In Focus with Jessica Moran ‘23

Can you tell us about your professional journey and the experiences that shaped your leadership philosophy?

My leadership philosophy is anchored in servant leadership — a belief that a leader's primary duty is to empower others, facilitate collaboration and cultivate potential. This perspective was deeply shaped by two defining chapters in my career: Stryker Corporation and my role at KPMG US LLP.

During my summer internship with Stryker’s Financial Training & Development program in summer 2022, their core mission — “Together with our customers, we are driven to make health care better” — grew deeply ingrained in me. Operating in the technical accounting and financial compliance space there, I quickly realized that behind every data point was a human experience. This company and how its people operated sparked my servant leadership style, shifting my focus to how prioritizing individual perspectives and experiences can mobilize an entire business toward a shared mission.

This people-first alignment is also what drew me to KPMG US LLP after graduating from Seton Hall in May 2023. As a senior audit associate, I strive to live out our value of “together, for better” in every engagement. To me, it is a constant prompt to ask: How can I collaborate more effectively with my team and clients to elevate our outcomes? In practice, this means exercising leadership judgment that prioritizes the collective good. Mentoring and coaching our summer Interns and full-time associates are not a task to me, but as an opportunity to build trust and confidence.

Recently, I delivered my first formal performance review to a team member, which was an incredible lesson in the power of compassionate candor. During our conversation, I made sure to tell her that there is never a wall between me and the other associates, and that I want her to challenge herself and take ownership of her work but that she can always come to me with questions, and we’ll figure it out together.

Ultimately, my goal is to ensure that my team has the tools, guidance and confidence they need to deliver exceptional client outcomes and achieve their own professional growth.

Looking back at your time at Seton Hall, what experiences had the greatest influence on your development as a leader?

My development as a leader was undoubtedly anchored in the Buccino Leadership Institute.

As an interdisciplinary program, it exposed me to a rich tapestry of personalities, leadership styles and unique backgrounds. Early in my college career, working on cross-functional projects taught me a vital lesson in team dynamics. As someone with a naturally driven, type A personality, I quickly learned that effective leadership sometimes means taking a step back. I realized that I didn’t always need to be the loudest voice in the room, and that speaking more does not equate to contributing more. I discovered that active listening is a far more powerful leadership tool — a lesson I carry with me daily at KPMG, where I strive to truly hear and understand both my clients’ needs and the needs of my team members.

It was also through this program that I was first introduced to the concept of servant leadership, exemplified perfectly by Mike Reuter, who was the associate director at the time. To this day, Mike remains the greatest example I’ve seen of a servant leader. He placed his students at the absolute forefront of everything he did, operating entirely without self-interest and solely for the betterment of the students and the program. His legacy is the standard I strive to meet in my own career today.

Leadership is often associated with decisiveness, but judgment requires nuance. How do you define “leadership judgment” in your own career?

With the rapid rise of AI — and through my own experience helping to drive the implementation and education of my firm’s AI tools — I find myself viewing leadership judgment through a brand-new lens.

We are living in a world increasingly shaped by automation, which serves as a powerful reminder that our distinctly human qualities, especially a leader’s judgment, have never mattered more. I grew up in an academic and professional landscape that prized two kinds of intelligence: IQ and EQ (emotional intelligence). In the past, that might have felt like the full picture, but I believe AI is forcing a rewrite of that.

To me, leadership judgment is the transition from efficiency to wisdom. It is the researcher who connects dots that no algorithm could see. It is the manager who looks past the data to truly understand a client’s pain points. In an AI-driven workplace, leadership judgment is no longer just about making a decision — it is about providing the vision and wisdom that technology can never replicate.

In fast-moving or high-pressure environments, how do you approach making difficult decisions?

As one of the “Big Four” public auditing companies, KPMG has an infamous “busy season” — a period when professionals are working overtime for months in a row and tension can be high. In these types of high-pressure environments, it is tempting to grab the quickest solution. But I’ve found that if a difficult decision feels too easy, it’s often worth a second look. While agility is important and quick decisions are sometimes necessary, I believe you must always carve out time and space for the decisions that truly matter.

When things are moving fast and the pressure is on, my first step is always the same: I listen. I try to strip away all the red tape and administrative noise to focus on the human element. I ask myself two questions: What does my team need in this exact moment? and What outcome would bring the most immediate value to our client? By putting people at the absolute forefront, the right answer usually surfaces much faster.

