Microsoft CFO Amy Hood says it's time to redefine role beyond bean counter image

Amy Hood, Executive Vice President and CFO of Microsoft, speaks onstage at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit 2018. Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Fortune

Microsoft CFO Amy Hood said that it's time for CFOs to redefine the traditional role they play. Instead of being seen as metrics-driven "bean counters," Hood encourage the audience at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit in California to think bigger and focus on establishing better workplace environments.

THE IMPACT

Hood is a powerful female CFO in two sectors where C-suites are still largely dominated by men: technology and healthcare. And while she may not be a household name among healthcare chief financial officers yet, as the company continues moving deeper into the healthcare space, she will likely earn a larger presence there as well.

THE BIGGER TREND

As the healthcare landscape evolves, new disruptors step in and trends of consumerism and retail-like demands for service are on the rise. At the same time, CFOs are being called upon to innovate as well as to find new ways of bringing in revenue, expanding their system's portfolio and being increasingly collaborative with their fellow c-suite team members.

The finance chief role now goes far beyond just managing a hospital's finances. Big data and analytics, in fact, are also contributing factors to the growing pressure many CFOs feel to reinvent their skillsets. 

CFOs, for that matter, are not the only C-suite executives undergoing a job transformation. More chief-level roles are coming into their own within healthcare, as chief experience officers, chief clinical officers and chief quality officers, and as we found during our Focus on Innovation in September, chief digital officers, all grow their ranks with varying degrees of speed, of course. 

ON THE RECORD

"You can rewrite what the job is about," Hood said, "And you can bring what you have to it and then surround yourself with really awesome people who bring things that you don't have." 

HER TAKE

Hood said she prioritizes making Microsoft a place customers, partners, and employees willingly and enthusiastically choose, and in so doing, creating "the culture that you want." She defined her role as a combination of aspiring and taking action, not separating the numbers from the goals they are supposed to measure, and that each day affords the chance to deliver on the goals you've set. She said the more you emulate that mindset, the more those around you will too. 

Hood also said the uniquely collaborative nature of the entire Microsoft C-Suite is powerful, as everyone feels strongly that they are accountable to each other.

"Start everyday with an inclusive approach: Did you model good behavior? Did you run a great meeting? Did you look for a great outcome? Did you hear the voice? Did you encourage? Did you create great energy?" she recommended. "If you say that's your day, then I love that. That's a good day."

Twitter: @BethJSanborn
Email the writer: beth.sanborn@himssmedia.com