The right hand, by Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks

An FP Book Review

I’ve met some super smart, strategic and engaging Chiefs of Staff. They are people whose roles present almost impossible challenges daily and somehow, despite the avalanche of calls, emails and demands, they can still take the time to say hello and to engage in discussions on complex policy issues across a spectrum of areas.

It has long been said that political staff should not become the story, so not a lot is publicly shared about the way that staff within political offices work or how navigate the seemingly never-ending stream of crisis that constantly rock the offices of decision makers.

So, when I saw that Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks had written ‘The right hand’ which shares conversations with Chiefs of Staff of the world’s most powerful people, I was excited to dive in.

Including reflections from the Chiefs of Staff of Jacinda Arden, Justin Trudeau, Sanna Marin, Nelson Mandela, John Howard, Julia Gillard and more – this book unpacks everything from the intensity and diversity of the role to the relationships between the most senior members of these political teams and their principal.

Saintilan-Stocks shares that when she reached out to Barbara Masekela, the former Chief of Staff to Neslon Mandela, that she reflected ‘Most people who interview me want to know about him, and it is interesting that your series focuses on the ones who work behind the scenes.’ This response gets to the heart of the book.

There are so many takeaways from this book. My first reflection was that these are such huge and unsustainable roles that require people to navigate mammoth problems regularly, around the clock, with very little gratitude and mountains of criticism. Many of the people that Saintilan-Stocks spoke to shared that they had periods of sustained break after their tenure because they were well-and-truly burnt out.

I was also captivated by being taken inside the rooms of leaders in complex moments of history where decisions were made. At the very centre of these big decisions around how governments respond to global pandemics, conflicts, natural disasters and terrorist attacks, is the leader and their Chief of Staff.

By my favourite question that Saintilin-Stocks asks was whether the Chief of Staff and Principal were friends. The answers were varied and speak to the changing way that we navigate workplaces in complex environments, where people spend more time with their work colleagues, than their families. Some said yes, others said that they were professional but not friends and others spoke of long friendships forming after their time working together.

This book is a great read for anyone curious on how political decisions are made and the humans who are tasked with making them.

The Right Hand by Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks – Penguin Books Australia

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