I might be a bit of a “Potterhead,” but I often think of a quote from Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: “There will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right.” In a fast-paced corporate environment, that is the essence of leadership judgment: resisting the urge to take the path of least resistance, and instead having the courage to do what is right for your people.

What role do values and ethics play in your leadership judgment?

Working in the audit space, serving large Fortune 500 public companies, values and ethics are not just abstract concepts — they are the absolute baseline of our profession. The work we do is fundamentally built on public trust, financial integrity and compliance. Therefore, ethics do not just play a role in my leadership judgment; they are the lens through which every judgment is made.

In audit, the numbers and data only tell part of the story. When navigating complex reporting or client nuances, there are often gray areas. That is where leadership judgment steps in. Values provide the inner compass that ensures I don’t just check the boxes, but that I do the right thing for my clients, the firm and the public trust. It goes back to choosing what is right over what is easy. A leader without a strong ethical foundation might take the path of least resistance, but a leader driven by values will always have the courage to ask the tough questions and stand by their integrity.

How important is listening and collaboration when making leadership decisions?

I believe listening and collaboration are not just secondary tools for leadership; they are a leader’s fuel. Without them, your decisions are baseless and your outcomes are ultimately fruitless.

I was reminded of this recently when I had the opportunity to give a presentation on “AI in the Audit” to about 500 interns at our National Intern Training program. While I stood onstage at the front of the room, speaking for about 45 minutes, the most valuable part of that entire day was the final 15 minutes of Q&A. That was when I stopped talking and started listening. Getting to hear the real concerns, raw questions and forward-looking thoughts from our future talent was incredibly grounding — it was feedback I could take back and help advance our firm and AI network with. It proved to me that leadership is never a one-way street. If you make decisions in a vacuum without leveraging the brilliant, young minds around you (yes, young, not just old!), your strategy lacks a real-world foundation.

True collaboration means creating space for those 15-minute windows — moments where you actively absorb the energy, challenges and insights of your team to fuel the path forward.

How has your approach to judgment and decision-making evolved throughout your career?

Early on, my naturally type A personality would constantly tell me: “Jess, you have all the information, now figure this out yourself.” I used to think that even if I listened to others and gathered their feedback, the final decision still had to be made entirely on my own. I carried a lot of pressure believing that solo decision-making was what leadership required.

Over time, I’ve learned that making decisions with others — rather than just for them — not only takes the pressure off your shoulders, but almost always results in a much more well-rounded, fulsome solution. I’ve found a much healthier, happier medium. I now allow myself to be a little more vulnerable. I’ve realized that leaning on my managers and managing directors to join me in the decision-making process isn't a sign of weakness; it’s a tool that helps us cross the finish line together.

What advice would you give students and young professionals who are still developing confidence in their own judgment?

My biggest piece of advice is to release yourself from the pressure of thinking you must have all the answers right now. When you’re starting out, it’s easy to confuse “good judgment” with “knowing everything.”

True leadership judgment isn’t about being a lone hero — it’s about knowing when to lock arms with your team and your mentors to make the best call.

Build your confidence by being curious. Ask questions, seek out different perspectives, and don't be afraid to say, “I have a path forward on this, but I’d love to talk through it with you.” Lean on the experience of those around you. When you view decision-making as a team sport rather than a solo test, the pressure melts away, your confidence will naturally grow, and your judgment will become sharper.

When people reflect on your leadership, what do you hope they say about your judgment and decision-making?

Ultimately, I hope people say that my judgment and decision-making was authentic, selfless and always rooted in respect for my team. My goal is to cultivate an environment where high achievement is celebrated, but never at the expense of autonomy, quality or mutual support.

Over these early, formative years of my professional career, I’ve realized that true leadership judgment means recognizing it’s not about how I work best, but how we work best as a collective. As a now “in-charge” senior associate, my team is made up of brilliant individuals who often approach problems and tasks differently than I do. I strive to actively embrace that reality because it is precisely that diversity of thought and working styles that empowers us to navigate our complex, high-pressure audit engagements.

At the end of the day, that shared, selfless environment is exactly what enables us to successfully sign off on our audit and get the Form 10-K out the door on filing day.

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Categories: Business