Mooch from ‘the Mooch’: 6 PR lessons from Anthony Scaramucci

Scaramucci’s brief—and profanity-laced—tenure as White House communications director and senior advisor to the president provided a fount of lessons for other communicators, even if some derived from what not to do.

On behalf of the $14B global PR industry, we thank you, Scaramucci, for your short service to our great country. We learned so much, so quickly.

Here are six lessons for every director of communications to live and die by:

1. Insist that you report directly to the chief executive.

At least Scaramucci was right about this. If you’re on the hook for great coverage, be joined at the hip with your chief executive from day one, especially considering the 24-hour news cycle.

If the big boss insists that you report to marketing, explain that you cannot do your job as effectively that way.

2. Build solid relationships with reporters.

Notice that I didn’t say “trusted” relationships. Those don’t exist.

It’s fine to play hardball as Scaramucci did, as it can show you’re passionate about looking after the interest of your client or boss. However, bullying or intimidating journalists isn’t going to get you the big coverage you promised.