NSB Logo Cheryl Cran Cheryl Cran

Cheryl Cran

Speaker

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Future of Work & Change Leadership Expert

Cheryl Cran is a future of work expert and founder of a future of work consultancy. She is the author of 10 books, including “NextMapping- Anticipate, Navigate and Create The Future of Work” and “The Art of Change Leadership – Driving Transformation In A Fast Paced World”. Her thought leadership has been featured in Fast Company, Inc Magazine, Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, CNBC online , CBS online and more. Cheryl’s clients include Amazon, Upwork, State Farm, Astra Zeneca, TD Bank, Bank of America, Manulife, Nationwide, Freelancer and many more. Onalytica named her #1 future of work influencer and GoCatalant placed her in the top ten future of work influencers. 

Keynote Speeches

Virtual Keynotes & Webinars
Contact us for more information about this speaker & their virtual presentations. Click here for some of the most popular formats for virtual events.
The Resilient Leader: Thriving Through Change & Transformation

Resiliency is the key to navigating the future.

In today’s fast-evolving world, leaders and individuals must develop resilience to navigate constant change. The ability to adapt, transform, and thrive is no longer optional—it’s essential. But resilience isn’t just about bouncing back; it’s about bouncing forward with greater wisdom, energy, and purpose.

This powerful keynote blends leadership strategies, neuroscience, and energy intelligence to help individuals and teams move beyond survival mode and into a state of thriving. Through inspiring stories, actionable insights, and transformative tools, attendees will learn how to strengthen their inner and outer resilience, embrace change as a catalyst for growth, and lead with confidence in uncertain times.

In this inspirational resilient leader keynote you will learn:

  • The science of resilience – How mindset, energy, and our habits contribute to our resiliency
  • Navigate uncertainty with courage – Strategies to reframe fear, reduce stress and use tools in the present to help focus on future focused solutions
  • The power of energetic intelligence – Understanding the ranges of energy and how to access energy to self lead and lead others
  • Transform your narrative – How to rewrite the stores we tell ourselves about our circumstances and transform them into a hero/heroine’s journey
  • Daily rituals – Everyday practices that are simple and easy to remember and to incorporate into your life and work for greater optimism, well being and impact
  • Practical ideas and solutions – Models and tools for you to take back to your workplace and apply right away for immediate transformation
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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 
Leading Change - How To Deal With People Challenges in a Work From Home Reality

We’ve accelerated future of work realities such as increased work from home workers and the inherent challenges that come with remote work.

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.

This session can include:

  • 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 technological and 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)
The Future of Work Is Now – Are You Ready?

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.

Key Takeaways:

  • Ideas for leaders and their teams to adapt their personality style and leadership style to the fast-changing workplace.
  • Mindset model on how to navigate fast pace of change as we head to future of work
  • 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
The Best Way to Create the Future is to Map It

Many disruptions including government shifts, global disasters, mergers and acquisitions, artificial intelligence, robotics, and changing worker attitudes is causing the need for leaders to be able to map the future of work for their company and for their teams. The type of leadership that is needed during these fast-paced times is the ability to flex in times of flux. Agility, adaptability and innovation are key attributes that will help leaders to drive the change and transformation needed to get to the future of work. This future of work keynote provides insights into the future of work and strategies to proactively map the future as a leader. Dynamic ideas and creative approaches to help build future-ready leadership that drives transformation towards the future of work.

Key Takeaways:

  • A bi-modal model on how to leverage the best of what’s working now with data from future trends research
  • How to harness the ‘people first’ principle of future workplaces
  • NextMapping model and steps to create your future for self/business
Future Ready Teams - How to Create Agile, Adaptable & Innovative Teams

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

Key Takeaways:

  • Strategies for team members to build a ‘me to we’ future of work attitude
  • 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 & Keeping Top 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 2026 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.

Key Takeaways:

  • Innovative ideas on finding the right people that are suited for your industry
  • The top ten ‘attractors’ of what top talent want when looking to work for a company
  • 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!” 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.

Key Takeaways:

  • Tools to lead change with multiple perspectives including emotional intelligence, generation intelligence and energetic intelligence
  • The change cycle and how to use this model to lead change for self and for others

Audience reviews:

  • We have booked Cheryl a few times for our conference and she is always a huge hit. Her ability to intuitively link what the audience is looking for with what we shared on our customization calls is uncanny. On stage Cheryl is a vibrant and inclusive and energetic keynote speaker. Our group loves her interactive polling, her humor and her ability to inspire the audience to learn and grow and change is why we love her. - Gartner
  • Cheryl was our opening keynote speaker for our annual AGA National Leadership Training and she was phenomenal! Her keynote was titled, “The Art of Change Leadership - How to Flex in Flux” and her message was truly timely and of high value to our participants. We received overwhelming positive feedback from our group about Cheryl’s dynamic delivery style, the polling and Q&A interaction, and the survey she sent to participants to get to know her audience and customize her presentation. Cheryl’s opening keynote started our conference off with huge energy - we loved the videos and the music that got everyone excited for the rest of the day. - Director of Meetings, Association of Government Accountants
  • 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. - President and CEO, ICTC
  • 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.

