Cheryl Cran

Speaker Cheryl Cran helps leaders and their teams to build future workplaces, today. Recognized as the #1 Future of Work influencer by Onalytica, Cheryl Cran’s research into the future of work, technology, and leadership — driven by her “people first” and digital second philosophy — helps companies build the leadership capacity needed to change the world through business.

Currently the founder of NextMapping and CEO of parent company Synthesis at Work Inc., Cran’s background is senior leadership in the corporate finance and insurance industries. After ten successful years, she was head-hunted by a national financial insurance company to head up their regional portfolio, where she helped to increase market share by more than 30% in just two years.

Cran developed NextMapping as a proprietary business solution brand to encompass all of her work and research on the future of work and the leadership needed to navigate change in the workplace. She believes that digital transformation in the workplace must focus on how technology can enhance outcomes for people. Her clients have included AT&T, Bell Mobility, Omnitel, Gartner, British Telcomm, Manulife, as well as mid-sized companies and entrepreneurs in industries such as technology, health, agriculture, finance, insurance, and more.

Cran is the author of nine books, including NextMapping: Anticipate, Navigate, and create the Future of Work; The Art of Change Leadership: Driving Transformation in a Fast-Paced World; 101 Ways to Make Generations X, Y and Zoomers Happy at Work; and Leadership Mastery In a Digital Age. Her work has been featured in publications such as the Huffington Post, Forbes, IABC Magazine, Law Magazine, Metro New York, Entrepreneur Magazine, Readers Digest, CBS Online, NBC Online, Fox Online and more.

Cheryl Cran Speaker Presentations:

The Future is Human: How AI and ChatGPT Requires Us to Be Better Leaders +

This keynote — based on Cheryl Cran’s latest book, Super.Crucial.Human — focuses on the key human skills leaders and teams need to have in a fast changing AI and ChatGPT era.

Research has confirmed that not only are we in a workers market, we are going to need more people now and into the future even with the rise of automation, AI, ChatGPT, and robotics. What we need is people who have crucial human skills — skills that go beyond the basics when it comes to compassion, creativity, communication, and collaboration.

This keynote will inspire and elevate the mindsets of audience members to embrace that being human means we have infinite possibilities to evolve and adapt at the speed of change. Audiences will leave with practical tools that they can apply personally and take back to their leaders and teams.

Audiences will learn:

• Research on the digital and social trends that are driving the urgent need for everyone to develop “crucial human skills”.
• How to reframe challenges, setbacks, and disruptions into elevated opportunities to evolve and grow.
• The 4 Cs of being a super crucial human — next level skills of compassion, creativity, conscious communication, and collaboration.
• How everyone can elevate to being “change leaders”, driving positive change forward.
• How to leverage the “me to we” mindset model to increase collaboration in a hybrid workplace reality.
• Actionable models and strategic ideas on how to elevate crucial human skills and apply them in life and work for accelerated success in all relationships. --

Leading Hybrid Teams In A Fast Changing Workplace +

We are firmly in a workers market. Hybrid workplace is here to stay. 89% of workers surveyed have stated that they want to work remotely at least two days a week. We are in a new reality where workers expect increased flexibility and increased life/work balance. Leaders need to upskill their mindset, perspectives and strategies to inspire their hybrid teams.

We are in a workers market until at least 2030 - hybrid workplace is here to stay!

There is no ‘right way’ to do hybrid. Every organization is lining up their hybrid strategy to align with their workplace culture. With the hybrid workplace comes challenges that include increased siloes, decreased communication, less sense of an embedded company culture, leaders challenged with engaging and motivating workers and more.

Workers have higher expectations from their leaders and their workplace and this means leaders and teams must upskill and reskill to ‘future ready skills’. This includes shifting to multiple perspectives, increasing compassion and patience and creating new strategies that match up with the hybrid workplace dynamics.

In this keynote you will learn:

• The now and next hybrid workplace reality and what it means for leaders and the future of business
• How leaders can engage workers in the company culture in a hybrid workplace
• The three biases that increase siloes and hinder collaboration and what to do about it
• The change leadership skills needed to successfully recreate a unified culture
• A proprietary hybrid communication model to help leaders coach their teams to greater productivity
• Actionable ideas on how to increase worker engagement and collaboration in the hybrid workplace --

Navigating What’s Next in a Post Covid-19 Reality +

No one predicted that a global pandemic in 2020 would upend the entire way we work and live.

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 about ‘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:

• 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 had to rapidly pivot and adjust to the major disruption of the pandemic

Leaders had to quickly shift their teams to work virtually. This quick shift created numerous challenges, including 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/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 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 +

At NextMapping™ we have been sharing a predictive statistic for the past 5 years that by the year 2020, 50% of the workforce would be working remotely.

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

Workers have been looking for companies to offer remote work, which has been a key factor when talent decide which companies to work for.

