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women in business series
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women in business series *
Now or Never: Unleashing Your Power in the Present
In this energizing and liberating keynote, Dr. Cynthia Bentzen-Mercer challenges high-performing professionals to stop drifting through their careers and start intentionally designing what’s next. Based on her signature Now, Near, Next framework and years of global research, this keynote is a bold invitation to reclaim control, reignite purpose, and remove guilt from ambition.
Grounded in over 900 years of collective experience from interviews and surveys across four countries, Dr. Cynthia reveals a universal truth: restlessness is the byproduct of un-actualized potential. And the most powerful lever to reverse that? Intentionality.
In a world that rewards performance but often neglects purpose, this keynote is a rally cry for unapologetic, guilt-free investment in yourself.
Participants will learn to:
Take charge of what they say yes to—and what they let go of
Reveal their zeal by aligning talent with opportunity
Reclaim self-agency and create a strategic, purpose-driven career path
Dr. Cynthia introduces her A.C.E.S. Talent Model to help participants identify their most energizing strengths and understand how to align those talents with roles that truly fit. As she says, “Careers, like shoes, may look good on the outside but cause pain if they don’t fit.”
This keynote is perfect for leaders, rising professionals, and organizations ready to retain talent by supporting career clarity, purpose alignment, and long-term growth.
Dr. Cynthia’s message is clear: No more shrinking to fit. It’s time to step fully into who you are—and where you’re meant to go.
Unleash Your Potential: Strategies for Embracing the Journey to Your Next
In this empowering and actionable keynote, Dr. Cynthia Bentzen-Mercer invites high-achieving professionals to step off the hamster wheel of “busy” and into the clarity of intentional career design. Drawing from her internationally recognized Now, Near, Next framework, she helps attendees unlock the mindset, structure, and self-agency needed to move from restlessness to realization.
Grounded in global patterns and personal truth, Dr. Cynthia addresses a common and deeply human problem: restlessness born from un-actualization. She introduces a proven path forward—rooted in intentionality—that allows individuals to start working on their future today.
Participants will learn to:
Energize their self-agency to reclaim momentum
Ignite intentionality to move from confusion to clarity
Actualize their potential with a structured, aspirational plan for what’s next
The keynote also explores the Basecamp model of resilience, helping attendees prepare for life’s storms while continuing to move forward. With humor, heart, and practical takeaways, Dr. Cynthia reminds us that while we can’t control every twist in the road, we can become the architect of our journey.
Whether you’re stuck, soaring, or somewhere in between, this session delivers a liberating message: You can love your life and still long for more—and you’re allowed to go after it.
Forward Momentum: Navigating Your Future with Intention
In this inspiring and data-informed keynote, Dr. Cynthia Bentzen-Mercer guides high-achieving professionals through the powerful intersection of purpose, talent, and intentionality. Through her signature Now, Near, Next framework, she helps women reconnect with their core values, reignite their ambition, and reclaim agency over their future.
Built on extensive research—including 30+ interviews across four countries and over 300 surveyed women—this session reveals a common thread across backgrounds and experiences: restlessness caused by un-actualization. Dr. Cynthia’s message is clear: success without fulfillment is not sustainable.
The solution? Intentionality. When paired with self-awareness and clarity of purpose, intentional action becomes the most controllable and catalytic force in shaping the future.
Participants will learn to:
Proclaim their purpose through aligned values, mission, and vision
Align their talents with roles that amplify their strengths
Ignite forward momentum by architecting their personal career strategy
The session highlights Dr. Cynthia’s A.C.E.S. Talent Model to inform career decisions and energize fulfillment. She also explores the critical difference between room for improvement and potential to improve, encouraging a shift toward leveraging innate talent rather than constantly addressing perceived weaknesses.
This keynote is a clarion call for professional women to stop waiting for permission, stop managing burnout, and start designing a future aligned with who they are and who they’re becoming.
Intentional Allyship: Start Investing in HER Future Today
In this powerful and research-backed keynote, Dr. Cynthia Bentzen-Mercer challenges leaders to move beyond passive support and into active, intentional sponsorship of women in the workplace. Grounded in extensive global research—including voices from over 300 women and 34 executive male allies—this session equips attendees with the awareness, tools, and conviction to become transformational sponsors.
Dr. Cynthia explores the real costs—both personal and organizational—of missed opportunities to sponsor high-potential women, revealing how un-actualized talent leads to attrition, stalled leadership pipelines, and untapped performance.
