our founder & Ceo
David Garza is a highly experienced HR executive and consultant with over 35 years of military, corporate, and consulting experience. He has been serving as Founder & CEO of COMPASS Human Capital Advisors since 2011.
David’s leadership and organizational skills are rooted in his military, educational, and corporate background. He is a West Point graduate, a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran, and a University of Texas/Austin MBA Fellow. He has led HR functions and teams for corporations to include Mission Foods, The Regus Group, and Andrews Distributing.
David has worked with dozens of small and mid-market businesses to hone his approach to guiding business owners with their business’ growth to include within the industries of retail, professional services, non-profit education, medical research, legal firms, transportation, hospitality, restaurant, property management, construction, energy, and logistics & distribution.
David’s Engagements: Where Insight Meets Action
In need of dynamic and insightful speaking engagements led by a seasoned expert?
Whether your goal is to enhance leadership skills, optimize compensation strategies, amplify talent acquisition and retention, boost performance metrics, or elevate employee relations and engagement, understanding the intricacies of these elements can significantly impact a business’s success and growth.
David offers tailored speaking services to organizations at all stages of their business lifecycle. His expertise lies in delivering insightful, actionable, and compelling talks on a variety of topics critical to your organization’s prosperity and resilience.
Leadership | Company & Employee Performance | Talent Hiring & Development
Navigating Success Through Resilience: The Compass Link
During Operation Desert Storm, our founder, David Garza, as a young Army officer, was tasked with moving disabled military assets from his Cavalry Squadron to an evacuation point deep in the Iraqi desert. In an unexpected turn, his main unit rapidly advanced to intercept an enemy withdrawal, inadvertently leaving David’s team isolated in hostile terrain, lightly armed, and out of radio range. Faced with daunting odds, David rose to the occasion, setting an azimuth to a map point he assumed his main unit was moving to, and led his group to safety. Leveraging only a compass, map, and an early version of GPS, he adeptly led his team through enemy territory, linking up with other teams left behind, and rejoined his unit just in time to partake in a critical tank engagement where he led the evacuation of injured soldiers from the battlefield as the fighting continued. His selfless leadership and valor were recognized by the United States Army with a Bronze Star Medal and an Army Commendation Medal with a “V” Device for Valor.
At COMPASS Human Capital Advisors, we embody the direction that the compass represented and the resilience that David demonstrated during that perilous journey across the desert and into the battle. We are dedicated to providing business owners direction through the complexities of growth and the commitment to helping them establish a success-oriented organization in the face of adversity.
Applying Battlefield Wisdom to Business Strategy
David’s extensive background in high-pressure environments has cultivated a firm belief that achieving business success hinges on having a clear, visionary direction and a thoroughly prepared team to implement it. In his leadership roles, David consistently led executive and HR teams from a purely transactional focus toward a cooperative, goal-oriented strategy.
This strategy is built on a foundation of shared vision and purpose, clearly defined roles, work environments that empower employees, and systems and processes to encourage success. David’s expertise lies in enhancing organizational performance by optimizing the management and leadership of its human capital.
At COMPASS Human Capital Advisors, David leverages his distinctive methodology to assist owners of growing businesses in realizing their success by advancing how they lead and manage their personnel.