How to Learn the Business Like a Rockstar

You can learn from the young’ins.

I met with a student today who asked me a question that made me reflect on my first year in the business.

Six months into my career, I transitioned from office to retail. In order to better understand retail leasing, I spent an hour every night with my boss reading through the lease form LINE BY LINE.

• I learned WHY each sentence was in the lease.
• I learned WHAT our company’s stance was on each issue.
• I learned HOW lease language affects the bottom line and the relationship with the tenant.

Our company represented the interests of life insurance companies, so this exercise helped me understand why they wanted certain provisions in the lease.

To ALL PEOPLE IN THE BUSINESS, whether you’re a game-changer, a rockstar, a young gun or a newbie: READ LEASES and ASK QUESTIONS.