Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?: And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When You Work in the White House

by Alyssa Mastromonaco

A lot of jobs in politics are basically about getting shit done, and I have had a few of them.

You should always be prepared to defend your choices, whether just to yourself (sometimes this is the hardest) or to your coworkers, your friends, or your family. The quickest way for people to lose confidence in your ability to ever make a decision is for you to pass the buck, shrug your shoulders, or otherwise wuss out. Learning how to become a decision maker, and how you ultimately justify your choices, can define who you are.

Often, being a leader is not about making grand proclamations or telling people what to do; it’s about balancing all these priorities and constituencies.

That might be the difference between men and women: Women need to know they are right before they stand up. Men are OK objecting if they just think they might be right. I thought, but I didn’t know.

Preparation is protection you can create for yourself; for some people, the hard part may be balancing precautions with paranoia, but in my experience, you can never be too prepared.

Being self-aware means knowing when you’re about to act bad—and then not acting bad.

I’m kind of an open book—it’s not that I lack boundaries, but I don’t think emotions are something to be ashamed of—so