1. INTELLIGENT RESIGNATION. You will never have a boss who doesn’t think he’s a media expert. Having it would be ideal, but it won’t be like that, even if dreaming doesn’t cost anything. All political of power today, he believes himself to be an expert in the media. They are not going to tell him what the appropriate communication policies are. He is communication. The press officer should follow him and not he his press officer. You have to find a way for your boss. Understand that they will always be complaining about your work. Convincing him daily that you are useful to him is his great challenge.
2. HAVE A POLITICAL SMELL. Communication is the essence of politics. Politics seeks to convince, justify, make skeptics believe again. A press officer must indispensably have a political nose. Get ahead of events. Guess the plays of the opponents. Know the power. It is the only way to be respected in the cabinet, which is always made up of those who believe they are experts in communication.
3. HAVE A JOURNALISTIC SMELL. For a long time, this meant having intuition to know how to get more out of the news, generally in newspapers, radio and television. Today the rules of communication have changed with the rapid -and fierce- relevance of social networks. You, like a bodyguard, he has to see what others, distracted, fail to see. The journalistic nose it is as necessary as political nose. And sometimes even more.
4. HAVE TOLERANCE TO CRITICISM. Do not second, if it is the case, the intolerance of your boss to the media. You has to understand the dynamics of public opinion. Every politician feels victimized by the media, but cannot live without them. He complains that his work is not done justice. That the media only highlight the bad and that behind each note there is a plot against them. I insist: they are all the same.
5. HAVE HARD SKIN. If the politician must have a thick skin, you have to have it even more. In addition to the external attacks of public opinion, he will also have those of his boss. And those of his cabinet. Remember that the politician is a being always in tension. Hence, he frequently overreacts to criticism.
6. BE WELL INFORMED. It is essential that you are the best informed in the cabinet. Many times the press officers are the least aware. A press officer must not only be informed of the pulse of public opinion, but also of the intrigues and low blows that take place among the members of the cabinet. In the cabinet are the best enemies of the government. In a government there will never be a united cabinet.
7. HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR. This is not a frivolous comment. Humor is an antidote to the brutal pressures of politics. There is always something comic in the exercise of politics. Find out for yourself. In his solitude, laugh at the hobbies of his boss, at his involuntary humor when he makes a rudeness that disfigures him and makes him small. And sometimes ridiculous. Take politics seriously, but not too seriously.
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