Courtney Ware and Kim Tutor are two passionate leaders with a very special thing in common: they make it their mission to serve others.

The two met as coworkers when Courtney joined the North Mississippi Medical Center Home Health team in 2013. Courtney began her journey as a home health nurse while Kim, a long-time Home Health and Hospice leader, led a team of over 300 in her 31st year of service at NMMC.

It didn’t take long for Kim and other leaders to notice Courtney’s drive, work ethic and compassion.

“Courtney demonstrated skills I value in a leader,” Kim says. “She is passionate, supportive, engaged, accountable and has a ‘no excuses’ attitude. She leads with confidence, and I needed her to bring that to others.”

Kim began her career in Hematology/Oncology with that same drive because she wanted to help those in great need. She developed and honed skills early-on that helped her achieve various goals in the Home Health and Hospice world, especially when it came to educating and supporting her teammates.

“I developed the orientation and preceptor program and supported software solutions to help our team,” Kim shares. “I now find it so rewarding to foster leaders who take pride in serving others, making the connection with them and nurturing and motivating them to meet their targets.”

For a trailblazer like Kim, seeing Courtney be recognized by her peers for her strong leadership skills and mentorship spoke volumes.

“I went into nursing because I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives,” Courtney says. “I went into leadership because I felt like I could do that same thing for my coworkers.”

Courtney reflects on her relationship with her leader and says “go for it” is their motto.

“Kim has been extremely supportive of my interests and growth from the start,” Courtney shares. “When I told her I wanted to go back to get my master’s degree, she told me to ‘go for it’! She gives me the courage and support to lead in my own way.”

Harnessing individual strengths and talents and using them to help others is a passion both Kim and Courtney share. They also find joy and a boost of confidence in the enthusiasm and excitement they both display.

“We are both very driven, and our voices carry,” Kim laughs. “We try to control our voices when we get excited, and we laugh about that pretty often.”

The two shared many sentiments about one another, but their mutual respect and admiration of their willingness to “go for it” shone brightly. When projects abound, new ideas start flowing and things feel a little bit crazy, these two are the ones to step up to the plate, support each other and meet the challenge head on.

“It means the world to know you have a leader who has your back,” Courtney says. “Leaders can be the reason someone feels welcomed, valued, seen, heard and supported.”

Kim’s inspiration for anyone looking for a supportive leader is to find someone you believe in, someone who will challenge you and someone who will give you honest feedback.

“I’ll share one of my favorite quotes about growing leaders,” Kim says. “A diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor the man perfected without trials.”

At NMHS, we know that when one of us rises, we all rise. We believe in growing and nurturing relationships and are grateful for people like Kim and Courtney who fearlessly lead the way.