Newsletter
Innovator profile
CC

Cheryl Cran

Future of work and change leadership speaker, coach and author; founder, NextMapping

Future of workChange leadershipAdaptability

Finance career and consulting practice

Before starting her own practice, Cheryl Cran spent a decade in senior leadership in the financial sector, including insurance and credit unions, where she ran multi-million-dollar operations[3]. An AICPA conference speaker biography says that after ten years she was recruited by a national financial insurance company to lead its regional portfolio[8]. She founded her consulting practice in 2000, and her current biography describes more than 20 years of work on leadership, change and the future of work[3].

Cran is the founder of NextMapping and the CEO of its parent company, Synthesis at Work Inc.[6][7]. NextMapping is the brand she developed for her work and research on the future of work and the leadership needed to manage change in the workplace[7]. Her speaker biographies describe her approach as "people first" and digital second[6][7]. Her biography lists Amazon, Upwork, Bell, Gartner, BMO and RE/MAX among her clients[3].

Books

Cran's website says she has written eleven books[2]. Earlier titles include NextMapping: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Create the Future of Work, The Art of Change Leadership: Driving Transformation in a Fast-Paced World (Wiley, 2015) and 101 Ways to Make Generations X, Y and Zoomers Happy at Work (2010)[6]. The AICPA biography also lists Leadership Mastery in a Digital Age[8].

Her book Super.Crucial.Human argues that the future requires more people, not fewer, and that continuing worker shortages mean more people need the skills to handle fast change[7]. It also argues that people need to become better humans to bring about what she calls a coming renaissance[7].

Her most recent book is What the Flux? 44 Questions To Help You Flex and Flow[3]. Her site describes it as a guide for people feeling the strain of constant change, built as a series of questions that move the reader from flux to flex to flow[4]. The site suggests using it as a journaling prompt set, a self-inquiry tool or a team coaching guide for leaders[4].

Current work: speaking, coaching and retreats

Cran's current work is organized around three themes: flux, which covers uncertainty, disruption, identity shifts and AI; flex, which covers adaptability and resilience; and flow, which covers clarity, energy, insight and action[3]. She gives keynotes for conferences and leadership events where audiences are dealing with change[1]. She also offers individual, leadership and group coaching, change leadership workshops online and in person, and in-house retreats for organizations going through major change[1]. Her website lists invitation-only in-home retreats on the Sunshine Coast[1].

She hosts The Cheryl Cran Podcast, which mixes solo episodes with guest conversations[5]. Its topics include the future of work and leadership, resilience, health and energy as leadership capacities, conscious leadership and the impact of AI[5]. An earlier speaker biography described a weekly podcast called NextNow on the future of being human and the future of work[7].

Recognition and media

Onalytica ranked Cran first among future of work influencers, and GoCatalant placed her in its top ten[3][7]. Her website says she has been featured in Forbes, CNBC, Fast Company and Reader's Digest[3]. She wrote for the recruiting publication ERE in 2019, with articles on freelancers and the future of work and on taking a people-first approach to digital transformation[6].

Known for

Sources

  1. Cheryl Cran: The Future is Flex (homepage) — checked 6 Nov 2026
  2. Cheryl Cran: About Cheryl — checked 6 Nov 2026
  3. Cheryl Cran: Full bio — checked 6 Nov 2026
  4. Cheryl Cran: What the Flux? — checked 6 Nov 2026
  5. Cheryl Cran: The Cheryl Cran Podcast — checked 6 Nov 2026
  6. ERE: author page, Cheryl Cran — checked 6 Nov 2026
  7. Foundry Events: speaker page, Cheryl Cran — checked 6 Nov 2026
  8. AICPA Conferences: speaker page, Cheryl Cran — checked 6 Nov 2026
Editorial profile compiled from public sources. Not an endorsement, and listing does not imply participation in this site. To correct or remove this profile, contact us.