Member since March 2022
Cheryl Haynes, CEC, SPHR, CFP, is a certified executive coach and organizational effectiveness consultant with over 25 years of leadership and coaching experience. A Certified Foresight Practitioner, Cheryl blends strategic foresight, emotional intelligence, and time-tested leadership principles to help clients navigate complexity and lead with clarity.
Before launching her firm, AchieveMentor LLC, Cheryl held senior HR leadership roles at State Street Bank, MetLife, CVS Health, Citizens Financial Group, and Blue Hills Bank, where she served as Senior Vice President and HR Director. Her background spans strategic workforce design, operational excellence, leadership development, and inclusive team effectiveness.
Cheryl supports clients across sectors—including finance, healthcare, government, and nonprofit—through executive coaching, immersive leadership development programs, and strategic offsites. She is also a dynamic speaker on topics such as Strategic Capacity, Work-Life Integration, Emotional Intelligence, and Future-Ready Leadership.
She is the author of Adaptive Advantage, a biweekly LinkedIn newsletter for forward-thinking leaders navigating today’s volatile world. Her core belief: leadership is an inner game first—and investing your time (rather than spending it) is a powerful mindset for transformation.
Cheryl holds a Master of Science in Human Resource Counseling from Northeastern University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Bryant University.
My passion is helping leaders unlock their full capacity to lead boldly, inclusively, and with purpose. As a speaker, certified executive coach, and certified foresight practitioner, I empower executives to not only develop and sponsor diverse talent—but to build future-ready cultures where innovation, authenticity, and equity can thrive.
I’m especially driven to support high-potential women in exploring the big, bold, and sometimes scary professional dreams they’ve shelved for too long. Through my work—on stage, in coaching conversations, and through my newsletter Adaptive Advantage—I challenge the status quo and help leaders invest their time with intention, not just spend it by default.
Whether I’m guiding CHROs through reinvention, helping emerging leaders reclaim their strategic capacity, or sparking mindset shifts around inclusive leadership, my goal remains the same: to ensure no woman leaves this earth without fully leveraging her unique gifts—and no organization misses the opportunity to grow because it failed to listen to her voice.
One of my most meaningful moments as a speaker came after a breakout session for a women’s leadership conference. The topic was Step Into Your Power for Work Life Integration. Two women approached me, each holding something personal they had been carrying quietly. One shared how the session shifted her mindset around meetings. She realized she’d been spending her energy in rooms that didn’t advance her visibility or impact. My takeaway about intentionally investing your time, especially in spaces where you’re positioned to contribute and be seen, gave her the permission to advocate for herself differently.
The other woman thanked me for what I said about motherhood: that being vulnerable with our daughters during hard times isn’t weakness—it’s modeling resilience. She shared that she often hid her struggles, thinking that was strength, but now saw the power of letting her daughter witness her grit.
That’s why I do this work. It’s not just about inspiration—it’s about real transformation. One shift in mindset can change a career. One moment of truth can shape the next generation.
As someone who has lived the journey of finding her voice and claiming space to lead a more aligned, values-driven life, I understand the realities leaders face in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world. I’ve seen those challenges up close — both as a former CHRO and now as a coach and advisor guiding others through high-stakes decisions, reinvention, and strategic growth.
My own pivot came at midlife, when I stepped out of the C-suite and into the entrepreneurial space of executive coaching, speaking, and strategic foresight. I didn’t just change careers — I redefined success on my own terms. With decades of leadership experience behind me and no guaranteed path ahead, I said yes to a future that felt more purposeful, more courageous, and more human.
Today, I help leaders navigate complexity, unlock clarity, and lead with intention. My work blends emotional intelligence, foresight, and decision-making discipline to help individuals and teams thrive amid disruption. Whether I’m coaching, speaking, or writing, I center the belief that time is our most strategic asset — and how we invest it shapes everything that follows.
In today’s fast-moving, always-on workplace, leaders and teams are under increasing pressure to deliver more—with fewer resources and less time to think. The result? Overloaded calendars, fragmented attention, and decision fatigue that quietly erode your organization’s most critical asset: strategic capacity.
This dynamic session introduces the Strategic Capacity Reset, a high-impact framework designed to help leaders rethink how their time, talent, and attention are spent—and how to realign those resources with what actually drives value. Participants will explore the hidden costs of outdated workflows (like ineffective meetings and over reliance on urgency), and learn how to spot and shift the invisible habits that drain clarity, creativity, and leadership bandwidth.
Through engaging exercises and foresight-informed insights, attendees will leave with practical strategies to reduce cognitive overload, prioritize more effectively, and build space for deeper thinking and stronger decision-making.
his talk is ideal for mid- to senior-level leaders, people managers, HR professionals, and executive teams who are seeking to improve productivity, protect decision-making energy, and build future-ready teams in high-demand environments.
Imagine igniting your energy instead of draining it. Picture rewriting your childhood narrative, letting go of limiting beliefs and unleashing your full potential. Envision evicting the inner critic who whispers "shoulds" and crafting your own powerful story. Finally, think beyond "peak career" and charting a fulfilling next chapter. This workshop is your compass for navigating these journeys. We'll explore how your inner values fuel your fire, how past experiences shape your present, and how to ditch limiting narratives for the authentic you. Whether you're seeking a career spark or crafting a life beyond the summit, this session is your invitation to become your own inner hero.
