Cheryl Cran

Strategic Futurist and Future of Work Consultant, Best Selling Author

Cheryl Cran

Cheryl Cran is the founder of NextMapping™ and the CEO of parent company Synthesis at Work Inc.

Recognized as the #1 Future of Work influencer by Onalytica, and author of 9 books including the second edition “NextMapping™ – Anticipate, Navigate and Create the Future of Work” with companion workbook.

Other book titles include “The Art of Change Leadership – Driving Transformation In a Fast Paced-World” (Wiley 2015), “101 Ways to Make Generations X, Y and Zoomers Happy at Work” (2010) and 4 other books on the ultimate leadership skills needed to be future of work ready.

Cheryl’s future of work thought leadership has been featured in publications such as Huff Post, Forbes, IABC Magazine, Law Magazine, Metro New York, Entrepreneur Magazine, Readers Digest, CBS Online, NBC Online, Fox Online and more.

For over two decades Cheryl has built a reputation for delivering extraordinary value to clients that include AT&T, Bell Mobility, Omnitel, Gartner, British Telcomm, Manulife, as well as mid-sized companies and entrepreneurs in industries that include technology, health, agriculture, finance, insurance and more.

NextMapping™ was developed as our proprietary business solution brand that encompasses all of Cheryl’s work and research on the future of work and the leadership needed to navigate change in the workplace. It’s time to not just hear about the future but to use NextMapping™ to get there! Technology in the workplace must be used to prepare for the future with a focus on how technology can enhance outcomes for people.

The common theme of all of Cheryl’s life’s work is a ‘people first’ and digital second approach to create a more human future, helping companies to build the leadership capacity needed to ‘change the world through business.’

Please contact us for more information or to book Cheryl Cran for your next event.

Topics

Leading Change In a Post Covid-19 Future - How To Deal With People Challenges in a Work From Home Reality
In the past workplace culture was handled based on in-person conversations, performance was measured on metrics as well as on team interactions.

Now and into the future workplace culture is about remote and how to engage with remote workers and how to succeed in remote teams.

In the past few months, our surveys have found that leaders are struggling with how to lead, engage and manage performance of their WFH workers.

In this virtual keynote you will learn:

Research on how work has completely shifted the mentalities of workers due to remote and WFH reality

How the remote work reality has shifted perspectives on performance measurement

Why certain workers have adapted well to virtual work and others are struggling to juggle multiple challenges (mental health/childcare/working in a non-office environment)

How training has changed from in-office mentoring towards a structured learning plan

The emotional reality of the pandemic disruption and how to deal with changes in people leaving (honoring longtime workers who are leaving)

How to clearly articulate performance expectations throughout changing financial reality (budget/downsizing)
Navigating What’s Next in a Post Covid-19 Reality
What WAS predicted by futurists was a remote work reality, an automated reality and a new way of leading in the future of work.

The best way to predict the future is to focus on the now and look at patterns to look at ‘what’s next’. There is no going back to ’normal’ there is only preparing for and creating the future.

In this virtual keynote you will learn:

A look into the future and ’next normal’ of work including hybrid work set ups

Case studies of companies who are shifting to ‘virtual’ workplace as their new normal

A model on how leaders and teams can change and adapt quickly to ongoing disruption and change

The top 5 skills needed by leaders and teams to increase agility and adaptability

How to leverage technology to maximize team communication and performance

How to use the PREDICT model to navigate what’s next for your business and industry
Leading Virtual Teams In A Fast Changing Workplace
In 2020 Companies rapidly pivot and adjust to the major disruption of the Pandemic.

Leaders have had to quickly shift their teams to work virtually and this quick shift has created challenges that include keeping teams engaged and productive.

In this virtual keynote you will learn:

The new hybrid future of work reality and what it means for business

How leaders can increase team culture in a virtual team/ in office team reality

How to increase team motivation with half the teams working remotely

A change leadership model to help leaders coach their teams to greater productivity

How to leverage video/collaboration tools to increase team collaboration
The Future Is Now How Remote Work Is Here To Stay and What To Do To Succeed In The Future
By the year 2020 50% of the workforce will be working remotely

No one would have ever predicted that a global pandemic would make that particular prediction a reality.

Workers have been looking for companies to offer remote work and it has been a key element for talent to decide which companies to work for.

