Cheryl Cran

  • Future of Work Expert
  • Founder, NextMapping™ | NextMapping.com
  • CEO, Synthesis at Work Inc.
  • Bestselling Author and Host, 'NextNow' Podcast

Twenty-plus years of working with leaders at the leading edge of change led to one clarifying insight: the future doesn’t reward those who resist flux — it belongs to those who flex and flow through it. That insight is the foundation of everything Cheryl does today. Cheryl Cran is a future of work change leadership expert, keynote speaker, and author with over twenty years of experience helping leaders and organizations lead change with clarity, energy and inspired action. She is the author of eleven books, including Super.Crucial.Human, The Art of Change Leadership and What the Flux? 44 Questions To Help You Flex and Flow Cheryl has spoken on hundreds of stages worldwide and has been recognized as #1 in Future of Work by Onalytica and Top 10 by GoCatalant.Her work centers on Flux, Flex, and Flow — helping leaders build human adaptability, increased discernment, and next level performance in an era of constant disruption and change

 


Cheryl Cran headshot
Past Hosts Include:
  • Alberta Central
  • Project Management Institute
  • Dental Trade Alliance
  • Bimbo Canada Bread
  • Alera Group
  • Community Futures
  • Minto Group
  • CIO Association of Canada
  • Fairstone
  • Beacon Health System
Rave Reviews About Cheryl Cran
Dear Cheryl, On behalf of our entire team I want to extend our sincere thanks for your outstanding keynote presentation on "Flex - The Resilient Workplace” Your insights on adaptability, future readiness, and fostering resilience in today’s rapidly evolving workplace was not only insightful but incredibly inspiring. Your ability to connect with the audience, deliver actionable takeaways and spark meaningful conversation left a lasting impact. Thank you again for sharing your expertise with us - it was a pleasure having you as our keynote speaker we hope to collaborate again in the near future.

More rave reviews

"Cheryl Cran’s keynote was a major hit with our leaders – her keynote “The Future of Leadership” had it all – audience polling, trends research, usable strategies AND delivered with massive energy that kept everyone entertained and engaged throughout."

-Alberta Central

"Cheryl Cran was our event closing keynote speaker and our group was blown away! The energy, research and remarkable insights really resonated with the audience, expanding their perspectives about the now and future of work. We also engaged Cheryl to facilitate a panel to follow her keynote, with three local business leaders – her warm, engaging style along with her ability to adapt, quickly made for a dynamic panel dialogue that really brought some earlier topics to life. Thank you, Cheryl, for making our event remarkable."

-Project Management Institute

"If you are looking for a workforce expert to speak at your next meeting, look no further! Cheryl Cran is wonderful to work with and provides an energetic and inspirational session your teams won’t want to miss!"

-Dental Trade Alliance

"Cheryl was the keynote speaker at our annual summit in Toronto and shared her thoughts on “The Future of Work” with 170 of our leaders. After a tumultuous year of unprecedented challenges with labour, inflation and the changing work environment, Cheryl’s insights and perspectives were both reassuring that we’re not alone and eye-opening in terms of how to tackle issues that aren’t going away anytime soon. Her ability to connect with the audience and make stories relatable and actionable was terrific. Cheryl’s keynote set the stage for two days of learning and inspiration for our leaders on how to embrace the future with confidence, resilience and conviction that we can win in business and in the hearts and minds of our associates."

-Bimbo Canada Bread

"Thank you Cheryl! Your closing keynote for our Raising The Bar conference in Orlando was spot on. Our leaders gained immense value from your strategic insights on how to leverage collaboration for greater success. The ‘me to we’ model provided all of us with a framework to self assess and improve our leadership abilities. We loved your interactive style of texting and polling with the group – we were engaged! You definitely helped us ‘raise the bar’!"

-Alera Group

"Cheryl, we want to thank you again for such a fantastic afternoon. Keynote speaking is an art form, and you have mastered it with your ability to inspire, inform, and captivate the audience. Sitting at the back of the room, I saw a sea of heads taking notes, completely enthralled, which was so great to see—The afternoon was an experience that will stay with many for a while afterward. Feedback from those we have heard from has been nothing but positive, and I’m awaiting similar replies once attendees fill out the post-event survey. Thank you for being so personable, and I hope to connect again in the future. We will be watching your journey and cheering you on from the sidelines!"

-Community Futures

"The event was incredible on Tuesday, as Cheryl was very engaging and promoted great discussion! The team really enjoyed her keynote and some of the tools she showcased. We couldn’t have asked for a greater way to bring the team together on a day 1 of our meeting!"

