Simon Calderbank - BMUK Manchester Group Member
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Simon Calderbank
BMUK Manchester Group Member
Business Name: Big Knows
Industry: Leadership Development
Introduction Video: (Coming Soon)
About:
Most leadership development produces a temporary lift.
The workshop lands well. The feedback scores are excellent. People leave energised. And then, within weeks, the same patterns reassert themselves. The same hesitation before difficult conversations. The same deference in high-stakes rooms. The same issues drifting back up to senior leaders who thought the investment had fixed things.
It hasn't fixed things. Because it addressed the surface - not the layer underneath.
I work with mid-career leaders and the organisations that invest in them to address the thinking infrastructure that governs how people actually perform under pressure. Not the skills they know they should use. The automatic patterns running their responses before conscious thought can intervene.
The results are different to conventional leadership development - because they're designed to be permanent rather than temporary.
Since 2017 I've worked with 2,475 leaders across organisations including First Bus, Forbes Solicitors, Wain Homes, and Southwater Event Group - through keynote stages, group programmes, one-to-one coaching, and online challenges.
In March 2025 I ran a Women Who Lead: Breaking Barriers Challenge with four senior women: a Fractional Finance Director, a Managing Director, a Chief Marketing Officer, and a Copyright Team Manager. I asked each of them for three words at the start. Then three words at the end. The shift across all four told the whole story.
One of them is now Chief Marketing Officer in a role she didn't think she could fill when we started.
If you work with organisations that invest in leadership development and wonder why the results don't always match the investment - I'd welcome a conversation.
Simon Calderbank - is looking to work with the following industries:
Corporate
Professional Services
HR & L&D
Client Testimonials:
"Before the challenge I had three words for where I was: frustrated, stuck, powerless.
Five days later I had three new ones: powerful, curious, aware.
Simon helped me understand that I have the ability to do whatever I want - to be more confident, make change, have difficult conversations. Most importantly, to know my value and worth. And not let anyone undermine that. Not even myself.
I'm now Chief Marketing Officer. A role I genuinely didn't believe I could fill when we started. I did the work. Simon showed me what was possible."
Suraiya Comunello, Chief Marketing Officer, European Real Estate & PBSA
"I was at a crossroads. My role had been made redundant and I needed to understand how to position myself for the next level.
I gave myself 12 months to get there.
Simon helped me identify what was actually holding me back - not the redundancy, not the job market, but the way I was showing up for myself in the rooms that mattered most.
We did it in 12 weeks.
I'm now Head of Customer Insight at an organisation with a great culture where I feel valued, confident, and proud of where I am. Simon was able to help me think differently - to finally show up as the leader I already was.
I would highly recommend him. Grab this opportunity with both hands."
Jo, Head of Customer Insight