The Right Hand by Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks

Conversations with the Chiefs of Staff to world leaders ranging from Jacinda Ardern, Kamala Harris and John Howard to Nelson Mandela, Tony Blair and Julia Gillard.

Imagine a typical day in the office where threats are constant. You are always protecting something; you are always fighting someone; everything is a secret; any delay in responding is dangerous, or even deadly. A political chief of staff is a curious, high-octane role – little-known to those outside the corridors of power, yet enormously influential within.

Chiefs of staff are our political system’s ultimate insiders. Prime ministers, presidents, premiers and other leaders around the globe rely on their counsel, their discretion and their ability to manage the backroom business of government. To survive in this role, a person must be a skilled communicator, an excellent multitasker, fiercely loyal, judiciously discreet and, perhaps most importantly, be able to survive on minimal sleep. To thrive is to become part-strategist, part-therapist, part-parent and even part-psychic for some of the most powerful people in the world.

In The Right Hand, founder of media platform Missing Perspectives Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks surveys recent world-shaping events by profiling the chiefs of staffs to some of the world’s best-known leaders.

The Right Hand is peppered with never-before-told stories and insights into some of the world’s most loved leaders, giving readers new perspectives of significant sociocultural and political events they felt they already knew, offering a glimpse behind the curtain that so often conceals the machinations of power, as well as presenting a vibrant narrative of the real-world West Wing and profound insight into this oft-mentioned but little-explained role.

About the Author: Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks is the founder of Missing Perspectives, a media startup platforming female storytelling worldwide. Established in June 2021, Missing Perspectives currently reaches more than 3 million people a month, and launched an app that connects newsrooms with young female journalists.

Prior to founding Missing Perspectives, Phoebe was a policy adviser, working stints at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Australian Human Rights Commission, the United Nations Secretariat and in the private sector. Her work sits at the intersection of media, power and gender.

04 Nov 2025
 

The Right Hand: Conversations with the chiefs of staff to the world’s most powerful people by Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks ISBN 9781761355745