-Minto Group

"On behalf of the Board of Directors and the entire CIOCAN Team, thank you for contributing your time, insight, and expertise to this year’s CIO Peer Forum in Vancouver. With over 270 attendees, it was our most successful forum yet, and your thought leadership played a major role in that success. I don’t always have the opportunity to sit in on all the sessions, fortunately I was present for yours and saw how you both connected with our audience. Your style, content and presence resonated with our community! If you would like to extend your PPT presentation to our community, we’ll be happy to share. We’re grateful for partners like you who help strengthen the CIO Association of Canada and support our mission to connect IT leaders, share best practices, and foster executive development across the country. Thank you again for being part of this milestone event."

-CIO Association of Canada

"I’m happy to report that Cheryl Cran was a huge success as our inspirational speaker. We’ve had a lot of positive feedback on her content and on they way she delivered it as well. She was knowledgeable, engaging and really kept the crowd engaged the whole way through. I loved the effects and technology from her virtual studio and taking in comments and questions live – it made the session so much more personalized."

-Fairstone
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Podcast Premiere - The Future of All Things | NextNow Podcast With Cheryl Cran [11:04] - Get Sharable Link
Talks & Conversations with Cheryl Cran
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What The Flux? Lead Change Through Uncertainty: How to lead change when nothing feels certain anymore

How to lead change when nothing feels certain anymore When everything happening in the world, at work, and in our personal lives makes us ask,“What the…?” — it’s a sign we’re trying to make sense of chaos in real time. Nothing seems clear anymore. It’s harder to know what’s real, what’s AI-generated ...

How to lead change when nothing feels certain anymore

When everything happening in the world, at work, and in our personal lives makes us ask, “What the…?” — it’s a sign we’re trying to make sense of chaos in real time.

Nothing seems clear anymore. It’s harder to know what’s real, what’s AI-generated, and how to trust our own judgment.

World events, economic uncertainty, AI acceleration, workforce fatigue, and personal stressors are colliding — leaving leaders and teams overwhelmed, reactive, and exhausted.

This keynote reframes disruption as a deeply human experience and offers profound ways to meet change with hope, inspiration, and clarity that leads to meaningful action.

The audience will leave with: 

  • A new way to understand change as a human state, not a series of circumstances — shifting from resistance and anxiety to resilient adaptability and deep empowerment
  • Practical ideas and tools to stay centered, focused, and effective amid uncertainty, pressure, and competing demands
  • A powerful model to make sense of ongoing change challenges by asking better questions of ourselves and others — questions that cut through illusion and lead directly to truth and solutions
  • Insight into how AI, market shifts, and social change are impacting people emotionally, and how to consciously leverage emotional intelligence during these times
  • Renewed energy to lead — and live — with optimism, clarity, and faith in the future

The Future is Flex: How Human Adaptability Will Define the Future in an Age of AI, Complexity, and Continuous Change

In a world of rapid transformation, strategy alone isn’t enough. The true differentiator is human adaptability — the ability to respond, recalibrate, and stay relevant without losing trust, purpose, or wellbeing. This keynote shows why flexibility is the future-ready core leadership trait and organi ...

In a world of rapid transformation, strategy alone isn’t enough. The true differentiator is human adaptability — the ability to respond, recalibrate, and stay relevant without losing trust, purpose, or wellbeing.

This keynote shows why flexibility is the future-ready core leadership trait and organizational capability — and how it can be consciously cultivated.

Audiences will leave with

  • Research-backed insight confirming why adaptability is the most critical leadership skill today.
  • Practical ways to reduce resistance, fear, and rigidity during transformation and change initiative.
  • Clear understanding of how AI can be leveraged and optimized to free humans for higher-value, human-to-human collaboration.
  • Tools to help teams move from control and certainty-seeking to trust, discernment, and responsive decision-making.
  • A mindset model that supports both increased wellbeing and personal performance in fast-changing environments.

The Power of Flow - Create Ease and Alignment In Life & Work: Leading and Working at Your Best In a World That Never Slows Down

Most leaders and teams are operating in a constant state of push — trying to do more, move faster, and keep up in systems that never seem to pause. The result isn’t higher performance; it’s change fatigue, fragmentation, and overwhelmed leaders and teams. This keynote reframes flow as a practical, s ...

