How to become a better idea generator?

What are some tips you guys use to become better at generating ideas at meetings? I'm wouldn't say that I'm a shy person but I would like to be more outspoken when generating ideas in meeting with senior people. Other than reading books are there other good strategies?

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"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
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If it's a scheduled meeting with an agenda, just prep for it. If there are meeting materials, make sure to review those. If the meeting / topic are your area of expertise, know the deals / properties like the back of your hand. This is kinda tough because I'm not sure what you do besides being an Analyst in CRE.

When I was an analyst (debt side), I managed our pipeline of deals we were working and basically made sure they were moving and if they weren't I definitely knew why. Always having details available when walking through deals or discussing whatever issues popped up always caught my seniors attention. If it's a meeting about process where you see some sort of bottleneck or inefficiency, it's always good to have an idea about how it may be improved. Sometimes our processing / AM team would have gripes about a loan or particular client, so being aware or ahead of that is always helpful

If you're a first year analyst, I doubt they're looking to you to come up with their next move (Again, not positive what you do). With that said, knowing your deals front back center is always a good thing and will no doubt earn you more responsibility. 

Part of my job was working with our brokers, I spent a lot of time on the phone with them. Every time we discussed a deal, whether it be some sort of documentation we needed or putting out a fire, I made a point to ask what they were seeing in the market (Assuming they weren't hurrying off the phone). This way I usually had some sort of anecdote to share with the group whether it be deal/market/sponsor related. Also helps to build relationships with brokers which is extremely helpful as an Analyst 

 

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"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee

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