The Footdown story
Frustrated and disappointed by his own leadership performance - as CEO of the software company he founded in 1988 – Andrew Mercer decided to set up Footdown. To the outside world Andrew’s leadership was a success story: he grew the company from nothing in the UK, moved it to the US and then sold it to the Oracle Corporation in 1998. Only he and a few insiders knew the truth; with a little help and support, at critical stages in his company’s life, the business could have grown independently into a publicly quoted company. (Also see My Story - how Footdown’s founder lost a company and discovered his new quest.)
With a typical entrepreneur’s determination to spot opportunities where others just anticipate problems, he set about trying to understand the kind of help and support that leaders need to enable them to avoid the obvious pitfalls, and allow them to realise their potential as leaders.
Why leaders need help
Colonel Tim Collins encapsulated the many challenges that leaders face when he said recently: “Everyone has an opinion about what should be done, until the shooting starts; then they all look to the leader to sort it out.”
What help do leaders need?
Tim Collins’ observations reinforced Andrew’s own researches and experience and lead him to conclude that all leaders in all walks of life need help in three critical areas: accessing information with the potential to transform their decision making; finding sources of inspiration to enable them to think creatively; relieving some of the inevitable sense of isolation they experience from time to time.
 Who do you go to as the boss of an organisation? You need to have somebody to bounce ideas off.
Mark Cook, Founder President - Hope and Homes for Children
Understanding the sort of help that leaders need turned out to be the easy part; more difficult was deciding how to meet this need. After several years’ development, and a few false starts, he concluded that a group environment would offer the best vehicle for meeting their needs. In 2003 Andrew Mercer conceived the Footdown Fifteen model for leadership development groups, with the Bath Fifteen group being the prototype for all subsequent groups.
How does Footdown meet these leadership needs?
We have constantly kept in mind the key needs of all leaders for the right information, some inspiration and, occasionally, some relief from the isolation that inevitably goes with the job. As a result, we have stress tested and then extensively modified and enhanced the Footdown offering since 2003. Footdown Fifteen groups now offer their members an enduring support model combining group mentoring and individual performance coaching, underpinned by a robust and powerful framework. This framework provides both an intellectual context for the information given, and an interactive environment for the support received. See What is Footdown? for more information.
All the stuff I've had to go through, all the painful experiences to get it right - I could have probably learned that early on, if there'd been a group in 1985.
Michael Edge, Chairman - London & Country
Most leaders have been with the first group - in Bath - since its inception in November 2003. We expect other groups to exhibit the same level of enduring appeal. Contrast this with the length of time – generally about 6 months - that leaders typically retain the services of a personal executive coach.
The groups meet ten times a year at a convenient location for the groups’ members. The confidential meetings typically follow a prescribed format that includes a formal talk from an influential speaker, followed by a more informal sharing of ideas and challenges, combined with individual goal setting and monitoring.
It's a good place to get truly independent advice and a sounding board.
Charles Fallon, Managing partner & founder – SIP
The speakers are all filmed by a professional camera man and an edited version of their talk is then provided free of charge to the members, on both a CD and DVD. You can view highlights of some of these talks on the Speakers’ Corner page.
The informal sessions are facilitated by the group leader using a group mentoring and performance coaching model, developed by Footdown, and based on the best practice adopted by the mentoring and coaching industry.
A key part of building the leaders of the future is this sort of focus group.
Nigel Hunton, CEO – Edwards
Every so often the group may decide to dispense with the speaker and instead devote the whole day to members’ issues.
You can share a concern or an idea, brainstorm it within the group and - if you look around the group - there's probably 100s of years of experience there.
Nigel Hunton, CEO – Edwards
How is the power of the group maintained between meetings?
Both Footdown and the members maintain the power of the group interaction in two main ways. Firstly, the group leader meets each member every month to review progress on individual goals and issues the member has shared with the group. These meetings also provide an opportunity to discuss issues that the member perhaps feels uncomfortable about sharing with the group, at the moment. There are formal processes in place to ensure that members’ issues are followed up, either in subsequent group or individual meetings.
Secondly, members may also meet or contact fellow group members to work on shared projects that the group meetings have initiated. In the case of Bath Fifteen, such initiatives have included: the formation of a new clean energy company (2OC); the creation of a new crime fighting programme for Bristol (Turnaround); the development of a proposal to replace the existing ramshackle buildings on Bath’s historic Recreation Ground with a multi-purpose sports stadium and concert hall (Bath Sport); a record breaking hot air balloon flight to raise awareness of climate change (enough’s enough).
Who should join a Footdown Fifteen group?
All leaders – including entrepreneurs, directors of large corporate divisions, partners of professional firms and senior public sector employees - who are decision makers committed to improving their leadership performance should consider joining a Footdown Fifteen group.
I'm an entrepreneur and I could never work in some of the big companies; but it's still interesting to hear from people in big companies about how they cope with situations. You learn from everybody.
Michael Edge, Chairman – London & Country
Why you should join?
At Footdown we are passionate about improving the quality and performance of our country’s business and public service leaders. We do this by both inspiring and informing leaders - through a combination of individual performance coaching and group mentoring. Members quickly come to appreciate the power of the group to make meaningful changes in their professional and personal lives, and to trust that the members of their group will never let them down.
The group challenges your thinking, then follows up. It’s impartial and applies collective wisdom, accumulated over many years.
Tony Taylor, Chief Operating Officer – 2OC (previously CEO – Dalgety)
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