Gavin Barwell - What does a Chief of Staff do?

This is the first in a new type of episode for Jimmy's Jobs of the Future - instead of exploring an entrepreneur or a business,  we're looking at specific jobs and asking leading people in that field just exactly what it entails.

There is an increasing trend in entrepreneurship and business of the title "Chief of Staff".

It's even been mentioned a few times on this show, with Salima Vellani from KBox Global starting off her career as one and Alex Stephany from Beam currently hiring for one.

Today's guest is Gavin Barwell who has been the highest-profile chief of staff in the country - first introduced by Tony Blair in 1996, the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff has become a big feature of British politics and Gavin was one of the longest-serving in recent memory under the premiership of Theresa May.

We hear about just how he landed that job, why you need a swiss army knife skillset and what business could learn from the role.

Since leaving Number 10, Gavin has written a book called Chief of Staff, which we discuss in the episode. It's available in many places but we'd like to point you towards bookshop.org to support local bookshops near you.

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