Actions on Obj
Teammate 1
101 yd burpee broad jump
Teammate 2
5 rounds
10 Kaiser Belt Squats @ 1.25 BW
20 KB Swings
Switch when both partners are done
Extract
202 yd teammate carry (buddy drag, fireman carry, etc., Switch as needed)
Escape and Evade
If any team finishes more than 10 mins behind, lead team
101 yd low crawl w/ sandbag
- For the Plank Push, we used a 2×8. 2 teammates get in the bear crawl position with their hands on the Plank and push it across the field. Sideline to sideline = 53 Yds
You can sub regular barbell squats w BW on the bar for Kaiser Belt Squats
Mac & Omri discuss three common phrases we hear from coaches that we believe to be misconceptions.
In this episode, Kap hosts; Rob Hale, co-founder and President of Granite Telecommunications, LLC, a communications company headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts. Established in 2002, Granite has grown rapidly and consistently and now supplies over 1.75 million business lines, has annual revenues exceeding $1.7 billion, and employs over 2,300 people. He is an owner of The NBA's Boston Celtics and owner of the Boston Cannons pro lacrosse team.
In this episode, Omri Rachmut & Jake "Mac" MacDonald discuss standards and how they help shape our team's culture.
Jake “Mac” MacDonald graduated in 2000 with a degree in English from Tufts University, where he was a four-year starter and Captain of the Varsity Football team. After graduating, Jake was commissioned as an Officer in the United States Marine Corps. While on active duty, Mac completed two combat tours to Iraq as a Light Reconnaissance Platoon Commander. He continued to serve his country as a Major in the Marine Corps Reserve and deployed to Afghanistan as a Scout Sniper Platoon Commander. Mac has received multiple awards for combat valor as well as a Purple Heart after being wounded in action. Mac is now a Lead Instructor and Principal at The Program, as well as the co-author of The Program: Lessons From Elite Military Units for Creating and Sustaining High-Performance Leaders and Teams.
Jake "Mac" MacDonald and Omri Rachmut discuss accountability. What it means, how to create a culture of it, and what are some of the best ways to develop it.
Coach Reilly has coached Connecticut High School basketball for the past 27 years, 22 of them at state powerhouse East Catholic in Manchester CT. During that time, he has amassed a career win-loss record of 428-208. His teams have won 4 State Championships; in 2014, 2016, 2019, and this past season in 2022.
Jamey joined the United States Marine Corps at the age of 17 and was a member of the elite
special forces team DET 1. During his time with the USMC, he participated in five combat
deployments on either a two-man sniper team or as part of a 40-man raid team. He is a skydiving
Jumpmaster and qualified in High-Altitude Low-Opening (HALO) skydives, and has served as a
Combative Diver, Explosive Instructor, Breacher, Ranger, USMC Martial Arts Instructor
Trainer, and a USMC Scout Sniper. James has competed in numerous road races, including
multiple ultra marathons that were 50 miles in length.
Kap, sits down with Rana el Kaliouby, an Egyptian-American scientist, entrepreneur, investor, author, and an AI thought leader on a mission to humanize technology before it dehumanizes us. She is the Deputy CEO at Smart Eye and formerly, Co-Founder and CEO of Affectiva, an MIT spin-off and category defining AI company. She is an executive fellow at the Harvard Business School where she teaches about AI and startups. Her bestselling memoir, Girl Decoded: A Scientist’s Quest to Reclaim Our Humanity by Bringing Emotional Intelligence to Technology follows her journey, growing up in the Middle East and moving to the United States to become an entrepreneur and Emotion AI pioneer. Rana has a track record of translating technology innovations into products that address massive market needs including in market research, automotive, health, robotics and education. Rana serves on the Boston Steering Committee for All Raise, supporting female founders and funders. She is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) where she serves on YPO's New England board and is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. Rana is a venture partner of the MIT Media Lab E14 Fund, a Trustee at the Mass Technology Leadership Council and at the American University in Cairo. A TED speaker, and co-host of a PBS NOVA series on AI, Rana has been recognized on Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list and as one of Forbes' Top 50 Women in Tech. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and a Post Doctorate from MIT.
Sami Jo Small is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender. As a member of the Canadian national team, she was a three-time Olympic medalist and four-time World Championship medalist. In this episode Kap and Sami, discuss her journey as an elite level athlete as portrayed in her book "The Role I played".
Entering her 14th season as the head coach of the Florida State softball program in 2022, Lonni Alameda has guided the Seminoles back into one of the nation’s best teams. After seven Women’s College World Series appearances from 1987-2004, the Seminoles have returned to the final site of women’s collegiate softball four times in the last seven complete seasons (2014, 2016, 2018 and 2021), including winning the program’s first NCAA National Championship in 2018, a WCWS Finals appearance in 2021, a WCWS semifinals appearance in 2016, as well as eight consecutive trips to the NCAA Super Regionals (2013-19, 2021). Florida State had earned seven ACC regular season/division titles in a row and six straight ACC Tournament titles heading into the 2021 season and now owns 17 ACC Championships.
