Cheryl Cran is a self confessed positive control freak, “bold” leadership expert, Gen X/Baby Boomer “cusper” with three Gen Y kids and is an internationally renowned professional keynote speaker. Her latest book, The Control Freak Revolution examines the positive and negative aspects of controlling tendencies and illustrates how to use positive control to achieve positive results.
As an in-demand speaker, best-selling author and sought after consultant, Cheryl draws on her years of unique corporate and entrepreneurial success to help leaders and their teams create outstanding results for modern workplaces with techniques such as:
- Using positive control to get the outcomes you want
- Using bold leadership to build a workplace of choice
- Using leadership skills that capitalize on the strengths of different generations
- Developing consistent communication practices to simplify team synergy
Cheryl has first hand knowledge of the effects of positive control and bold leadership and the perspectives of different generations in the workplace. She continually invests in on-going research on leadership, communication and leading multiple generations as a team.
She is an intuitive speaker who connects with audiences, understands their challenges and provides realistic, practical ideas to increase success in the workplace.
Cheryl passionately feels that we all need to take positive control and reset our comfort zones. Satisfied clients, co-workers and family members will tell you that Cheryl is one of those rare people who will tell you the absolute truth and you love her for it. Clients refer to Cheryl as “a relationship builder,” “a true entrepreneur,” “highly creative,” and “a kick-butt but lovable female.”
She “walks the walk” when she speaks about positive control as a leader, but stresses that positive control does not mean “aggressive,” and that humor can be an extremely powerful leadership tool. Her unique ability to foresee trends and determine a proactive course for future business and personal success creates outstanding results.
Cheryl credits her bold approach and success in part to her upbringing- she was raised on a farm, where her “no-excuses” Dad instilled the merits of hard work and risk taking, and stressed that there was no such thing as “can’t.”
Her take control style resulted in her first leadership position in banking at the age of 23. Cheryl got promoted due to her calm handling of a series of bank robberies - ten in total and two with shots fired. She handled herself under pressure well, but a few earnest bosses set her straight by telling her she “was like a bull in a china shop,” “needed people skills” and “should focus on the team.” Cheryl was grateful for this candid advice and went on to transform her abrupt style into a brand of leadership that was direct but emphasized respect and valuing contributions from every team member. Cheryl believes people can change!
Following phenomenal success working as a leader in the banking, mortgage, and insurance industries and also as an entrepreneur, Cheryl has been in-demand as a keynote speaker and consultant for over 14 years. She has worked with thousands of companies and associations including Astra Zeneca, KPMG, 3M, Johnson & Johnson, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Chevron.
Cheryl is a regular TV and radio guest with interviews on Fox’s The Mike and Juliet Show and The Fanny Kiefer Show;she has been featured in print media such as Profit Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Metro New York, The Globe and Mail, Selling Power Magazine, Small Business, and Builder Woman Magazine.
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FICP Interview with Diane Goodman
Speech Topics
Lead Gen X, Y and the Zoomers in Turbulent Times
This keynote is based on Cheryl’s soon to be released book, “Who Is REALLY in Control? 101 Ways to Make Generation X, Y and Z Happy at Work.”
A recent USA Today article asked Zoomers (Modern Boomers) if their retirement plans have changed due to the economy and the response was 41% intend to retire later than planned. This clearly indicates that generational communication in the workplace will be an area of opportunity for the next few decades.
Deciphering generational labels can be confusing, so it’s easy to see how clarity in the workplace can be a challenge when team members claim vastly different perspectives. Add to that the current turbulent work environment and you have an added challenge to navigate these times of massive change.
The future success of your organization is dependent on the people you have on board. A seasoned guide, Cheryl Cran, will show your team that, while differences of opinion are the rule, the gaps between their perspectives aren’t as large as they think. Using her trademark humor, relatable examples and interactive elements, Cheryl motivates business audiences by providing real-world techniques that equip your group to face the challenges of inter-generational communication in the workplace.
This keynote is designed to educate your group on generational traits and to provide everyone in your organization with the means to unite members of different generations in achieving extraordinary results. In it, Cheryl reveals how to lead and work effectively with coworkers of multiple generations and differing personalities.
Lead to Attract - Lead So They’ll Stay- Leadership for the Future
What is the one thing that leaders must do to succeed? Boldly look to the future!
Being bold is recognizing opportunities to evolve your team, move them forward and helping every individual to full personal accountability for their success. This energetic, forward thinking and candid program is designed to inspire focused, assertive action by leaders of all types and styles to prepare us for the exciting future workplace.
