Management’s Point of View ~Having True Courage~

October 24, 2025

When someone is said to be acting with courage, we feel a sense of bravery or heroism. However, it seems to me that our understanding of the meaning is often ambiguous. As a child, for example, I confused feats of daring, like jumping off the second-story landing or grabbing a snake with my bare hands, with “courage.” Now I have come to realize, with the benefit of age, that these were acts of foolhardiness, quite different from true courage.

What is the difference between the impulsive behavior of youth and true courage? The answer depends on whether the action is rooted in belief.

Some time ago, I read Bushido: The Soul of Japan by Nitobe Inazo to better express the Japanese temperament in English. A deep sense of empathy welled up from the bottom of my heart, but I didn’t essentially understand how to integrate it into my daily life, especially in business. There were quite a few things that I wasn’t able to put to practical use. Over 20 years later, as we discussed some of these things at our most recent Beer Bash event, I had a number of personal realizations, and I decided to use this posting to talk about what it is that we mean by belief in true courage.

• The courage to take the first step on the path you believe is right

There has probably been a time when, even though you were confident that your idea was the right thing for your company or client, you didn’t take that first step because of opposition from the people around you or for fear of criticism, since there wasn’t any precedent for what you wanted to do.

Whenever you try something new, there is always the risk of failure and unknown difficulties waiting in the background. There’s a tendency to clench up and shrink back from the fear of failing. But there are no successful business leaders or renowned inventors who haven’t experienced failure. They have all failed numerous times, and each time made an incremental improvement until finally they arrived at success.

True courage is to firmly take the first step on the path you perceive as right, based on your beliefs, resist the temptation to remain in your comfort zone, and start along the path towards the right version of the future, even while recognizing the risks and likely criticisms. Even in the face of repeated failures, as long as that path is based on right beliefs, then you must persevere and continue forward with conviction.

• The courage to admit and communicate your mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes, which is an unavoidable reality. The question is whether you pretend not to notice; blame it on someone else; or, admit it with grace and dignity, and propose the best way to correct the situation. Herein lies the definitive difference between the average person and the professional.

Admitting that something is your fault, and giving voice to that, is accompanied by more difficulty and pain than you might imagine. People’s evaluation of you is likely to go down, and you may even lose their trust. On the other hand, if you don’t admit that something was your fault, and you aren’t resolved to take responsibility for your error, then that will become a habit, and eventually “always running away from hardship” will be engraved on your character.

True courage is the fortitude to face your mistakes head-on and not shy away from them. Sincerely making this effort will make it possible to “turn complaints into trust,” which is one of our company’s guiding principles, TOPC Axis.

• The courage to pay attention to annoying senior colleagues

At some point, you have surely thought, “This supervisor is constantly on my case,” or “That senior colleague is always pushing their way of doing things on me.” But when you think about it later, you often realize that the “annoying” boss or more experienced colleague was actually an essential part of your own growth and development.

Not all bosses are good at communicating, and their words often come across as harsh. Nevertheless, they have wisdom that is underpinned by experience, and in most cases, those harsh words conceal a desire for their subordinates’ personal and professional growth.

True courage is not just listening politely. It means accepting perspectives that differ from your own and behaving accordingly; being committed to breaking out of your own shell. Even when others express opinions that you may not agree with, it’s important to keep an open mind. A real professional is always looking for learning opportunities and has the courage to accept things and take action.

• The courage to ask for help

I understand the point of view that says, “It’s embarrassing to have to depend on other people.” Especially from a leadership position, there’s a strong tendency to fear the appearance of weakness.

It is definitely the case that saying “I can’t” interferes with one’s own development, and that is not the correct approach either. However, there are numerous problems in the world that cannot be solved by any one person. That is exactly why our company emphasizes what we call the Spielberg principle (the best movies and projects are not created by individuals) to illustrate the importance of working as a team.

True courage is recognizing your limitations, being forthrightly aware of them, and not hesitating to ask others for assistance. If you have done everything in your power and tried every available option, the people working with you will understand that and will be happy to give you their support. Having the courage to throw away false pride and humbly request help from your colleagues is an essential attribute.

• The courage to lift yourself up and not push others down

People with true courage do not spend energy knocking others down. Instead, they concentrate on essential efforts, single-mindedly growing their own projects, building their own capabilities, and guiding their subordinates’ progress.

Anyone can talk negatively about others and disparage them. But while you are doing that, you are not improving yourself. With the time and effort it takes to push others down, people with true courage will pull themselves up. Meanwhile, others who can sense the future-oriented nature and value of that effort will naturally be attracted.

Consequently, a huge gap will widen between those who push others down and those possessed of true courage. The thing to do, then, is to aim high with your own efforts, fair and square. This is no doubt a representation of purity along what might be called the “high road of business,” and also demonstrates true courage.

The cases I have mentioned here are probably not the only necessary aspects of true courage. Furthermore, true courage is increasingly required in positions of greater authority.

For instance, given that listening to senior colleagues is part of most jobs, it’s something that people do to a certain extent. But listening to junior colleagues is not something that anyone is forced to do. And yet, for the purpose of deepening your insight, it’s extremely important to listen to your subordinates in the process of your growth.

Rather than getting overly comfortable with their own authority and prestige, leaders need to sincerely accept others’ opinions that hit a sore spot or that differ from their own thinking, and to be open to discussion.

I spent seven years compiling the TOPC Axis approach to define how our company should be. That’s because I really wanted to communicate to all of our staff how each of us should behave or respond when we feel lost about the best course of action. At the beginning, nobody understood what I was trying to do. I didn’t actually know if anyone read the email messages that I wrote over the weekends.

Despite that, I spent seven years communicating my thoughts.

True courage starts with a stance, based on your beliefs, of doing the things that need doing one by one, despite any criticism from those around you, and regardless of whether anyone understands what you’re doing. It’s not that you have courage if you do this or that thing, but rather that the attitude of doing things one by one forms your character, and eventually you obtain the trust of those around you. It’s the courage of looking to the future and sticking to the path that you know to be the right way forward. True courage is an essential element that leaders must absolutely equip themselves with.