The Right Hand
  • Published: 4 November 2025
  • ISBN: 9781761355745
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $36.99
Categories:

The Right Hand

Conversations with the chiefs of staff to the world's most powerful people

Formats & editions
Tr. Paperback
4 Nov 2025
EBook
4 Nov 2025
Audiobook
4 Nov 2025
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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.

We all know the names: Jacinda Ardern, Kamala Harris, Tony Blair, Justin Trudeau, John Howard, Sanna Marin, Nelson Mandela, and Julia Gillard. But what about the people standing just behind them?

In The Right Hand, Missing Perspectives founder Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks sits down with the chiefs of staff to some of the most defining presidents and prime ministers of our time.

The stories shared in this book are nothing short of extraordinary:
Supporting Nelson Mandela as he emerged from prison and stepped into power.
Being sent home from Balmoral by the Queen.
Taking calls from Vladimir Putin on the day of the September 11 attacks.
Being shown projected death tolls in the Covid briefing room.
Boarding a blacked-out train into Kyiv under the cover of night at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Supporting Kamala Harris during one of the most anticipated elections in history – and then guiding a team through a devastating loss.
Also, Justin Trudeau doesn’t drink coffee.

In this book, some of the world’s most powerful chiefs of staff open up about leadership, loyalty, power and pressure and the deep personal relationships that shape decision-making at the very top.

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be in the highest corridors of power, this is your all-access pass.
  • Published: 4 November 2025
  • ISBN: 9781761355745
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $36.99
Categories:

About the author

Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks

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.

portrait photo of Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks

Praise for The Right Hand

This book is a valuable guide to understanding the relationships at the heart of government that largely go unreported and often are ill understood. Phoebe brings to life on these pages the huge role played by my Chief of Staff, Ben Hubbard, who is an extraordinary leader, and my incredibly talented personal staff team.

Julia Gillard, Former prime minister of Australia

Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks has built a media empire focusing on the perspectives that are missing from conversations around the world. In The Right Hand, she builds on this brilliance. This book is a toolkit for powerful systems: how to both infiltrate and change them. While headlines focus on the leaders, Saintilan-Stocks narrows in on the real decision-makers. Reading The Right Hand is like being let in on a secret.

Hannah Ferguson

Both conceptually and in relation to Arthur Sinodinos, this is a great book. Arthur was of immense support to me in the years that I was Prime Minister. The author has captured the character of our partnership in government.

John Howard, Former Prime Minister of Australia