Cathy's Leadership Blog

Franchise Tax Board's Enterprise Data to Revenue (EDR) project officially started on July 1, 2011. This project is aimed at reducing the tax gap, the difference between what taxpayers should pay and the amount collected by the government. The solution, which will be phased in with the final implementation in December 2016, will increase revenue coming into the General Fund by an estimated $1 billion annually.

The EDR Project does not include a full system replacement of FTB's legacy accounting systems. Rather, the project includes enhancements to FTB's legacy systems and creates a new tax return processing system that captures and utilizes more data. This enables FTB to increase return accuracy and taxpayer compliance while reducing the amount of resources needed to troubleshoot problematic returns. Ultimately, the new system will reduce waste and minimize redundancy while lowering the cost of maintenance and operations.

The EDR Project also includes an online Taxpayer Folder that enables taxpayers and other stakeholder to access their tax data at their convenience. User will be able to view and print their tax returns, notices, and payment records, in addition to filing returns and making payments. With the Taxpayer Folder, FTB aims to improve customer service and take transparency to the next level for stakeholders.

Annually, FTB processes more than 15 million Personal Income Tax returns and one million Business Entity returns. The tax agency also responds to more than three million phone calls, handles over seven million Internet contacts and collects about $60 billion, which represents more than 65% of the state's general fund revenue.

Another notable benefit of the project is that is relies on performance-based procurement which limits risk and capital outlay by the State, instead shifting it to the contractor. The prime contractor is CGI who is partnering with but not limited to: Accenture, Actium Consulting, Inc., Apian Consulting, Inc., Change and Innovations Agency, Impression Technology, Infiniti Consulting, and Performance Technology Partners.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Friday, August 13: Certificate Ceremony: Day 20

"Leadership and Learning are indispensable to each other..." John F. Kennedy

5 Government Tensions:
1. Efficience vs. Equity
2. Growth vs. Quality of Life
3. Short-run vs. Long-run
4. General interest vs. Special Interest
5. Security/stability vs. Change

Thursday, August 12: Day 19

Leadership in Crisis
Rudy Guilani

Instructor: Hannah Riley Bowles

Key Take Aways:

Direct Effects of Acute Stress: 1. Decreased ability/time to collect info. (Result: Narrowed attention to possibilities.) 2. Interferes with our "inner speech". (Result: Reduced working memory.) 3. Distraction by physical stress. (Result: Reduced working memory.)
What can we do to help people perform better under stress: Reliance on pattern recognition. Practice drills/table tops.
Communication in crisis.

People are: Experiencing fear. Seek truth and meaning. Sink into despair. Reflect on better times. Feel helplessness. Fell alone.
Communicate to: Inspire. Acknowledge gravity. Be optimistic with a forward vision. Share examples of other harder times. Call people to duty. Create a sense of unity towards and overarching objective.
Green Grass/Brown Grass Approach. In good times people want to hear about the green grass (good times). In crisis, people want to hear about where it was worse. At 911, Rudy Guilani compared NYC to London being bombed in WWII.

Negotiations IV
Deeport I

Negotiations V
Deeport II

Instructor: Guhan Subramanian. We did a mock negotiation, Deeport.

Key Takeaways...
1. Build a winning coalition. Identify likely and possible allies and potential blockers. Don't assume that everyone wants the deal to happen. 2. Maintain a blocking coalition. Determine who can block the deal. Work to devise commitments. 3. In general, process matters! Note timing, caucusing and sequencing shape substance. A big room is a dangerous place; don't go there too early. Finally, "Think strategically but act opportunistically." Expect to be surprised and to have to modify you initial approach.

Suggested Reading:
On complex, multi-party deal making: New Deal making Strategies for a Competitive Marketplace.
On deal setup: 3D Negotiation
On persuasion strategies: Negotiation Genius
On Interpersonal Tactics: Difficult Conversation
On negotiation across cultures: The Global Negotiator

How do you think this negotiation went based upon this letter....

Dear President of American Airlines, Eastern Airlines, American Export Airlines, Colonial Airlines, Transcontinental, and United Airlines:

This is the last call on the matter of the runway layout at the new airport.

Thursday, February 3rd, 1944, at my office, City Hall, at 2:30 p.m. o’clock, come prepared to make any suggestion or forever hold your peace. I have heard some grousing about the present layout which I know is not justified. If you have any cockeyed ideas on tangent runways that have not been tried out, save them for some other time.

I am willing to hear constructive criticism and to receive helpful suggestions. I cannot compete against white tablecloths and soft pencils. Everyone who gets two drinks under his belt is now designing runway layouts on restaurant tables.

We will have a map here, our consulting engineer will be here, and I expect to have the matter finally, completely and definitely settled.

You may bring anyone you desire from your engineering, technical and piloting staff. Lawyers cannot contribute anything. This is not a legal matter.

