Jennifer Murray on Leadership and Taking the Next Step at Children’s Mercy with Mercy

Sometimes the next step in your career is the one you never planned to take.

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For Jennifer Murray, Executive Director of Nursing for Children’s Mercy with Mercy, that step started with a little encouragement from her mother. When Murray was trying to figure out what she wanted to do after high school, she was considering becoming a paramedic. Her mother encouraged her to look into nursing instead.

Murray took her advice, and that decision changed the course of her life.

While working as an LPN and attending nursing school at night, Murray was introduced to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the University of Missouri. She had never heard of a NICU, but the moment she saw the specialized care being given to fragile babies, she knew she had found her calling.

Nearly three decades later, Murray is still doing what she loves, caring for children and families while helping lead the teams who care for them. Along the way, she’s learned that you don’t always have to know exactly what’s next. “Be brave and take the step even if you don’t feel completely ready,” she says.

Murray believes effective leaders create environments where people feel safe speaking up, asking questions and challenging assumptions. “I was fortunate early in my career to learn from Sister Richard Mary, who often said, ‘I’m going to love you enough to tell you the truth,’” Murray says. “She taught me that accountability and compassion are not opposing forces. Great leaders care enough about people to be honest with them, provide candid feedback and support their growth while treating them with dignity and respect.”

But maybe most important, Murray believes leaders have a responsibility to recognize potential in others.

She experienced that herself in 2007, when her friend and fellow NICU nurse Kelly Heiss encouraged her to apply for an assistant manager position. Murray didn’t see herself as a leader, but Heiss saw something in her that she couldn’t yet see in herself. “That experience has stayed with me, and it is one of the reasons why identifying and developing future leaders is one of my favorite parts of leadership,” Murray says.

That conversation changed the trajectory of her career. Now, developing future leaders is one of Murray’s favorite parts of her work. “I am a leader today because someone saw something in me that I did not yet see in myself,” she says.

Murray now helps lead the Children’s Mercy with Mercy partnership and expand specialized pediatric care across southwest Missouri. She’s just as passionate about helping the people around her grow and find their confidence as leaders.

“Be willing to take that first step,” Murray says. “Continue learning along the way, and trust that you are capable of more than you may realize.”