Kap, sits down with Coach Corbin, the head baseball coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team. Since becoming the coach of Vanderbilt in 2003, Corbin has transformed the Commodores into elite program. When he arrived in 2003, Vanderbilt had only had six winning seasons in SEC play since baseball became a scholarship sport in 1968, and had only been to three NCAA Tournaments in school history. However, since then, they have been to all but one NCAA Tournament since 2004.
Kap sits down with Major General Frank Donovan, who serves as the Commanding General of the 2nd Marine Division. Donovan earned a B.A. degree in geography from Towson University. He later received a Master of Military Studies degree from the Marine Corps Command and Staff College and a Master of Strategic Studies degree the U.S. Army War College.
Kap sits down with John Tillman, head coach of The University of Maryland Men's Lacrosse program. They discuss what is takes to build a championship culture.
Kap sits down with The Program Teammate, Stacey Pesce. They discuss her story as portrayed in section #6 of The Program Book, "Hard Work".
Kap sits down for a conversation with teammate & President of The Program Corporate, Cory Ross. They discuss Cory's path to becoming a United States Marine Corps Officer as well as his story portrayed in section one of The Program Book on Creating & Sustaining a Championship Culture.
Kap is joined by wrestling legend and recent recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Coach Dan Gable for a fascinating conversation on his extraordinary career.
For Episode 15 Kap is joined by Lt Col David Grossman. David Grossman is an American author and law enforcement trainer who has specialized in the study of the psychology of killing, a proposed subset of psychology focused on the study of the effects of killing on the human psyche. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army
For Episode 14, Kap is joined by critically acclaimed author Dr. Leonard Sax for a conversation on his book, "Why Gender Matters".
For Episode 13, Kap and The Program Podcast were joined by James Kerr, the author of Legacy - What the All-Blacks can teach us about the business of life. Part 2 covers sections 7 through 15 of the book.
The New Zealand All- Blacks are New Zealand’s national rugby team. They are the most successful international men’s rugby side (or team) of all time with a winning percentage of 77.41%. This discussion covers the first 6 (of 15) lessons in leadership we can learn from them on how they (and we) are able to achieve it.
For Episode 13, Kap and The Program Podcast were joined by James Kerr, the author of Legacy - What the All-Blacks can teach us about the business of life. Part 1 covers the first 6 sections of the book, stay tuned for Part 2!
The New Zealand All- Blacks are New Zealand’s national rugby team. They are the most successful international men’s rugby side (or team) of all time with a winning percentage of 77.41%. This discussion covers the first 6 (of 15) lessons in leadership we can learn from them on how they (and we) are able to achieve it.
The CEO and Founder of The Program, Eric Kapitulik sits down with the co-author of The Great Barrington Declaration, Dr Jay Bhattacharya for a conversation on Covid-19.
For more information about The Program please visit www.TheProgram.org.
The CEO and Founder of The Program, Eric Kapitulik sits down the New York Times best selling author, Jessica Lahey for more information on Jessica please visit https://www.jessicalahey.com/.
Kap is joined once again by the powerful Fred Kofman for a conversation centered around Fred's book, Conscious Business.
Join Kap for a captivating discussion with the author of Performing Under Pressure, Hendrie (Hank) Weisinger.
As featured in the hit Netflix show "Drug Lords", Jemeker Thompson-Hairston is a former drug dealer who rose to the top of the cocaine trade during the peak of the 1980s crack epidemic in the United States.
This week Kap is joined by two-time World Champion Triathlete, Speaker, Author and Coach Siri Lindley.
This week Kap is joined by good friend of The Program and the Head Coach of Nebraska Football, Coach Scott Frost. After six years coaching in the NFL, Coach Frost led the UCF Knights to a 13-0 season before joining his alma mater as their Head Coach!
Attack!
In what has been an especially challenging period for our nation, Kap is joined by a panel of teammates and leaders for an honest and open conversation on race during these unprecedented times.
Guests include:
- Anthony Grant - Head Coach, Dayton Men's Basketball
- Traci Green - Head Coach, Harvard Women's Tennis
- Mikado Hinson - Director of Player Development and Chaplain, Texas A&M Football
- Randy Shannon - Defensive Coordinator, UCF Football
- Charmin Smith - Head Coach, Cal Women's Basketball
- Travis Daigle, Former Army A-Team Soldier and Program Instructor
Kap is joined by Keanon Lowe, former Oregon Wide Receiver, who courageously confronted a would-be shooter at Parkrose High School, saving countless lives in doing so.
Fred Kofman the VP of Leadership Development at Google joins Eric Kapitulik, the CEO and Founder of The Program for an insightful and powerful discussion on Leadership.