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Cheryl Cran        

Future of Work & Change Leadership Expert; Author of "The Art of Change Leadership"

Cheryl Cran is the founder of NextMapping™/NextMapping.com 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 2nd edition of "NextMapping - Anticipate, Navigate & 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 a 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 Cran’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.’

Speech Topics


The Future of Hybrid Teams

Hybrid teams are here to stay, research shows that virtual work and WFA (work from anywhere) is going to increase. Leaders and teams have been navigating this new reality throughout the pandemic. The future requires leaders and teams to be able to successfully navigate the nuances of a hybrid workplace reality.

There is a continued shortage of workers and we are firmly in a workers market. This means that it's a new world of work. Leaders are leading in unprecedented times and all workers are asking themselves big questions about what it means to work, and how they want to work in the future.

In this keynote attendees will learn:

  • Future of ‘all things’ research that reveals the social trends impacting the future of work
  • Insights into the trends that are shaping what the now and future workplace
  • How to leverage patterns in human behavior to increase team synergy in a hybrid workplace
  • Key strategies on how to communicate and collaborate in a virtual team environment
  • New ways to engage teams in a hybrid culture
  • The ‘future ready’ skills that ALL workers need to develop to increase agility and adaptability
  • How to use the ‘adaptability scale’ to see where you are and how you can ’ self-coach’ to greater flexibility
  • Actionable takeaways that can be applied right away in your everyday work and life

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

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!

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

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 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)

Lead with 20/20 Vision: Building the Workplace of the Future Today

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Leading Change in a Fast-Paced, Technological & Multi-Generational Workplace

Say What You Mean – Mean What You Say

Bold Leaders Rock! Lead to Attract Them - Lead So They’ll Stay

Learn Their Language to Boldly Lead the Gen X, Y & Boomers

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