This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Samir Shah, Target’s senior vice president of Northeastern stores. He’s based in Philadelphia. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
When I was 18, I somehow convinced my parents that I needed to go to the US to learn English and get further education.
I arrived on July 4, 1993, with $20 from my dad and moved in with a few of my cousins who were living in a studio in Fremont, California.
My relatives had tried to get me a job with them at a gas station or motel where they worked, but they weren’t learning a lot of English. I purposely made a decision to go somewhere where I would be forced to learn American culture, the language, and so on. That’s how my journey started 34 years ago with Target.
The bus route to my English as a Second Language classes had a transfer at a huge parking lot with a Target store. After a few applications, I was hired as a cart attendant for $5 an hour.
My simple philosophy has always been to be the best in my current role. Being the best involves asking lots of questions. You’ve got to continue to learn.
I have seven vice presidents and about 42 senior directors on my team. I met all of them when they were either college graduates or had just started their journey with Target. They still have the curiosity to learn new things.
During a recent store visit, I noticed a team member taking initiative to step out from behind the cash register, welcome guests, and ask what they might need.
She also asked me some of the best questions I have heard in the last six months, which helped me think better about how Target operates in local markets. For one example, she asked why we were having busy people in Manhattan follow the same checkout flow that we use for shoppers in our suburban stores.
You could tell she wanted to make things better. That’s a great sign of a student: someone who’s paying attention.
I see Target’s guest-experience guidance — commonly referred to as the 10-4 rule because it asks employees to smile at guests within 10 feet and say hello to those within four feet — as a way to make it easier for people to ask team members questions.
If we acknowledge a person by saying, “Hi,” it opens up a human channel. If they have a question, it becomes a little bit easier to ask.
Asking real questions means admitting when you don’t have all the answers
There have also been times in the last couple of years when I had to admit I don’t have all the answers.
It was embarrassing. It felt weird because, as a leader, how do you go in front of your whole team and say, “I don’t know what we’re going to do next?”
But I also said, “I know we’re going to figure it out together. And the minute I learn the first play or the first move, you’re going to be the first ones that I share it with.”
And we did.
For example, Brooklyn’s Atlantic Terminal is one of our largest-volume stores and wasn’t performing well. Looking through the numbers, though, I could see two merchandise subcategories growing.
So we went to those areas of the store and started our conversation there to see how this could be the spark to get the whole store back on the program we need. By modeling other areas of the store after these successful ones, the team gradually got sales growing again.
Six months and three more visits later, that team is about to surpass the highest numbers they have ever seen.
When leaders are not learning, not only are they suffering, but their teams are suffering more. If I am not learning, then I can’t actually help improve things for others.
I’m one of the longest-tenured SVPs at Target, but if I don’t know something, I will call someone in a heartbeat who can help, whether they’re a corporate director in Minneapolis or a cart attendant in Buffalo.
I will go and talk to them, ask, and learn.
Read the full article here