    - VP, AT&T University
  • She was able to weave in content from other elements of the program as well as tune in to the unique challenges that people in our teams are dealing with and provide inspiring ideas. Her business background and experience along with her intuitive insights and dynamic delivery provided our group with inspiration and was a fantastic way to wrap up our conference!

    - VP Federal Employee Benefits, Kaiser Permanete
  • Her ability to weave in content that is current to the corporate situation as well as present in a way that is fun, intelligent and thought provoking is amazing. We have had overwhelmingly positive feedback.

    - HR Executive, Jamieson Natural Sources
  • The presentation that you delivered for us was exactly what we wanted and needed. We wanted a positive focus on communication and delivery strategies that would improve relations with all levels within the organization. You certainly provided specific strategies that were easy to understand and immediately applicable.

    - Calgary Home Builders Association
  • My crowd is a hard one to please, and I immediately received a lot of positive feedback after your speech. You had the team energized, attentive and participating in what was the last conference of a 2-day kickoff. Not an easy task. I would recommend you anytime!

    - Director, Marketing and Business to business communications, Media Solutions (CBC / Radio-Canada)

Speaker Biography

Future of Work Speaker Cheryl Cran

Future of Work Expert | #1 Ranked Change Leadership Speaker | Founder of NextMapping™

Claim to Fame: Named the #1 Future of Work Influencer by Onalytica, Cheryl Cran has spent over two decades helping Fortune 500 companies and fast-growing organizations navigate workplace transformation through her NextMapping™ methodology. As founder of NextMapping and author of 10 books including the bestseller “NextMapping: Anticipate, Navigate and Create The Future of Work,” Cheryl delivers high-impact keynotes that transform how leaders build agile teams, embrace AI and automation, and create human-centered workplaces in an increasingly digital world.

About Cheryl Cran

Cheryl Cran’s expertise bridges the gap between emerging workplace technology and essential human leadership skills. Recognized in the top 10 Future of Work experts by GoCatalant and celebrated by AT&T as a “Rock Star Keynote Speaker,” she brings pragmatic optimism to complex workplace challenges. Her proprietary NextMapping™ process has helped organizations including Amazon, Upwork, AT&T, Gartner, AstraZeneca, TD Bank, Bank of America, Manulife, and Nationwide transform their leadership capabilities and workforce strategies for the digital age.

Why Organizations Choose Cheryl Cran

Forward-thinking leaders choose Cheryl Cran when they need more than trend forecasting—they need actionable strategies to lead through unprecedented change. Organizations facing digital transformation, hybrid workplace challenges, generational workforce shifts, or AI integration turn to Cheryl for her unique “consultative keynote” approach that begins with pre-event audience surveys and delivers customized content aligned to specific organizational goals.

What sets Cheryl apart is her “facilitator of intelligence” philosophy. Rather than simply presenting research, she creates interactive experiences using live polling, text messaging engagement, video clips, and music that energize audiences while delivering practical frameworks leaders can implement immediately. Her approach balances inspirational energy with research-backed strategies, making complex future of work concepts accessible and actionable for diverse audiences from C-suite executives to frontline managers.

Audiences leave Cheryl’s keynotes with concrete tools like the NextMapping™ model for anticipating workplace trends, the four-stage leadership upgrade framework, and strategies for building innovation mindsets across multigenerational teams. Conference organizers consistently report that Cheryl’s blend of empathy, accountability, humor, and tactical insights creates lasting impact well beyond the event day.

Cheryl Cran brings:

• Over 25 years of proven leadership consulting with Fortune 500 companies and high-growth organizations
• The #1 Future of Work Influencer ranking by Onalytica and top 10 expert recognition by GoCatalant
• Author expertise with 10 published books including “Super.Crucial.Human” and bestselling “NextMapping”
• Featured thought leadership in Fast Company, Forbes, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, and major media
• Proprietary NextMapping™ methodology that transforms abstract future trends into executable leadership strategies

Featured In: Forbes, Fast Company, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, CBS, NBC

Ask about Cheryl Cran for your event

Biography

Future of Work Pioneer and Innovation Catalyst

Cheryl Cran founded NextMapping™ and parent company Synthesis at Work Inc. building it into one of North America’s leading future of work consultancies over 25+ years. Through NextMapping™, she has developed proprietary frameworks that help leaders move from reactive change management to proactive future creation, serving clients from Fortune 500 companies to fast-growing mid-market organizations.

What distinguishes Cheryl’s approach is her “people-first, digital-second” philosophy. Backed by extensive research on AI, robotics, and automation’s workplace impact, she demonstrates how human creativity, adaptability, and emotional intelligence become more valuable in automated environments. This perspective has positioned her as a trusted advisor to organizations navigating the intersection of human potential and technological advancement.

Award-Winning Author and Thought Leader

As author of 10 books on leadership and workplace transformation, Cheryl Cran has created essential roadmaps for modern leaders. Her latest work, “Super.Crucial.Human,” outlines the four critical human skills needed to thrive in the AI era. Her bestselling “NextMapping: Anticipate, Navigate and Create The Future of Work” addresses change acceleration and the reality that 40% of today’s Fortune 500 companies will not exist in ten years.