Leaders have been adapting to the remote work reality albeit some industries have been faster at remote work adoption than others.

The reality is that the ’next normal’ is here to stay and that includes remote work.

In this virtual keynote you will learn:

Research and data on remote work and the numbers of companies who have a remote work strategy

Case studies of companies who have mastered the remote work dynamic

Strategies on who to align remote work strategy with worker engagement and retention

Ideas on how to compete in business with a remote work strategy

Tips and tricks on how to help leaders inspire remote workers and lead them to high performance

Insights on how remote workers can set up their environments for greater success

How to integrate remote work strategy into future planning of the business
The Future of Leadership: What are the attributes, what are the mindsets and what are the secrets to being a change leader driving towards the future of work.
Inspiration, insights and models on how to be a future ready leader

Never before have workplaces had so much ambiguity, uncertainty and constant change. Workers are challenged with doing more with less, learning at the speed of disruption and working with diverse situations. There is a massive opportunity for leaders to create the future for themselves and their teams.

With the increase of digital transformation there is a calling for leaders to be connected, empathetic and inspiring for their teams.

In this virtual keynote you will learn:

The most recent and up to date research on the future workplace and what it means for leaders today

Statistics and sentiment analysis on worker attitudes and what workers want today and in the future from their leaders

Leadership models on the ‘me to we’ mindset and mapping the future of the leadership journey

Tips and strategies on how to leverage leadership mastery to increase the attraction and retention of top talent

Inspiring ideas that can be put into immediate action to increase employee motivation and engagement

Practical daily actions to help leaders feel energized and to help their teams to be inspired and excited to create the future of work

Cheryl Cran future of work expert and founder of NextMapping shares inspiring, uplifting and practical ideas for leaders to be future ready now!
The Future of Work is now – are you ready? What will leaders and their teams have to do to thrive today and beyond to the year 2030?
Trends, Research and Insights into the Future of Work

Employee engagement, creating future ready leaders, attracting and retaining top talent are all elements that are rapidly changing and impacting the way we work and how we need to change to meet the challenges of the future workplace today.

This keynote will provide researched global business insights, thought provoking, creative, leading edge ideas and strategies on how leaders can take immediate action to increase team buy in, adaptability and execution NOW as we head towards 2030.

Attendees will leave with:

A look at the trends and technologies shaping the future workplace today

Ideas for leaders and their teams to adapt their personality style and leadership style to the fast changing workplace

“How” to successfully work with and engage the multiple generations in the workplace

Insights into how leaders need to adapt to the ever-changing reality of worker attitudes and shifting attitudes on loyalty, job satisfaction and how work is done

Mindset model on how to navigate fast pace of change as we head to future of work

Research on the multiple intelligences needed to navigate the future of work

Case studies and examples of progressive companies and leaders on the leading edge of creating innovative future ready workplaces

Strategies on how to get everyone on board with the overall future vision, build excitement for the company’s direction and create commitment and buy-in to taking action today and for the future

Cheryl’s style is dynamic high energy and interactive, she presents relevant research and her presentations always have fun movie clips and music. With Cheryl Cran as your keynote speaker you are guaranteed to have one of your best events ever with increased audience engagement, and an audience that leaves with easy to implement ideas as well as inspired to lead with 2030 vision to build the future workplace today.
The Future of Attracting & Keeping Top Talent
95% of companies surveyed cite a big focus for the future is finding and keeping top talent in the age of robotics, remote workers and increasing competition. This keynote provides trends, case studies, and creative ideas on recruiting and retaining talent. Fortune 500 CEO’s surveyed state that even with the age of robotics they are planning to continue to seek and hire talented people well into 2020 and beyond. The competition for attracting top talent is increasing, and as quickly as people are being hired and trained other industries are approaching and poaching talent. In addition, the increase in freelance and entrepreneur opportunities for millennials is making the talent search even more challenging. What can companies do? What do leaders need to do to win the war for talent? In this keynote, you will learn how to map out a strategy and plan on how to attract top talent and how to retain them for longer than average time frames.

