How this work evolved
For more than four decades I have worked across business ownership, leadership and advisory, alongside a longstanding study of psychology and human behaviour.
I have built and owned companies, advised across industries and countries, worked with internationally recognised brands and technology organisations, and undertaken study and training in counselling and psychology.
Over those years, I began to notice something.
The problem people thought they had was not always the problem we eventually ended up talking about.
What appeared to be a business problem could have something personal sitting underneath it. A difficult decision could be about far more than the options available. What was happening in one part of life could be affecting everything else.
Sometimes the difficulty was seeing what was really happening.
Other times, someone could already see it — a choice, behaviour or pattern that was no longer working, or was beginning to cause harm — but hadn't worked out what to do about it.
It led me to a simple observation:
What we think is happening and what is actually happening are not necessarily the same thing.
And even when we can see what's happening clearly, knowing what to do about it can be another matter entirely.
When we're inside a situation, it can be difficult to see the whole of it — including our own part in what's happening.
Life and business rarely stay neatly separated. Neither do the problems we face.
This perspective shaped my work around consequential decisions and When the Decision Becomes the Risk.
But the work was always about something larger.
Understanding what's really happening. Then working out what to do about it.
Today, that is the foundation of my Private Advisory work.
People come with situations involving life, business, relationships, responsibility, decisions and change.
Sometimes they are trying to understand the problem.
Sometimes they already know what needs attention and want someone independent and experienced beside them while they work through what comes next.
And sometimes they simply know something important isn't working.
You don't need to have it all worked out before we speak.
That's often the reason for the conversation.
If you find yourself here, something important is usually asking for attention.
You may be trying to understand what's really happening.
You may already know — and need to work out what to do about it.
Or you may simply want someone capable beside you while you find a way through.
The work begins wherever you are.
About Craig Anthony
Craig Anthony is an Australian adviser, founder and author who helps people understand what's really happening when something important in life or business becomes difficult — then work out what to do about it.
Drawing on more than four decades across business ownership, leadership and advisory, alongside decades of study and experience in counselling, psychology and human behaviour, his perspective brings together commercial experience and an understanding of the human realities that shape our choices, relationships and lives.
His Private Advisory work provides a confidential place to put the whole situation on the table — whether it involves life, business, relationships, responsibility, consequential decisions, change or what comes next.
Sometimes the difficulty is understanding what's really happening. Sometimes it's knowing what to do once you can see it. And sometimes it's having someone capable and experienced beside you while you find a way through.
Craig is the author of When the Decision Becomes the Risk and The Human Reality: Why Being Human Makes Life So Complicated, and founder of Craig Anthony Private Advisory.