Chris Webber is the founder of Foxleigh Commercial Performance an International Commercial Training and Advisory Business that focuses on helping clients to succeed, even with difficult customers.
Chris never intended to set up his own business. He grew up in a small, industrial town in the North of England, St Helens, famous for the sport of rugby league, Pilkington’s Glass, and Beecham’s. Caught in the shadow of Liverpool and Manchester it has struggled to be prosperous in recent years with the demise of glassmaking in the town and it is a shadow of its former self.
His dream as a child was to be a professional sportsman, playing rugby league at the highest level. He spent years on the terraces watching his hometown club and imagining what it would be like to run out in front of thousands of people at stadiums such as Wembley and Old Trafford. The dream appeared to be coming true when at the age of 18 he was signed for one of the biggest and most prestigious clubs in the world, Wigan.
However, within a few years, the dream of making a life as a professional vanished after Chris’ contract was not renewed and he was forced to reconsider his future. “At the time I was devastated, I didn’t have any other focus in my life and at 22 I had to start from scratch and build a new idea of success” said Chris speaking of the challenges of the end of his professional sporting career.
He had always been a skilled communicator and as such a career in sales and leadership seemed an excellent choice, and in the years that followed this was indeed proven to be true. He used a degree in Pharmacology from Liverpool University as a stepping stone into the pharmaceutical industry where he took on sales, marketing, and leadership roles, progressing quickly through the business.
It was his experience of top-class sport that stood him in good stead when leading teams, coaching, and focussing on performance. He was a hard worker and understood how to influence, inspire, and get the best from the people around him. However, the big insight that led to the formation of Foxleigh was when Chris noticed that business relies on two core fundamentals for sustained success and that in many cases businesses fail to find optimal balance and struggle.
He saw that successful businesses strike a balance between a focus on results and delivery of objectives and targets, plus building, and maintaining strong relationships. Too much emphasis on results can damage relationships and trust, as partners sense a selfish approach and back away. Too great a focus on relationships is at the expense of having tough conversations and saying no, something essential to deliver performance. His early experience as a coach and the great players who were able to find this balance was the inspiration for the core philosophy of Foxleigh today.
Now the mission of the business is to inspire people to be confident in succeeding even with difficult customers. Building confidence is a passion for Chris because self-belief sits at the heart of so many people we admire. He sees it as a wall built from the bricks of success. Each moment of success adds another brick to the wall, adding to its overall strength such that small setbacks are unable to damage confidence. Foxleigh builds confidence in clients through actions, not words.
“No team ever sits in the dressing room talking about performance. They get out on the practice field and practice until perfect. In businesses, we often fail to practice enough and as such we are unable to experiment with new ideas and we cannot perfect our skills.” Says Chris. Foxleigh provides clients with opportunities to practice and learn from doing, using cases and exercises delivered in a safe environment where mistakes are part of the development journey.
Foxleigh offers solutions for clients who are seeking to negotiate in ways that protect and even enhance trust, who want to learn to delight customers with excellent meeting experiences and leaders who are dedicated to building a strong learning culture orientated around a balance of results and relationships.
With 10 years of experience delivering training and advice to clients across industry sectors and around the world, Chris has built a business that has become his new passion. “I love a challenge” says Chris, “I love talking to clients about the problems they have with customers or colleagues and developing solutions that enable them to succeed. There is no greater feeling than the feedback from participants after a programme describing how they have changed their approach and how it is delivering results. I know that they have the confidence to try new ideas and that in the future this courage and confidence will open a whole world of possibilities.”