Attendees will leave this session with:

The latest research for your industry on future trends regarding attracting and retaining top talent

Insights into current reality of finding and keeping good people the stats and the best practices

Innovative ideas on finding the right people that are suited for your industry

Creative ideas and examples from global companies winning the war for talent

The top ten ‘attractors’ of what top talent want when looking to work for a company

How to be a company that ‘attracts’ talent, including having transformational leaders and creating a culture that focuses on shared leadership

The number one reason people leave an employer and how to fix it

A greater understanding of why investing in recruiting alone is a no-win approach

Creative solutions that you can put into place right away to increase your wins in attracting and keeping top talent
The Art of Change Leadership – Driving Transformation In a Fast Paced World
This change leadership keynote is for everyone because “everyone is a leader!” Increasing fast pace of change requires a culture where everyone is a change leader. Everyone in the workplace is working in times of intense technological innovation and dealing with ongoing rapid change and disruptions. The key is how to inspire and engage everyone to be ‘leaders of change’ and to dynamically increase innovation, collaboration and success for everyone in the company and for the business overall. This keynote focuses on how each individual can harness their own inner abilities to lead change and personal leadership in a positive and proactive way. This keynote is based on Cheryl’s book “The Art of Change Leadership” (Wiley 2015)

Attendees will leave this session with:

Further insight into how is fast change is impacting the speed of work and how we as leaders need to build adaptability to the new reality

A shifted perspective on how we as individuals can harness positive stress and leverage time in an increasingly fast-paced work environment

A clear understanding of how each generation views change, deals with change and strategies to improve change responses and actions

The change cycle and how to use this model to lead change for self and for others

Insight into their own personal change behaviors and tools to leverage their individual ability to adapt more quickly to ongoing change with a positive approach

Tools to lead change with multiple perspectives including emotional intelligence, generation intelligence and energetic intelligence

A change leadership ‘next map’ that will outline your next steps to creating the future that you want to create
The Future of Leadership

Never before have workplaces had so much ambiguity, uncertainty and constant change. Workers are challenged with doing more with less, learning at the speed of disruption and working with diverse situations. There is a massive opportunity for leaders to create the future for themselves and their teams. With the increase of digital transformation there is a calling for leaders to be connected, empathetic and inspiring for their teams.

In this keynote leaders will learn:

The most recent and up to date research on the future workplace and what it means for leaders today Statistics and sentiment analysis on worker attitudes and what workers want today and in the future from their leaders Leadership models on the ‘me to we’ mindset and mapping the future of the leadership journey Tips and strategies on how to leverage leadership mastery to increase the attraction and retention of top talent Inspiring ideas that can be put into immediate action to increase employee motivation and engagement Practical daily actions to help leaders feel energized and to help their teams to be inspired and excited to create the future of work Cheryl Cran future of work expert and founder of NextMapping shares inspiring, uplifting and practical ideas for leaders to be future ready now!

Testimonials:

We had Cheryl as our Keynote speaker at our annual strategic retreat for our senior leaders. Her presentation on “Leading With Power, Energy & Passion” was exactly what our team needed. Cheryl has the unique ability to ‘hear’ what we needed and to completely create a customized message that was EXACTLY what we needed . Her knowledge of technology, leadership tools and emotional intelligence and her ability to give us tools to leverage our skills was right on track with where we need to go as a leadership team. We have a team of highly intelligent and accomplished leaders who are quite jaded and we had one of our long term leaders say, “I have been coming to these for years and Cheryl was by far the most relevant and excellent leadership expert we have had to date”. As a leadership expert Cheryl combines research, applied knowledge and tremendous insight that ultimately will help our leaders to perform to their next level of success.

VP Sales & Marketing PHM Hotels

We had Cheryl Cran as one of our main speakers at our annual HR Summit 2013 in Singapore, this event is the largest HR event of its’ kind in Asia. Cheryl’s session on ‘Lead With 2020 Vision’ was eye opening and very relevant to the HR professionals attending this event. Her combination of trend research, humour, and audience interaction was a hit with our group. We would love to work with Cheryl again.

HR Summit 2013 Singapore

Cheryl Cran is not Sheryl Crow but she is a rock star none the less! We had Cheryl as our closing keynote speaker for a series of programs for our leadership groups. Cheryl worked with us on over a dozen events where she delivered to about 6000 general managers in total from the AT&T system. Her keynote, “Lead with 2020 Vision” was THE icing on the proverbial cake of our two day events. Her ability to weave in the messages of the other presenters, her ability to engage the groups with humor, fun, authenticity and provocative thought was quite simply amazing and EXACTLY what we needed as a close to our events. Her stage presence, her use of audience interaction and her depth of knowledge on how today’s leaders can lead change, transform people and grow business in the digital age was the reason we hired her and she is so easy to work with, it was a pleasure to have her on our team. We would definitely work with Cheryl again.

