How Resolve Changes a Person — Captain Promotion and the Weight of Four Stripes

The other day, I had the chance to meet up with an old friend.

He’s currently an active airline pilot. For years he’d flown all over Japan as a first officer, but after several years of intense upgrade training, he finally became a full-fledged captain.

And there they were: the four shining stripes on his shoulder.

As everyone knows, four stripes on a pilot’s epaulet mean “captain.”
He stood there with a quiet dignity that made it obvious something in him had changed.

But that day, the thing that shone the brightest wasn’t the stripes on his shoulders.

It was the unmistakable confidence and resolve in his eyes.

The reality of upgrade training — Skill alone doesn’t make a captain

His captain upgrade training had begun a few years earlier.

From the outside, it’s easy to see that process as a kind of “elite track,” but there’s nothing glamorous about what actually happens. Day after day in the simulator, endless briefings with instructors, harsh debriefs on any mistake in judgment during flights…

I remember what he looked like when we met while he was still in training.
Dark circles under his eyes, fatigue etched across his face. It was as if the process was shaving him down mentally, layer by layer.

As an aviation fan, I asked him—purely out of curiosity—what upgrade training was really like. He told me this:

“The technical side? If you put in the time, most people can reach a certain level.
But that alone isn’t enough to be a captain.
What they’re really looking for is resolve.”

What is “resolve”? — A mindset that applies to management too

That word hit me hard.

Resolve.
Just two syllables, but with a heavy, profound meaning.

The captain is the ultimate authority on a flight.
He’s the one who takes responsibility for the lives of over a hundred passengers, and when faced with weather, mechanical issues, or unforeseen situations, he has to decide what to do.

The first officer may support him, but the final call always rests with the captain.

He said:

“When something happens in the cockpit, the first officer and cabin crew look at my face to decide how to act. If they see doubt or fear showing, that’s no good.
That’s why you need resolve.”

As I listened, I realized this wasn’t just about flying. It applied to my own work as well.

Take a company CEO, for example.
A CEO is also someone at the top of an organization, leading many people and bearing responsibility for the outcome. In a time when the future is impossible to predict and uncertainty is everywhere, their decisions can shape the lives of their employees.

And in those moments, what’s required isn’t just technique or knowledge.
It’s resolve.

True presence doesn’t come from a title, but from within

We went out to eat together, my newly minted captain friend and I.

He showed up in uniform. He was as friendly as ever, but now there was a certain intensity about him.

The man he used to be, and the man he is now.

Comparing the two, something was clearly different.
His words carried more weight. His expression had more ease. He had the ability to step back and take in the whole picture.

It wasn’t something you could explain away by saying, “Well, he’s more skilled now.”

What had taken root inside him was that resolve.

“I will get this flight safely to its destination. No matter what.”

That determination showed in his daily actions, his words, even his atmosphere—and it gave people around him a sense of trust and reassurance.

This isn’t something limited to aviation.
In any field, people who face their work with genuine resolve naturally draw others in and earn their trust.

In the end — What does “resolve” mean for you?

That reunion became something of a turning point for me as well.

In my work and in my life, what am I truly facing with resolve?

Am I living each day without running away, without wavering, with the mindset that “I will take responsibility”?

Watching the aura he gave off, I found myself asking those questions inwardly.

And then, as we parted, we traded one last line:

“Let’s meet again. And until then, let’s both keep flying our own ‘skies’ properly.”

Those words still sit quietly in my chest.

Resolve changes people.
Resolve makes people shine.

So today, I’ll take on my own “flight” with that same resolve.