Very truly yours,

F. H. LaGuardia, Mayor

Farewell Dinner @ Harvard's Faculty Club

Wednesday, August 11: Day 18

Transformational Leadership
NAACP, Gandhi's Salt March

Instructor: Hannah Riley Bowles

Key Take Aways:

Gandhi Salt March. Protest against the British salt tax in colonial India which began with the Salt March to Dandi on March 12, 1930. Very, very powerful. It played to 2 strengths...Duration/Speed. The march was planned to take weeks to complete. This allowed the march to gain momentum and allow the foreign press to get to India to see the event (think this was 1930 and time/speed was much different.) I think the powerful picture were critical in making this successful. Over the weeks the number of people marching continued to grow. Simplicity. Taxing of salt. Salt is such a basic need--everyone can relate to. It made the British appear greedy taxing a poor country on a basic need.
John Kotter's 8 Steps to Transforming Your Organization. 1. Establish a Sense of Urgency. 2. Form a Powerful Guiding Coalition. 3. Create a Vision and Strategies for Change. 4. Communicate Vision and Lead by Example. 5. Empower Others to Act to Fulfill Vision. 6. Plan for and Create Visible, Short-term Wins. 7. Leverage Progress for More Change. 8. Institutionalize New Approaches. Leading Change by John Kotter is a great book!
Elements of transformational leadership: Charisma, Optimism/Excitement, New Perspective & Mentoring.

Negotiations III
Negotiating with the Govt. Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Wachovia

Instructor: Guhan Subramanian

Key Take Away:

Set up Deal. What process will you use. Very important is successful negotiations.
Types of Negotiations: Interests, Rights, and Power. As you move down this list, it is almost impossible to move back up the list when negotiating a deal.

Communicating Your Message

Instructor: David Gergen CNN. Worked for 4 US Presidents: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton.

Key Take Aways: 1. "Get it first, but first get it right." 2. Deadlines are a serious matter for the press. 3. Consider: Headline, Picture and Lead Graph when developing press releases. 4. Anticipate tough questions and be ready with answers. 5. Thought on adverse publicity "The higher the monkey climbs the tree, the more you see of its rear end." 6. The government doesn't have the right to lie, it does have a right to remain silent.

Gergen thought Colin Powell, Elizabeth Dole, Mike McCurry and Donna Shala have received good press over the years. They play straight with reporters. They are accessible. They speak with authority. They treat reporters with respect. And they combines a good sense of humor with a thick hide.

Tuesday, August 10: Day 17

Economic Policy II

Instructor: Roger Porter

3 Key Areas of Govt. Spending. 1) Net Interest Payments. 2) Discretionary Spending. Examples: Military, Parks, Education. 3) Mandatory Spending. Entitlements. Social Security, Medicare, etc.
Mandatory Spending. % of GDP spend: 1960...34%; 1970...41%; 1980....52%; 1990...63%; and 2000...71%.
Military Spending....in the 1960 we spent 10% of GDP on the military. Now 3-4%.
Major changes. Need.......1. Case for change 2. Present a plan that people believe will work and 3. The plan needs to be "fair." Fair needs to consider:

How do we treat current receipts?
How gradually or rapidly to make the changes?
How broadly or narrowly do you want changes to take place? Spread the burden?
Provide a series of outlet values?
Formulas that make adjustments automatically with trends?

Transactional Leadership
Negotiating Corporate Change

Sequencing...critical and always consider!
Deal Fatique and Deal Frustration are factors to always consider.

Negotiations II
Fraisier: Deal Setup, Design, and Implementation

Dinner at John F. Kennedy Library and Museum

View of Boston from JFK Museum and Library.

JFK Quote...encouraging leaders to be forward looking. "All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin."

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Monday, August 9; Day 16

Leadership and Power
The New Proposal and The New Initiative

Instructor: Hannah Riley Bowles

Key Take Aways....

Educational Philosophy....Undergrads. Make the unfamiliar ... familiar. Executive Level. Make the familiar...unfamiliar (look at from a different perspective).
Rational behavior and social behavior. Are not the same thing!

Negotiations I
Intro to Negotiations Analysis

Instructor: Guhan Subramanian

Key Take Aways....

Core Concepts. When you negotiate, you need to understand three core concepts:

BATNA. Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. What will you do/get if you don't make this negotiation successful?
Reservation Value (aka Walk Away Amount). The value at which you would be indifferent between entering into or not entering into an agreement.
ZOPA. Zone of Possible Agreement. What are the possible agreement amounts for both parties.

If you think through each of these concepts before starting a negation, you will have a much better chance of success.

Anchoring. A bias in which people give too much weight to the first tangible number or "evidence" and then adjust too little from that starting point. Think about the first figure you hear when you are looking for a house, car, a piece of jewelry etc. Make sure and give this number careful analysis.
Midpoint Rule. The most likely final outcome will be the midpoint of the first offer and counter-offer.
Tip. If negotiations break down....Try teaching agreement on process instead!

Obama on Active Listening. "The way I think about interacting with people generally is to find out what it is that they're thinking, to give them a sense of what I'm thinking, and then to try to synthesize and try to find the truth that lies between people.... My nature instinct is not to try and beat the other persona down, but rather to understand their pint of view and make sure they understand my point of view, and then see if we can find common ground."

Economic Policy I

Instructor: Roger Porter.

#1 Economic Indicator is Productivity. It is the best predictor of an economy if you can only look at one factor. The three big influences of Productivity are (1) Investments (Physical Capital, Intellectual Capital such as R& D and Human Capital); (2) Efficiency (Getting $, Regulatory Pressure and Tax Burden) and (3) Competitive Process (Trade, Anti-trust).
Factoids. At the time of the Civil War...about 140 years ago. There was 0 books on Business Management, only 8 hospitals on the East Coast, Only 5 paid hospitals on East Coast, Biggest Government Service--Delivering the Mail. Productivity in the US has increased 2% per year since the Civil War!