This session provides a light-hearted approach to demystify the Four Decision-Making Styles. Attendees will learn how these styles influence our daily life and will leave with evidence-based strategies to wield the styles as powerful tools for making impactful decisions at work and in their everyday connections with loved ones.
Provides attendees with the opportunity to examine emotional intelligence as the lens through which we view the world and its impact on organizational innovation. This session will introduce two practical and effective approaches that attendees can use to disrupt group think and ignite the collective intelligence inherent in diverse teams.
This presentation provides attendees with approachable and actionable steps they can employ to encourage and create a workplace culture of compassionate inquiry and psychological safety. I-C-U is short for "I See You", which when effectively applied, takes into consideration the unique needs and aspirations of each member of your diverse workforce.
Target audience: HR executives and all leaders who wish to grow their inclusive leadership acumen.
One of my most meaningful moments as a speaker came after a breakout session for a women’s leadership conference. The topic was Step Into Your Power for Work Life Integration. Two women approached me, each holding something personal they had been carrying quietly. One shared how the session shifted her mindset around meetings. She realized she’d been spending her energy in rooms that didn’t advance her visibility or impact. My takeaway about intentionally investing your time, especially in spaces where you’re positioned to contribute and be seen, gave her the permission to advocate for herself differently.
The other woman thanked me for what I said about motherhood: that being vulnerable with our daughters during hard times isn’t weakness—it’s modeling resilience. She shared that she often hid her struggles, thinking that was strength, but now saw the power of letting her daughter witness her grit.
That’s why I do this work. It’s not just about inspiration—it’s about real transformation. One shift in mindset can change a career. One moment of truth can shape the next generation.
As someone who has lived the journey of finding her voice and claiming space to lead a more aligned, values-driven life, I understand the realities leaders face in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world. I’ve seen those challenges up close — both as a former CHRO and now as a coach and advisor guiding others through high-stakes decisions, reinvention, and strategic growth.
My own pivot came at midlife, when I stepped out of the C-suite and into the entrepreneurial space of executive coaching, speaking, and strategic foresight. I didn’t just change careers — I redefined success on my own terms. With decades of leadership experience behind me and no guaranteed path ahead, I said yes to a future that felt more purposeful, more courageous, and more human.
Today, I help leaders navigate complexity, unlock clarity, and lead with intention. My work blends emotional intelligence, foresight, and decision-making discipline to help individuals and teams thrive amid disruption. Whether I’m coaching, speaking, or writing, I center the belief that time is our most strategic asset — and how we invest it shapes everything that follows.
In today’s fast-moving, always-on workplace, leaders and teams are under increasing pressure to deliver more—with fewer resources and less time to think. The result? Overloaded calendars, fragmented attention, and decision fatigue that quietly erode your organization’s most critical asset: strategic capacity.
This dynamic session introduces the Strategic Capacity Reset, a high-impact framework designed to help leaders rethink how their time, talent, and attention are spent—and how to realign those resources with what actually drives value. Participants will explore the hidden costs of outdated workflows (like ineffective meetings and over reliance on urgency), and learn how to spot and shift the invisible habits that drain clarity, creativity, and leadership bandwidth.
Through engaging exercises and foresight-informed insights, attendees will leave with practical strategies to reduce cognitive overload, prioritize more effectively, and build space for deeper thinking and stronger decision-making.
his talk is ideal for mid- to senior-level leaders, people managers, HR professionals, and executive teams who are seeking to improve productivity, protect decision-making energy, and build future-ready teams in high-demand environments.
Imagine igniting your energy instead of draining it. Picture rewriting your childhood narrative, letting go of limiting beliefs and unleashing your full potential. Envision evicting the inner critic who whispers "shoulds" and crafting your own powerful story. Finally, think beyond "peak career" and charting a fulfilling next chapter. This workshop is your compass for navigating these journeys. We'll explore how your inner values fuel your fire, how past experiences shape your present, and how to ditch limiting narratives for the authentic you. Whether you're seeking a career spark or crafting a life beyond the summit, this session is your invitation to become your own inner hero.
This session provides a light-hearted approach to demystify the Four Decision-Making Styles. Attendees will learn how these styles influence our daily life and will leave with evidence-based strategies to wield the styles as powerful tools for making impactful decisions at work and in their everyday connections with loved ones.
Provides attendees with the opportunity to examine emotional intelligence as the lens through which we view the world and its impact on organizational innovation. This session will introduce two practical and effective approaches that attendees can use to disrupt group think and ignite the collective intelligence inherent in diverse teams.
This presentation provides attendees with approachable and actionable steps they can employ to encourage and create a workplace culture of compassionate inquiry and psychological safety. I-C-U is short for "I See You", which when effectively applied, takes into consideration the unique needs and aspirations of each member of your diverse workforce.
Target audience: HR executives and all leaders who wish to grow their inclusive leadership acumen.