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

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

Attendees will leave this session with:

• Research and data on remote work and remote work strategies
• Case studies of companies who have mastered the remote work dynamic
• Strategies on how to align remote work for employee 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?

Workplaces have never had so much ambiguity, uncertainty and constant change. Workers are challenged to do more with less, learn at the speed of disruption and work with diverse situations. There is a massive opportunity for leaders to create the future for themselves and their teams.

With this increase in digital transformation there is a call for leaders to be connected, empathetic, and inspiring for their teams.

Attendees will leave this session with:

• The most recent research on the future workplace and what it means for leaders
• 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 --

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? Today’s challenges include ongoing global change, technological innovation, and fast-changing workplace dynamics.

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 global business insights and thought provoking, creative, leading-edge strategies on how leaders can take immediate action to increase team buy in, adaptability, and execution today as we head towards 2030.

Attendees will leave this session 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 toward loyalty, job satisfaction, and how work is done
• Mindset model on how to navigate the fast pace of change as we head to future of work
• Research on the intelligence needed to navigate the future of work
• Case studies and examples of companies and leaders that are creating innovative, future-ready workplaces
• Strategies to get everyone on board with the future vision, build excitement for the company’s direction, and create commitment and buy-in to take action today and for the future --

The Best Way to Create the Future is to Map It +

Are you and your leaders fully ready to proactively lead into the future of work?

Is your company poised to jump on opportunities and to innovate at the speed of change in the workplace?

Is your industry disrupting the status quo or being disrupted?

Do you have the right people with the right technology in the workplace to quickly deliver extraordinary value to your clients and teams?

Many disruptions, including government shifts, global disasters, mergers and acquisitions, artificial intelligence, robotics, and changing worker attitudes, are creating a need for leaders to map the future of work for their company and for their teams.

The type of leadership needed during these times is the ability to flex in times of flux. Agility, adaptability, and innovation are key attributes that will help leaders drive the change and transformation needed to get to the future of work.

This keynote provides insights into the future of work and strategies to proactively map the future as a leader. It includes dynamic ideas and creative approaches to help build future-ready leadership that will drive transformation towards the future of work.

Attendees will leave this session with:

• Insights on the impact of AI and robotics on your industry, locally and globally
• A bi-modal model on how to leverage the best of what’s working now with data from future trends research
• Case studies of organizations that have successfully mapped their future by being on top of trends and future of work
• How to harness the ‘people first’ principle of future workplaces, and a look at leaders who have leveraged technology to enable extraordinary value for the client and employee experience
• A ‘what needs to change’ and ‘what will never change’ checklist to help prioritize strategic actions towards future of work
• Inspiration, ideas, and tools to map of the future for leaders/teams/businesses that can be practically applied right away
• NextMapping™ model and steps to create your future for leaders/businesses --

Future Ready Teams: How to Create Agile, Adaptable & Innovative Teams +

Are your teams unified in vision, focus and purpose?

Are your teams able to collaborate, innovate and adapt to rapid change in the workplace?

Do your teams leverage technology to improve client and employee experience?

This keynote provides dynamic insights into the future of teams and how team structure is morphing to meet the real-time disruptions and demands of our fast-changing world. Research shows that small teams with highly motivated and engaged individuals can innovate and execute very quickly; the impact includes faster ideas to market, nimble solutions for client experience, and ultimately, a competitive advantage.

Attendees will leave this session with:

• The latest research on team dynamics needed for future of work
• Statistics and data on the best future of work structure for a team, including the best mix of personalities, aptitudes, and more
• Strategies for team members to build a ‘me to we’ future of work attitude
• A mindset model on how to shift towards a ‘shared leadership’ team culture
• Ideas on how to cross collaborate, break down silos and innovate across the business
• How to create agile, adaptable, and innovative teams
• Inspiration and plans to ‘map out’ what’s next for your teams to be future of work ready --

The Future of Attracting and Keeping Top Talent +

95% of companies surveyed cite that a big focus for the future is finding and keeping top talent in the age of robotics, remote workers, and increasing competition.

Fortune 500 CEOs 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. Additionally, the increase in freelance and entrepreneurial 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 to attract top talent and 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 +

Everyone in the workplace is working in times of intense technological innovation and dealing with ongoing rapid change and disruption. The key is knowing how to inspire and engage everyone to be leaders of change, and to dynamically increase innovation, collaboration, and success for everyone. This keynote focuses on how individuals can harness their 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.

Attendees will leave this session with:

• Further insight into how 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 others
• Insight into personal change behaviors and tools to leverage the ability to adapt more quickly to ongoing change with a positive approach
• Tools to lead change through multiple perspectives, including emotional intelligence, generational intelligence, and energetic intelligence
• A change leadership ‘next map’ that will outline your next steps to creating the future that you want to create --

To inquire about Cheryl Cran's speaking schedule & booking Cheryl Cran, contact us.