Acquisitions, Mergers & Strategic Business Partnerships
Bottom-Up Critical Issues
Business Plan
Business Turnarounds
Communications/ Culture
Employee Compensation & Benefit Plans
Start-Ups & Emerging Companies
Staff goals, reviews and incentives
Facilitate Difficult Conversations
Facilitate Group Meetings & Retreats
Interim COO
Job Descriptions & Performance Appraisals
Key Function Integration
Key Process Efficiency
Strategic Planning, Goals & Execution
Staff Efficiency, Reorganization & Reduction
Mentoring, Manager Development & Workouts
Procedural Systems
Productivity, Quality & Profitability Measures
Recruiting & Ramp-Ups
Sales Management Reports
Special Projects
Team Building & Key Employee Conflicts
About Dave
Dave Austin has worked closely with CEOs most of his career, first as a true right-hand CFO far beyond a normal job description, and later as a formally-trained executive coach.
Dave knows how CEOs think, the challenges they face, the vulnerabilities they feel, and the possibilities they hold. His probing questions, keen insights, and proven techniques lead you to issue clarity, self-confidence, firm action, accountability and personal results.
And executive coaching is only the beginning. Depending on your action plan and the skills/bandwidth of you and your team, Dave can fill other critical needs as your CFO-for-hire, interim GM, facilitator, project leader, mentor, recruiter or fireman.
His business experience includes:
20 years as a CFO in service & manufacturing industries.
5 years as a CPA with an international public accounting firm.
3 years leading a CEO private advisory board & coaching executives individually.
9 years with his own practice as CFO-for-hire & executive coach.
Dave is married with two children in college. He serves on two charity boards, is a past-president of his church, and is an avid cyclist.
CEOs & Profit
Do my team and I really know how we make money?
The Great Heights approach is to ensure first that you, the CEO, have an ongoing understanding of your financial results and forecasts, and that you have the systems, reports and discussions to provide it. Rollout to your team comes next.
When and how should I expand my business?
You can expand only when your financial position is strong and the opportunity is sound. Great Heights will help you assess your current situation, improve what’s lacking, and then evaluate, plan & execute within growth opportunities.
How can we win in a constantly changing environment?
As with successful sports teams, winning in business requires advance planning, detailed statistics, and key adjustments during the competition. With a variety of options to best fit your culture and budget, Great Heights can design, facilitate and monitor your planning & control program for success.
How do I reverse a trend of sluggish or very poor financial results?
Results are the sum of many parts. IF each project, product line, service, customer account, department, month, salesperson, region, office, VP, or other measurable is profitable (as estimated or budgeted) and overhead is under control, THEN the company will be profitable. Great Heights can help you and your team establish targets and control measures across all of these dynamics, for a favorable sum of all the parts.
Can I thrive without a full-time CFO and accounting department?
Several Great Heights clients are doing quite well without the expense of a full-time CFO or accounting department. Today’s powerful online tools, properly managed, with your team for routine functions, allow Dave Austin to provide the ongoing CFO focus and skills you need within your budget. Short-term projects might include bank financing, system conversions, recruiting, and interim management.
CEOs & People
Do my business approach and management style reflect how I value my employees?
Many CEOs think they prioritize the interests of their employees. But too often those good intentions are overrun by issues of profitability, customers, time and background. Work with Great Heights to find out how your decisions & actions significantly impact your employees and their performance, and learn to make changes to reap the benefits of a great, cohesive team.
What do my employees know about my business that I don’t?
Employees at various levels know information critical to the success of your business. They are on the front lines with customers, vendors and systems. They know the effects of your leadership and decisions. They are powerful communication networks, good or bad, often based on perceptions. Working with Great Heights and proven HEY, create a culture and processes to harvest that information.
How do I attract, grow and retain perfect-fit employees?
Too often, CEOs focus on education, background, and experience of candidates, and don’t really know if those selected can actually do the job or fit into the organization. Work with Great Heights to first vet the position, its serious challenges, and the best cultural fit. Then challenge each candidate to measure up by assigning current, specific, unmet challenge(s) of the job. Retain by formal mentoring, and a culture of success, teamwork, feedback & growth.
What keeps certain underperforming employees on the job, to the serious detriment of your team and overall results?
Working closely with many CEOs over the years reveals a high-percentage who are challenged by underperformers, particularly those with lengthy times-of-service. Loyalty, avoidance of painful discussions, replacement time & cost, and lack of a deadline are primary explanations. Work with Great Heights to indentify, counsel and efficiently improve/move your most serious misfit employees, and get greater respect and performance from your team.
Who is brutally honest with me without having another agenda?
You know it’s lonely at the top of an organization, and you’re expected to have all the answers. Yet, being human, you don’t. Work with Dave Austin at Great Heights to indentify, understand and overcome your vulnerabilities, and be held accountable to your honest commitment to improve.
CEO's & Purpose
What is my life’s purpose? My organization’s?
For you, the CEO: Who do you want to be? What do you want to do?
For your organization: What are you trying to accomplish? What kind of company are you trying to be?
For both: Dave Austin of Great Heights, LLC goes deep with you and your team to get the true answers to these questions and ensure that your behavior, culture, strategy and implementation are aligned with them.
What are my core values and their impact?
Core values are the foundation upon which challenges are viewed and decisions are made. Dave has worked with many CEOs to boldly clarify what they stand for, to be called upon in even the most challenging situations.
Where do the people most important to me and others fit in?
The demands on a CEO can be heavy, often at the expense of those we love. Specific strategies, commitments and deliverables, as developed with Dave for the most important individuals and groups in your life, can powerfully impact these special relationships.
WHow do I best use my time, with so many goals and demands?
Your time is most valuable when focused on what matters most to you and your organization. Dave will help you identify those biggest payoffs, know how to stay on them, and still address the constant "urgent" matters that want to get in the way.
How do I stay on track with my purpose, values and goals?
Only someone who understands your core being, your vulnerabilities, your challenges, and your aspirations can coach effectively in these deep waters. Dave Austin of Great Heights is that person, with many other CEOs as proof.
Project Title
Use this area of the page to describe your project. The icon above is part of a free icon set by Flat Icons. On their website, you can download their free set with 16 icons, or you can purchase the entire set with 146 icons for only $12!
Use this area of the page to describe your project. The icon above is part of a free icon set by Flat Icons. On their website, you can download their free set with 16 icons, or you can purchase the entire set with 146 icons for only $12!
Use this area of the page to describe your project. The icon above is part of a free icon set by Flat Icons. On their website, you can download their free set with 16 icons, or you can purchase the entire set with 146 icons for only $12!