Additional titles including “The Art of Change Leadership: Driving Transformation in a Fast-Paced World” and “101 Ways to Make Generations X, Y and Zoomers Happy at Work” have established Cheryl as a definitive voice on multigenerational leadership. Her thought leadership has been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, Reader’s Digest, CBS Online, NBC Online, and Fox Online.

Hall of Fame Keynote Speaker with Global Impact

Recognized as a Hall of Fame Keynote Speaker, Cheryl Cran has delivered hundreds of presentations across more than a dozen countries. Her keynote style combines dynamic delivery with sophisticated audience engagement including pre-event surveys, live polling, interactive text messaging, and multimedia elements that create memorable experiences whether delivered virtually, in-person, or pre-recorded.

Client testimonials consistently highlight Cheryl’s meticulous customization process and her “uncanny intuition” for reading audiences and adapting in real-time. This collaborative approach has earned praise from the Dental Trade Alliance, California State University, Simon Fraser University, credit union leadership summits, and Fortune 500 annual conferences—creating both immediate engagement and long-term behavior change.

Keynote Topics

The Future Is Human: Essential Skills for the AI Era

NextMapping: Anticipate, Navigate and Create the Future of Work

The Art of Change Leadership: How to Flex in Flux

Building Future-Ready Teams: Innovation, Collaboration and Agility

Recruiting and Retaining Top Talent in the Age of Robotics

Testimonials for Cheryl Cran – What People Are Saying

“Cheryl was the keynote speaker at our annual summit in Toronto. After a tumultuous year of unprecedented challenges with labour, inflation and the changing work environment, Cheryl’s insights were both reassuring and eye-opening. Her ability to connect with the audience and make stories relatable and actionable was terrific.”
— Leadership Summit, Toronto

“We have booked Cheryl multiple times and she is always a huge hit. Her ability to intuitively link what the audience is looking for with what we shared on our customization calls is uncanny. Our group loves her interactive polling, humor and her ability to inspire the audience to learn, grow and change.”
— Annual Conference Client

“Cheryl was the perfect fit for our Futures Summit—we have a highly discerning group of credit union leaders who pride themselves on being on the leading edge AND Cheryl challenged them to think even more creatively and build future strategies based on fast changing realities in financial services.”
— Credit Union Futures Summit

Books by Cheryl Cran

Super.Crucial.Human – The four essential human skills for thriving in an AI-driven world
NextMapping: Anticipate, Navigate and Create The Future of Work – Bestselling guide to proactive workplace transformation
The Art of Change Leadership: Driving Transformation in a Fast-Paced World
Leadership Mastery in the Digital Age – Essential leadership skills for technology-driven environments
101 Ways to Make Generations X, Y and Zoomers Happy at Work – Practical multigenerational leadership strategies
• Plus five additional titles on business strategy and leadership excellence

Topics

Leadership | Future of Work | Change Management | Innovation | AI and Automation | Workplace Transformation | Multigenerational Teams | Digital Leadership | Organizational Culture | Talent Retention | Team Building | Creativity | Peak Performance | Business Strategy

Request Cheryl Cran for your event

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.’

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes Cheryl Cran different from other future of work speakers?

Cheryl combines 25+ years of hands-on leadership consulting with rigorous future of work research and the proprietary NextMapping™ methodology. Unlike futurists who only share trends, Cheryl is a pragmatic optimist who provides actionable frameworks, models, and tools that leaders implement immediately. Her “consultative keynote” approach—including pre-event surveys and customized content—ensures relevance to each organization’s specific challenges and goals.

How does Cheryl customize her presentations for different industries?

Cheryl’s preparation process includes an in-depth customization call with event organizers to understand goals and expected outcomes, anonymous pre-event surveys gathering audience insights, review of organizational materials including mission/vision/values, and integration of audience data and industry-specific trends into her presentation. This results in keynotes that feel personally tailored rather than generic.

What technology requirements does Cheryl need for events?

Cheryl brings her own laptop with presentation loaded and all necessary adaptors. For in-person events, she arrives 90 minutes early or the night before for AV tech checks and prefers a confidence monitor. For virtual events, she logs on one hour prior to start time and conducts rehearsal calls. She uses interactive polling and text messaging features that require basic internet connectivity for audience participation. Her team provides detailed AV specifications during planning discussions.

Does Cheryl offer post-keynote resources or follow-up?

Yes, Cheryl provides post-keynote tools and resources designed to ensure the message “sticks” beyond the event. Organizations receive actionable frameworks, model summaries, and implementation guides that leaders can reference when applying keynote insights to their specific workplace challenges. Her consultative approach extends throughout the entire engagement to maximize lasting impact.

Is Cheryl available for virtual, hybrid, or in-person events?

Cheryl delivers high-impact keynotes in all formats: in-person, virtual, hybrid, and pre-recorded. Her virtual presentations feature the same production value, energy, and interactive elements as in-person events, utilizing polling, breakout discussions, and chat engagement to create connection despite physical distance. Her in-studio virtual setup ensures broadcast-quality visuals and audio.