A note from The Author on The CNKD Way

Courage - Necessity - Knowledge - Discernment

(Pronounced “synced”, as in “synchronized”)

The CNKD Way has been my bridge across fear.

When I have been on the edge of doing something great, where so many of us find ourselves, I have been gripped by fear, which causes so many of us to step back. Once, as I battled imposter syndrome while relaunching a venture, my partner, Nkosi, recited the following to me:

“I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

It was the “Litany Against Fear” of the Bene Gesserit (also known as "The Sisterhood") from Frank Herbert’s iconic science fiction novel and subsequent series, Dune.

According to Dune's “Terminology of the Imperium,” Bene Gesserit is “the ancient school of mental and physical training established primarily for female students after the Butlerian Jihad destroyed the so-called 'thinking machines' and robots.”

At the time, not being into sci-fi, I was clueless about the literary context and did not make the connection between Bene Gesserit and Mount Holyoke College, my alma mater (the first of the Seven Sisters, the trailblazing female equivalent to the formerly all-male Ivy League). Now, that link and the link between our Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Herbert's "thinking machines and robots" are glaring.

For a decade, the Litany itself is what stayed with me. Aggravatingly, so did questions like: How do we face our fear? How does it pass over us and through us?

I needed concrete answers, clear steps, a fail-proof mechanism for facing down and triumphing over fear. And in the intervening years, I found them. . .on The CNKD Way: the Way of Courage, Necessity, Knowledge and Discernment, traveled by countless great figures from the dawn of time, and still open to you and me now.

On this Way, using these four levers, we too can individually and collectively find our greatness. We can live better and do more unthwarted by fear, achieving our goals for ourselves, our loved ones, our organizations, our communities and the world.

Online and on stages worldwide, I share stories from individuals and organizations around the globe, as well as my own experience on the Way, to help you and yours live better and do more of what you truly desire; to help us all live better and do more of what we truly desire.

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Be enCouraged,

Cheryl Klufio writes, speaks, consults and hosts trainings on The CNKD Way™ (pronounced “synced”). Her framework enables leaders, teams and cohorts to achieve more using the four levers of Courage, Necessity, Knowledge and Discernment, essential in the age of AI and high-stakes decision-making.

Cheryl is a partner at Blue Horizons Partners LLC, a Blue Ocean Strategy-driven consultancy delivering transformative marketing and public relations as well as software engineering and systems architecture. She is also founder of RightlySaid LLC, a communications and public relations consultancy.

Prior Leadership Roles & Activities

A builder of powerful global and emerging personal, organizational and place brands, Cheryl has, among other roles, managed public and media relations at Harvard University; planned and executed marketing initiatives at Microsoft Corporation Global Headquarters; taught senior business executives and government officials in Spain; and written/ghostwritten and edited numerous items for Web and print publication.

She presented a paper at the Berlin International Economics Congress themed “The Future of Nation Branding, Tourism and International Investments in a Globalized World,” and continues to engage strategically with various government and international organization leaders.

As founder and president of RightlySaid and of Gain Grace - Beyond Bell's Palsy, Cheryl used strategic communication to catalyze clients’ brand-building initiatives and problem-solving efforts.

Educational Credentials

Cheryl earned a Blue Ocean Strategy certificate and an MBA degree with concentrations in Marketing, Strategy and Entrepreneurship from INSEAD Business School in France and Singapore (home of Blue Ocean Strategy and the Financial Times #1 Global MBA: 2016, 2017, 2021), having been awarded an INSEAD scholarship for “Outstanding Women Professionals.”

She holds a BA degree, cum laude, from Mount Holyoke College (United States), the oldest of the Seven Sisters colleges, where she designed a major in Anglophone and Francophone Postcolonial Literature. Her International Baccalaureate diploma is from SOS-Hermann Gmeiner International College (Ghana).

Global Expertise

Cheryl speaks several languages (including English, French and Spanish) and works fluidly across cultures. Her extensive experience living, working and studying in five world regions (Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania), along with her discovery of The CNKD Way, means she can help you get there. . .wherever “there” may mean for you.

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