The fun of the keynote comes from Cheryl’s dynamic presentation, her pull-no-punches delivery and the infectious audience response. The content is filled with trends, case studies and practical tools for success, all guaranteed to provide value to your teams.
Whether or not you think you lead, it’s a fact that we all must demonstrate personal leadership. This keynote looks at everyday leadership decisions through a humorous yet practical lens and then provides steps to create greater success at work and in life.
Employees who are stifled with bland leadership aren’t likely to stick around for long. Cheryl’s bold and forward thinking leadership style encourages audiences to act with passion, conviction and confidence attracting similar people of action. Lead to attract them - lead so they stay!
Say What You Mean - Mean What You Say
- Communicate to Get Results
Welcome to the Communication Age. Thanks to the Internet, social media and email, everyone is on information overload.
The new currency is people skills and communication is cash. Advanced communication can mean the difference between having award-winning individual departments and having a Fortune 100 company.
Communication is often touted as a necessity by executives and leaders…and left at that. The reason the topic of communication surfaces repetitively is that, even though it is universally acknowledged as important, people don’t always communicate in the most effective ways.
Some of the communication challenges are a result of the following:
- Departments expand, companies grow larger and the number of functioning teams increases.
- Companies restructure and downsize and those left to deal with the changes struggle to regain footing within the new workplace
- Companies merge and get bought out, sowing confusion over who does what and who is responsible
- A “silo” mentality prevails and pretty soon, interdepartmental communication is fraught with excessive email threads, misunderstood objectives and garbled strategy.
Based on Cheryl’s bestselling book, Say What You Mean – Mean What You Say, this program highlights the personal benefits of solid communication to motivate personnel at all levels and provides proven communication techniques that audience members can use immediately.
Cheryl uses humorous personal anecdotes and energetic interactive elements in her presentation that keeps audiences of all levels laughing as they learn to increase productivity, achieve results and improve team efficiency at every level by utilizing advanced communication.
Effective communication begins with your ability to understand the position of the other party. Cheryl outlines a simple process to help members of diverse business units understand the unique challenges of people in differing project roles. She also provides ways in which to clearly convey your messages by speaking the “language” of another group, clearly identifying your motivations and intended consequences for all parties. Program attendees will learn:
- How to take control of relationship results by managing your personal communications
- How to use humor, self awareness and behavior cues as advanced communication tools
- How to leverage current communication skills to get consistent results with your teams
- How to use creative language techniques that move others towards positive solutions and help to create team synergy
- How to use communication to create new and innovative solutions
Attendees of Cheryl’s programs have fun while they learn to communicate effectively with actual members of another “silo,” people with different backgrounds, personalities and business cultures.
Take Positive Control of the Future!
What if you had a crystal ball? Cheryl Cran can help you see what the future holds, what the trends in the workplace are and what we need to do to take control of the future.
Based on Cheryl’s best-selling leadership book, The Control Freak Revolution: Make Your Most Maddening Behaviors Work for Your Company and to Your Advantage, this keynote shows how being a positive control freak is necessary in tough times.It motivates and teaches audiences to channel their passion for quality and performance into specific positive leadership techniques that prepare everyone for challenging times and the future ahead.
By utilizing positive control, leaders can influence coworkers and achieve results that would make their competitors envious. This keynote is fun, vibrant, full of content and puts a unique spin on positive controlled leadership skills. Cheryl steers audiences through humorous examples of why negative control leads to failure, and how harnessing positive control of the future can lead to a fun, funky brand of leadership that inspires others to follow.
Keynote: Finding and Keeping Good People
We are in a ‘war for talent.’
As we enter into an era of changing demographics, traditional sources of labor
are getting tighter. Rural companies have specific challenges: finding workers
who aren’t already working for another business in the community or finding
workers who are willing to work seasonal or part-time.
In this presentation, leadership expert Cheryl Cran will provide ideas and
strategies on how your company can find and keep good people. Attendees will
leave this session with:
- Creative ideas on how to maximize what we know about the different
generations and how to attract the best generation for the job - Where to find the right person for the job based on the needed skill set,
attitude and work requirements - How to create a referral network by word of mouth, technology and like
minded businesses - How to maximize the concept of ‘pooled talent’ and ‘shared talent’
- Strategies on how to keep the right people on board, to keep them
engaged and eager to work for you longer term or again in the future - 5 action steps they can use immediately to find and keep the right people
NOTE: Every attendee will be given access to a complimentary AND customized
e-book entitled “Farming Talent for the Future”