VP AT&T University

Cheryl Cran was our keynote speaker at our leadership conference and her keynote titled: “The Art of Change Leadership – Make it Happen Make it Matter” was a great success with our store leadership team. At Rubicon we are growing and experiencing lots of internally driven change and externally imposed change. Cheryl’s research and customization for our group made an impact with us. We appreciated the texting, polling and interaction along with the usable content, actionable ideas and follow up responses to the groups text questions. Cheryl delivered on our objectives and helped our store leadership team to think in new and elevated ways about change, integration of business and future success.

COO, Rubicon Pharmacies

Cheryl Cran was our keynote speaker at our recent MISA BC conference for municipal IT professionals – Cheryl’s keynote was a hit with our group! I appreciated a number of items with Cheryl’s keynote – there was the perfect balance of content, research and ideas along with inspiration. Feedback from our attendees was phenomenal and they were grateful for the ability to text questions to Cheryl and her candid responses along with the polling to engage the group. Attendees left Cheryl’s keynote feeling energized, inspired and ready to take ideas and action back to the workplace and put into place right away for increased success. Cheryl exceeded our expectations!

Conference Committee, Municipal Information Systems Association of BC (MISA-BC)

Cheryl was our keynote speaker at the UVA Wise Economic Forum and she presented “The Future of Work is Now – Are You Ready?” The response from our audience included comments such as: “Fantastic and inspirational view of the future” “Loved the blend of practicality along with a push to help us be more innovative” “Phenomenal ideas on how we can innovate and increase real time creativity for future success” “Excellent research and statistics on the future of work and its relevance to both education and business” “Inspired by Cheryl Cran” We would definitely have Cheryl back to provide more insights on the future of work, innovation and change leadership.

University Virginia at Wise

Cheryl Cran was a hit at our ISBN conference. Cheryl’s content was perfectly timed for our group of C-Level executives as it helped them organize a conference full of ideas into a concrete strategy to move their organization forward. Our group is very discerning and can be critical of speakers outside of the salon and spa industry, but Cheryl’s keynote dynamic and was right on the money. Cheryl customized her keynote for our group, The Future of Work Is Now – Is Your Salon Ready? and her message was the perfect balance of research, relevant ideas, enlightening looks into the future as well as preparing for future disruptions. Unlike most keynotes, Cheryl proactively offered teaser materials, including a video a blog and also offered to survey the attendees as well as conducting live polling engagement and including their feedback in her keynote. We also had Cheryl facilitate a mastermind discussion on attracting top talent and her group was standing room only. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to others.

International Salon Spa Business Network

Cheryl Cran was our keynote speaker and workshop facilitator for our Calgary Stampede Leadership Summit. Her keynote: Future Ready Teams – How to Create Agile, Adaptive and Future Ready Teams was phenomenal and very engaging for our people leaders. During the workshop, many of our people leaders text Cheryl during the keynote and were very complimentary about her thorough explanation and genuine responses. Our people leaders were excited about the content and eager to apply what they were learning to their roles. Cheryl’s time and care in preparing and ensuring she was in tune with our group was greatly appreciated including her pre survey to attendees, interactive polling during the keynote as well as the text message of questions. Cheryl modeled what it looks like to leverage technology while engaging and inspiring people to go from ‘me to we’. Cheryl provided excellent insights into future trends affecting business and she gave some creative ideas on how we can leverage our success. Cheryl’s approach is intuitive, research based and highly interactive which was the perfect fit for our discerning group of leaders.

The Calgary Exhibition and Stampede Ltd.

Cheryl was our opening keynote speaker for our Innovation Unplugged Skills Summit in Toronto. From our first conversation it was obvious that Cheryl was very knowledgeable in the Future of Work and took the time to understand the objectives of our organization and our event. Her presentation was engaging and informative and set up the rest of our day perfectly. We had a diverse audience which included secondary school students, educators, industry experts and government officials. Everyone took something away from Cheryl’s speech and commented on the power of the presentation in their feedback comments. I would welcome working with Cheryl again in the future.

ICTC President and CEO

Speaker Videos

Cheryl Cran