Participants will learn to:
Activate the four core principles of intentional allyship: Curiosity, Courage, Conviction, and Connectedness
Apply the A.C.E.S. Talent Framework to uncover and amplify the natural talents of those they sponsor
Move beyond mentorship to true sponsorship, leveraging influence and modeling inclusive leadership
This session reframes sponsorship as a strategic leadership practice—one that drives business performance, enhances team culture, and creates lasting equity.
Allyship is not a title—it’s a daily choice. This keynote ensures that choice becomes part of your leadership legacy.
leadership series
Level Up: Growing Potential & Optimizing Talent
In this high-impact keynote, Dr. Cynthia Bentzen-Mercer delivers a call to action for leaders and organizations ready to unlock the full value of their human capital. With a clear-eyed view of today’s performance pressures and talent shortages, she offers a practical roadmap to grow what matters most: potential.
Whether you're in healthcare, manufacturing, technology, or beyond, one truth remains constant—talent is the only sustainable competitive advantage. And yet, many organizations struggle to move beyond performance reviews and outdated succession models to truly cultivate and invest in their people.
This keynote introduces Dr. Cynthia’s proven Accounting of Human Capital framework, a powerful tool that help leaders:
Distinguish between top performers, strong potentials, and miscast talent
Align talent with roles that ignite energy and maximize impact
Predict future success using validated, evidence-based talent indicators
Dr. Cynthia’s message is both strategic and personal: Great talent isn’t just found—it’s fueled. And when you level up the people inside your organization, you level up everything else.
Ideal for leadership conferences focused on team and organizational excellence.
Cultivating Your Human Capital Portfolio: Adding Science to Your Gut
In this compelling continuation of the Human Capital Investment Strategy (HCIS), Dr. Cynthia Bentzen-Mercer invites leaders to break free from outdated, one-size-fits-all leadership models and instead adopt an approach that mirrors how the most successful investors manage portfolios: through precision, probability, and purposeful allocation.
Building on the foundation of human capital as an appreciating asset, this keynote focuses on two advanced pillars of the HCIS framework: Align Allocation and Leverage Probability.
Through captivating storytelling, Dr. Cynthia illustrates how unrealized potential lies where others fail to look. The leaders who generate the highest returns are the ones who learn to see differently—and invest accordingly.
Participants will explore:
Why “fair” doesn’t always mean “equal” in leadership
How to recognize and invest in high-potential outliers
What happens when we stop managing for ease and start leading for impact
How to embed predictive assessments into hiring, promotion, and development decisions
Because in human capital—as in all high-value investing—the greatest returns often come from what others overlook.
Ideal for executive, leadership, and future-of-work conferences.
Bench Strength & Blind Spots: What Every Leader Should Be Asking (But isn’t)
In this eye-opening keynote, Dr. Cynthia Bentzen-Mercer walks leaders through two of the most overlooked—and most critical—disciplines of strategic workforce planning: portfolio assessment and risk stratification. When applied correctly, these practices become the organizational equivalent of reading your future balance sheet.
Through the Human Capital Investment Strategy (HCIS) framework, Dr. Cynthia challenges leaders to move beyond general impressions and gut feelings to quantitatively and qualitatively measure the strength of their Human Capital Portfolio (HCP). Because in today’s unpredictable labor market, clarity is your best defense—and your greatest advantage.
Participants will learn:
How to map talent across performance and potential to build a true HCP view
Why many organizations fear insight more than ignorance—and how to reverse that mindset
How to stratify human capital risk to inform leadership transitions, innovation pipelines, and business continuity
Because ignoring your human capital risk doesn’t eliminate it—it just compounds it.
Ideal for executive, leadership, and future-of-work conferences.
Leading Affective Change: Moving from Compliance to Commitment
In this practical and energizing keynote, Dr. Cynthia Bentzen-Mercer confronts the reality behind failed change efforts—and delivers a blueprint for making change stick. Drawing on decades of research and real-world experience, she reframes change management from a top-down task to a collective, human-centered journey that connects hearts and minds.
Most change initiatives fail—not because the strategy is wrong, but because the people experience is ignored. Through the lens of Hai Hospitality’s evolving culture, Dr. Cynthia helps leaders and teams shift from simply effecting change to affecting it—deeply, intentionally, and sustainably.
Participants will learn to:
Identify the most common reasons change fails
Apply change principles and understand key stakeholder reactions
Build a Change Management Plan that includes executive sponsorship, role-based impact analysis, stakeholder engagement, reinforcement, and feedback loops
Using specific examples and actionable frameworks, Dr. Cynthia outlines how sustainable change isn’t a leadership mandate—it’s a team sport. Because in the end, the true affect of change is in your hands.
Ideal for leadership conferences focused on team and organizational excellence.