We certainly have very different world views. She worked in Donald Trump’s White House. I served in the one Barack Obama led. Yet, crises sometimes help those with very different backgrounds and beliefs find common ground.

Alyssa Farah, who was President Trump’s director of communication, knows a lot about crisis management. She had to navigate a few during 3.5 years in the West Wing. Recently, we chatted about lessons learned from what were undoubtedly some of the most intense interactions any media relations team ever experienced. Several are relevant as companies prepare for, and respond to, today’s polarized political climate.