Not everyone can be in charge but, more importantly, not everyone should want to be. Richard Hytner, Deputy Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, thinks it's time to celebrate the second-in-commands, the consiglieri: from Merlin, to Al Gore, Rasputin to Machiavelli. These are the deputies, the Vice Presidents, the C-suite, the department heads – lieutenants, advisers, and counselors – whose influence determines the fate of boardrooms, corporations, and nations.

While supremacy comes with drawbacks and influence, authority and power can be found in much more interesting places than the CEO's chair. Consiglieri: Leading from The Shadows brings together historical examples from Harry Hopkins to William Seward, conversations with contemporary second-in-commands to Tony Blair and Sir Alex Ferguson, and unique insights into Stalin, JFK, and Winnie the Pooh.

A mirror for contemporary ‘No. 2’s’ and a theoretical map for future consiglieri, the book traverses an array of powerful advisers from the White House to the Vatican, across international business, sports, and entertainment, as well as citing provocative research from psychology and academia.