The Right Hand

We know the names of the leaders who shape history — but rarely the people standing just behind them.

In The Right Hand, author and journalist Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks goes inside the highest corridors of global power through a series of candid conversations with the chiefs of staff to presidents and prime ministers including Jacinda Ardern, Kamala Harris, Nelson Mandela, Tony Blair, Julia Gillard, John Howard and Justin Trudeau.

These behind-the-scenes accounts reveal what leadership really looks like from the inside: managing crisis, loyalty and pressure at moments when the stakes could not be higher. From Covid briefing rooms and election night war rooms to diplomatic encounters and conflict zones, the stories are personal, revealing and often extraordinary.

Insightful and sharply observed, this book offers a rare perspective on power — not from the podium, but from the right hand.

About the author: 

Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks is the founder of Missing Perspectives, a media platform amplifying female voices around the world. A former policy adviser, she has worked at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Australian Human Rights Commission and the United Nations. Her work sits at the intersection of media, power and gender.

Product details:

Publisher: Penguin

Dimensions: 234 × 153 mm

Pages: 304

Format: Paperback

Publication date: 4 November 2025

ISBN: 9781761355745