Most leaders and teams are operating in a constant state of push — trying to do more, move faster, and keep up in systems that never seem to pause. The result isn’t higher performance; it’s change fatigue, fragmentation, and overwhelmed leaders and teams. 

This keynote reframes flow as a practical, strategic advantage — showing how alignment, clarity, and energy intelligence create sustainable results without burnout or over-effort.

Unlike resilience or stress-management talks that focus on coping, this keynote focuses on resourcing ourselves and aligning with flow strategies.

Audiences will leave with: 

  • A clear understanding of flow in how we structure our work and personally structure our energy for optimal outputs
  • Insight into energy intelligence and hot to leverage it to increase our ability to enhance focus, creativity, and decision-making
  • Practical ways leaders can empower teams to self-resource, and create outstanding results
  • Ideas to support mutual accountability, increased engagement, and next level collaboration
  • A new lens on hustle culture that helps us to prioritize alignment, clarity, and long-term effectiveness

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Create an extraordinary meeting experience with Cheryl Cran

Named as a #1 future of work influencer, CHERYL CRAN delivers true value to leaders and teams by helping them transform their thinking from linear to creative and drive innovation for themselves and for their company. Cheryl has built a reputation over two decades 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. Her clients describe her as ‘the best’ at providing context and solutions for a fast changing future in a vibrant and interactive keynote speech delivery style. Her approach as an innovation, leadership and creativity keynote speaker includes gathering audience data, and integrating data into a customized keynote as well as real time interaction during the keynote. Cheryl consistently receives rave reviews: "Cheryl’s keynote dynamic and was right on the money...We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to others." (International Salon Spa Business Network); "Cheryl’s opening keynote started our conference off with huge energy." (Association of Government Accountants); "Cheryl didn’t just talk about the future and trends she actually gave us the change leadership tools to create our next level of success." (Fike) 

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Books by Cheryl Cran
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Biography

We are living in a time of flux — ongoing disruption, uncertainty, and accelerated change. Leaders and teams today are navigating economic volatility, technological transformation, identity shifts, and rising pressure to deliver results while supporting human wellbeing. These times call for more than strategy alone. They call for discernment, adaptability, and the capacity to lead through change with clarity, energy and empowered action.

Cheryl Cran has spent over twenty years working at the intersection of leadership, change, and the future of life and work. 

Long before founding her consulting practice in 2000, Cheryl built her leadership foundation inside complex, highly regulated environments. She spent a decade in senior leadership roles in the financial sector, including insurance and credit unions, where she led multi-million-dollar operations and navigated high-stakes decision-making, performance pressure, and continuous change. These experiences gave her a deep, firsthand understanding of leadership from the inside — balancing results with the human realities of work.

For more than two decades, Cheryl has worked with leaders, teams, and organizations globally, helping them anticipate change, build resilience, and adapt with confidence. Known for her future-oriented perspective, Cheryl has a unique ability to identify emerging patterns early and translate them into practical, human-centered strategies that prepare people and organizations for what’s next. 

She is the author of eleven books, including Super.Crucial.Human, The Art of Change Leadership, and her most recent work, What the Flux? 44 Questions To Help You Flex to Flow. This latest book reflects an evolution in her work — moving beyond frameworks to address the deeper questions individuals and leaders are grappling with today: uncertainty, meaning, identity, and what it truly takes to humanly lead in an era of constant change. 

Cheryl has spoken on stages across North America and internationally to audiences sizes ranging from small and intimate to thousands. Her strength lies not only in insight, but in her ability to meet audiences where they are — addressing the real challenges leaders and teams are experiencing beneath the surface.

Her work has been recognized globally.  Named #1 in Future of Work by Onalytica, ranked Top 10 in Future of Work by GoCatalant, and featured in media including CIO Magazine,Forbes, CNBC, and Fast Company. 

Her clients include organizations such as Beacon Health, Fairstone, Amazon, Upwork, Bell, Gartner, BMO, and RE/MAX.

Today, Cheryl’s work is anchored in three integrated leadership capacities:

Flux — understanding and navigating uncertainty, disruption, grief, identity shifts, AI, and the growing challenge of discernment in a rapidly changing world.

Flex — building human adaptability, resilience, and the leadership capability to respond wisely under pressure.

Flow — integrating the whole human system — clarity, energy, insight, and action — to lead with agility, creativity and an integrated approach that leads to stellar outcomes. 

Cheryl’s work helps leaders and organizations move beyond reaction into intentional leadership — transforming disruptions into clarity, challenges into learnings, and changes into opportunity.