New Target CEO Michael Fiddelke Is Making Candor the Core of His Turnaround Plan: ‘You Can’t Solve Problems You Aren’t Talking About’

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  • In today’s CEO Daily: Phil Wahba interviews new CEO Michael Fiddelke.
  • The big leadership story: CEO Greg Abel is putting his salary into company stock.
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Good morning. Earlier this week, I journeyed to Target headquarters in Minneapolis to interview newly appointed CEO Michael Fiddelke. (You can read my full story .) Target had just reported a fourth consecutive quarter of comparable sales decline, continuing a slump during which it has lost market share to numerous rivals. On the same day, Fiddelke outlined for an audience of Wall Street analysts an ambitious plan that he stated would bring about the most change Target has witnessed in a decade. However, Fiddelke, a 23-year company veteran who took over five weeks ago, said that plan won’t succeed unless Target returns to a culture of openly discussing failures.

“Candor is one of the cultural aspects that’s really important for us currently, because you can’t solve problems you’re not talking about,” Fiddelke told me. Although that might seem wishy-washy, it does mirror the approach adopted by Macy’s CEO Tony Spring, who in October and has observed the retailer’s long-awaited turnaround take effect.

Fiddelke, 49, is serious about the pace of change at Target: the budget-chic retailer, which was disrupted by a COVID business boom and culture wars over DEI and LGBTQ rights, is revamping categories it previously “dominated” like home goods and clothing. It will allocate more space to its grocery sections, revamp its beauty business, and intensify store remodelings and renovations.

A culture that didn’t encourage candor in recent years led to uninteresting and out-of-fashion offerings and stores that have lost much of their appeal, resulting in weak sales for three years. (Target anticipates net sales to increase slightly this year, and shares rose 7% on Tuesday.)

Fiddelke, who grew up on a farm in Iowa, says he learned early in his career at Target how essential blunt honesty is to professional and corporate success. He spent his initial five years on the retailer’s finance team before undertaking a stint in stores that he thought would be easy. “I thought I had this place understood. I had strong opinions on what Target should and shouldn’t do,” he remembers. It didn’t take long for things to go wrong. “I didn’t know the first thing about what it truly takes to run a store on the front lines.”

After he admitted to his boss that he was in over his head, she told him that the confession would clear the path for professional growth. “If you’re vulnerable and curious, then candid, now we can do the work to learn,” he recalls her saying. And that’s a lesson he knows he must utilize as he endeavors to make Target “Tarzhay” once again.

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