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

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.

For me, leadership has always been much more about rallying people around a project or cause than about being held up as the Boss.

one of the hallmarks of a great leader is being able to explain your decisions.

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.

We are all replaceable. Life goes on, but that doesn’t mean it feels good.