THE LEADER MATTERS
The chief of staff role always works best with a leader
who understands its value. The very first civilian chief
of staff, Sherman Adams, was an expert political
campaigner called to the role by US president and
former general Dwight D Eisenhower, who modelled
the position on similar military positions. Advised
repeatedly to rid himself of Adams, Eisenhower replied
simply: “I need him.” Former Australian prime minister
John Howard wrote warmly in his autobiography of his
long-serving and much-admired chief of staff, Arthur
Sinodinis, now a Cabinet minister: “Policy-driven but
politically savvy ... a trusted sounding board”.
Yet some leaders simply defy management.
Interviewed by Tiernan for ‘The Gatekeepers’, David
Epstein recalled his trials with Gillard’s predecessor,
Rudd, who thrived on chaos. “The constant problem
we had to cope with was meetings running over time
and the ad hocery and the episodic changes to the
program,” she quotes Epstein as saying. Reince Priebus,
Trump’s first chief of staff, similarly failed to control
a turbulent Oval Office, with Trump running
an open-door policy for formal and informal advisers.
The lack of presidential support cost Priebus first his
reputation and then his job.
THE COS AS ENFORCER
New presidential chief of staff Kelly appears to have
won from Trump the licence to operate as a true
enforcer and gatekeeper. All staff now report to Kelly,
documents appear to flow through his office, and fewer
people see the president without the COS’s nod.
Kelly has many sympathisers simply because he
faces such a challenge to manage up to Trump. Many
chiefs of staff are less popular, precisely because they
control the gate and close it on many powerful and
ambitious people.
This process started with Adams in 1953.
Washington DC, unaccustomed to a tough presidential
enforcer, dubbed him ‘the Abominable No-Man’
and joked: “What would we do if Adams died and
Eisenhower became president?” That set the pattern.
Alexander Haig, a former general who became
Nixon’s chief of staff, was widely seen as power-hungry.
In Australia’s most famous example, Peta Credlin –
chief of staff to prime minister Tony Abbott – was
accused of “too much command and control”.
Yet gatekeeping works. Adams’ effectiveness
helped ensure the role became permanent. Haig
famously held the White House together in Nixon’s
disintegrating final days. Credlin was picked as chief
of staff not just by Abbott but before him by Malcolm
Turnbull in opposition, because both found she could
cut to the heart of issues and get things done.NOBLE SACRIFICE
Hubbard would not do the job again right now. It has,
he says, “significant consequences for health and family
life”. Sinodinis said that leaving the role was like getting
out of prison.
Tiernan is likewise struck by the sacrifices involved:
you work long and difficult hours to make someone
else a hero. And yet it is a challenge like few others.
If you can do it, you prove yourself in the hottest of
crucibles. Says Tiernan: “It’s an incredibly noble job.”Who are these people who can make
or break the leaders who hire them?
What do chiefs of staff do, how do
they do it – and why?
theceomagazine.com | 39In HBO’s Ve e p, Amy Brookheimer
(right) is the straight-shooting adviser
to vice-president Selina Meyer.