U-TURNS
U-turns is a blog for lifelong learners who want to continue to expand their leadership and communication skills.
Embrace the Spookiness: Overcoming Fear in Business
BOO! The Halloween season is upon us. Store shelves are overflowing with ghosts, goblins, and jack-o’-lanterns, all symbolizing the spookiness of the season. Halloween is a play on fear in a most exaggerated way, and I, like U, know LOTS of people who LOVE it! Why?...
Back to School: It’s Not Just for Kids
As the summer begins to fade and the school buses start rolling into our neighborhoods again, there's a sense of excitement in the air. For many, "back to school" brings to mind images of children with new backpacks, fresh notebooks, and the promise of new friends and...
Nurturing Tomorrow’s Leaders: The Power of Mentoring and Development
Hello fellow leaders, communicators, warriors, samurai, mentors, and aspiring trailblazers! With our U the Teen Leader class coming up, I have recently found myself reflecting on the profound impact of mentoring and development in shaping the leaders of tomorrow. If U...
Deepening Our Connections: The Heart of Workplace Success
Spring has sprung, and it's the perfect time to reflect and take inventory on the connections in our lives…both personally and professionally. At U & Improved, we understand, and KNOW, that beneath the hustle and bustle of our daily to-do list lies the beating...
Ushering in a New Year with Intention and Purpose: Setting & GETTING Goals That Stick!
Happy 2024, dear readers! We have jumped headfirst into the new year, and if U haven’t already, now is the time to set yourself up for success with a year filled with promise and potential. For many of us, the start of a new year is a time for reflection and...
Looking Forward to Summer
Over these past 18 months we have all been awakened to many new insights and realities. For some, we had the real-life epiphany that this journey we are all on is so very short, and we truly never know what lies ahead of us, so we better start living with more...
Thoughts Are Things
This simple phrase changed my life. I know, I know...it’s just a sentence. A little quote that U can tack up on a bulletin board. But no...it is SO much more than that to me. U see, in October of 1999 I met a mentor who shared this little gem of wisdom with me, and it...
Online Trainings with U & Improved
Like many companies these days, we have moved from being 100% in-person to now being entirely virtual. All of our trainings - both for the individual or for businesses/teams - have moved online and we are also offering weekly 30-minute trainings at no cost in order to...
Top 5 Goals for Every Business Professional in 2020
In a day and age where the pace is fast and the competition is fierce, it’s time to hone in on what matters most, and set yourself up for success for 2020 and beyond. Sure, there are the numbers we need to hit to keep the doors open and to thrive in the marketplace,...
How to Lead with Kindness
World Kindness Day was this Wednesday, November 13 (did you take our challenge? If not, it’s never too late to be kind!) so we wanted to take a closer look at what it means to lead with kindness. Every leader has their own style of leadership, but statistics on those...
6 Tips to Become a Better Leader
Being a successful leader requires effective interpersonal communication as much as acknowledging there is always room for improvement and growth in oneself. A strong leader leads by example; always pushing themselves, their colleagues and their employees to reach...
Why Businesses Can’t Afford to Skip Leadership Training
As we already know, effective leadership training is critical to a healthy and harmonious workplace. The benefits strengthen teams and individuals throughout the organization. Let’s take a look at one of the benefits that every business owner, CEO, and shareholder...
Leadership By The Numbers – Why Leadership Training Matters
We frequently get asked why leadership training is such an important part of the modern workplace. The hardest part about answering this question for our team is keeping the answer short! If you’ve participated in any of our classes you understand the way your time in...
NEED TO GET SOME WORK DONE? GO ON VACATION!
It might seem counter-intuitive, but a vacation could be one of the most productive activities you’ll ever embark on. Whaaat? How does lounging by the pool, exploring the Grand Canyon or driving to Illinois for a family reunion get anything accomplished? Besides the...
The F Word
An opportunity is never lost; it is simply passed on to the next person willing to take advantage of it. This phrase was shared with me decades ago and has stuck with me ever since. The reality is, we are all given numerous opportunities...
Five Tips to Better Communication with Your Team
When it comes to finding your groove in your relationship with your team members, doesn’t it always feel as though you are just working extremely hard to find that ever-so-perfect balance? Finding that balance of being a strong leader who can walk through the fire...
The Importance of Perspective
We all know that life is a series of challenges and opportunities. Our days are filled with joy and sorrow, excitement and pain, love and loss. There are times when we feel on top of the world and others when we feel we’ve hit our rock-bottom. Emotions can be a...
Who Are Your Mentors?
Take a moment to think about the mentors who have helped U become the leader U are today! How are U paying it forward and shaping the future leaders in your circle of influence?
A Simple, Yet Profound Lesson in Leadership
A simple, yet profound leadership lessons Jodi received that helped define her core beliefs and lay the groundwork for her vision of heart-based leadership.
Are You A Conscious Leader?
Are you a conscious business leader? I just came back from a three-day Conscious Capitalism Annual Conference hosted in my home state of Arizona. I am a huge advocate of this movement as it truly is everything we teach and bring into the companies we work with at U...