Becker's CEO + CFO Roundtable 2019: 3 Questions with Marilynn Weber, Chief Financial Officer and President of Finance for Northwest Permanente Physicians & Surgeons

Marilynn Weber serves as Chief Financial Officer and President of Finance for Northwest Permanente Physicians & Surgeons.

On November 13th, Marilynn will serve on the panel "Can Costs Still be Taken Out of Organizations? Core Thoughts for 2020" at Becker's 8th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place November 11-13, 2019 in Chicago.

To learn more about the conference and Marilynn's session, click here.

Question: If you acquired $10 million dollars with no strings attached today, how would you invest or spend it?

Marilynn Weber: I would put it straight into community. The biggest opportunity for we have to transform healthcare is closing the gap on social needs. We know that more than 60% of health outcomes are the result of unmet social needs like safe and affordable housing, nutritious food, and social support. Physicians and clinicians can’t deliver health when these pressing social needs are unmet. Ten million dollars could go a long way in creating community networks to address these needs by creating more resources like community health workers, housing assistance, and other social supports.

Q: What one specific competency do you believe up-and-coming healthcare leaders would benefit from strengthening outside the classroom?

MW: Being in finance and having a background in operations, the biggest competency I think we need to grow in healthcare leaders today is empathy. Our goals and plans don’t always turn out how we want them to. If you focus only on results, you not only miss the opportunity to learn, but worse, you risk disengaging and shutting down your team. When you listen, and listen without judgment, people will stay with you and keep working to resolve the issues at hand. I feel like people on my team feel like they can tell me anything—this kind of trust and empathy is crucial to our culture and the success of our operations.

Q: We are all pressed for time and attention. Help us sift through the meaningless and the meaningful by sharing the last thing you read, heard or did that shifted your mindset and really made a difference in your personal or professional life.

MW: Just last week, a long-time colleague said something that really inspired me. She said: “Failure is just an interpretation of the mind.” She was speaking to a group of interns, and she was standing with her arms raised out beside her and said, “If you feel like you are falling off a cliff, lift up your arms and fly. When you open yourself up to new opportunities they will find you.” The point she was making was that when you don’t assign any value to failing, you can learn and grow. If you aren’t failing, you aren’t trying hard enough.