What Would Alex P. Keaton Do?

?The term “na?ve audacity” came up during a recent Disrupt Yourself conversation with Asheesh Advani , the CEO of Junior Achievement .?

I love the phrase itself, but what does it really mean in navigating your professional life? Here was Asheesh’s answer, along with a story:

While in college, Asheesh and a good friend accepted a summer job with a U.S. investment bank, which ultimately doubled as a study abroad opportunity in India. They printed up business cards and, by repping this investment bank, talked their way into meetings with some of the most well-known industrialists in India.?

He knew they were punching above their weight class in trying to negotiate joint ventures with these businessmen. And his business knowledge at that point, beyond the little coursework he had completed, came from watching Family Ties, the popular-at-the-time NBC sitcom starring Michael J. Fox as young, budding entrepreneur Alex P. Keaton.?

So he says, “I kept asking myself, ‘What would Alex P. Keaton do in this circumstance?’ That was my source of wisdom.”

It was in the middle of an important dinner meeting when inspiration—or, more likely, na?ve audacity—struck. “I realized Alex Keaton would make everyone take off their ties,” Asheesh recalled. “So I said, ‘As a symbol of our partnership, I’d like us all to take off our ties.’ And it worked! It worked! Everyone took off their ties, and I went, ‘This stuff works!’”

Asheesh remains a na?ve audacity advocate. In facing new challenges, instead of worrying about what you don’t know, he says, why not embrace the opportunity to innovate and change the rules?

As we advance along the S Curve, na?ve audacity grows into self-efficacy, which is an unshakeable belief that you will succeed despite any hardships and roadblocks in front of you.?

Self-efficacy isn’t something you pick up from someone else. You create that belief in yourself.

Asheesh’s na?ve audacity and self-efficacy are clear in the work he’s accomplishing as the helmer of Junior Achievement. JA operates in over 115 countries, with over 3,500 employees and 500,000 volunteers, creating a staggering disruptive ripple of entrepreneurship—certainly one reason why the organization has received nominations for a Nobel Peace Prize for three straight years. As Asheesh told me, “You can’t really get prosperity for everyone without young people believing they can own their economic future.”

JA emboldens its participants by viewing entrepreneurship through a “fixed, flexible, freestyle” framework. Things that are fixed don’t change. The things that are flexible are typically based on time or place. But many things are freestyle, i.e., unique to the individual.

To learn more about this framework, take a look at Asheesh’s new book, Modern Achievement: A New Approach to Timeless Lessons for Aspiring Leaders.

Where are you on your current S Curve journey? Can you think of a time you showed naive audacity? How would developing an unshakeable belief in yourself affect your current growth potential?

PS: Are you looking to both accelerate your growth and invest in the people you care about? Our Smart Growth Certification program gives you the tools to start meaningful conversations about that growth with your employees, teams, coaching clients, and anyone else. Certified Smart Growth Advisors also have exclusive access to the S Curve Insight Tool—a diagnostic that provides powerful insights into an individual’s experience of growth.?

Register for an upcoming webinar and learn more about how the Smart Growth Certification can help you and your business grow!