What is Footdown?
Information, inspiration and relief from isolation
Leaders wanting to develop their leadership skills typically join a Footdown Fifteen group because they value the advice and support that both the group’s leader, and its individual members, will give them. Once they’ve been a member for some time, they come to realise that the quality of the advice and support given by both leaders and members is significantly enhanced through the use of Footdown’s group mentoring and individual coaching models. We constantly review and update these models to take advantage of the best available practice in both disciplines and to ensure a measure of consistency across all Footdown groups.
Group mentoring and individual coaching are critical to the success of the Footdown Fifteen proposition, with Leadership Insight, Footdown’s leadership global positioning system (GPS), constituting the third leg of the stool and the one which ensures the integrity and balance of the whole experience. It is the integration of these three components that enables Footdown to offer members a unique blend of first-rate information and frequent inspiration, together with a shared relief from the inevitable isolation that comes from being a leader.
What does our coaching model provide?
World class leaders everywhere are increasingly recognising the value that coaching can bring them and are embracing the opportunity and challenge that it provides. Footdown group members meet with the leader of their group, between each monthly meeting, for a two hour coaching session.
But what is coaching in this context? Coaching acts as a mirror; it allows people being coached to see what others see all the time and gives them the power to decide whether they act to change what they see.
At Footdown we use a combination of techniques and tools we have developed, known as “The ten steps to personal success”, to confront, stimulate and guide you towards becoming a better leader. We do this first by helping you to identify the parts of your personal and professional life that influence your ability to become a great leader; next we encourage you to take responsibility for tackling these barriers and then finally we support you in acting to overcome them.
What about the monthly meetings?
The monthly meetings are different. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to use the combined experience of all the group members to challenge, inform, support and inspire you to make the right decisions. You’ll be part of an environment which values total confidentially and utter impartiality. Your sense of isolation will be reduced and you’ll be part of a group which has a common goal – to make each of you the best that you can be.
 Being a member is a dynamic experience. I’ve been able to share leadership issues with a passionate and committed group of people from diverse business backgrounds. Along with its powerful mentoring opportunities, I’m positive that this has enhanced my own capabilities and performance and will continue to do so. I think I owe that much to my colleagues and the people we serve.
John Long,
Commander - Bristol Police
What is Footdown Insight?
Leaders facing fundamental changes and challenges in their organisations, such as acquisitions and mergers, IPOs, competitive threats and financial insecurity, need a way to refocus the organisation and align and motivate their leadership teams around a new direction.
Footdown Insight provides a rapid and enduring means of engaging leadership teams in the challenge of understanding where they are, where they need to be and how to get there in the most effective way. Insight is a catalyst that challenges and inspires teams to think creatively and stimulate effective decision-making.
Through an interactive system of self-diagnosis and targeted coaching, Insight:
- Takes the guesswork out of identifying priorities for leadership action.
- Provides rigorous and continuous support in tackling the problems that surface.
- Increases the values of individual coaching by providing context, therefore ensuring that individuals’ objectives align with the goals of the organisation.
For more information on what it’s like to be a Footdown Fifteen member, see the Fifteens section of this site.
As a group we all share in everyone’s success.
Nigel Hunton, CEO – Edwards
Why do we do it?
At Footdown we are passionate about improving the quality of our leaders. We believe that developing the skills of all types of leaders is too important a task to be left to chance. Every day we see the consequences of poor leadership. Indeed Footdown’s founder and CEO, Andrew Mercer, still bears the emotional scars of his own leadership failures. See My Story for more details.
Andrew’s vision for Footdown is for it to be the best place on the planet to come and learn, come and participate and come and be a better leader.
Who are we?
Footdown was founded in 2001 by Andrew Mercer. Prior to setting up Footdown, Andrew was a successful entrepreneur in the computer software industry who sold his company to Oracle in 1998.
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