How to go from TM to TL

Joined
Sep 5, 2019
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34
I have, since the beginning been trying to prove myself to the leaders I am worthy of that kind of position. When my yearly review came I had no areas to work on. And the only comments were to keep doing what iv been doing. I even recommended myself over to market team when we were doing the department separations of team members as I had worked all the other hardlines departments and hadn't felt challenged anymore. Iv worked GSA, I was the SPL tm, I even was the Project 52/ magnolia merchandiser. And now that we have a whole new leadership team it seems like I'm starting over and am doing my best not to lose motivation.
HELP
 
Target Leadership teams are nothing more than a revolving door of glorified high school cliques. Thus, they wont ever let you sit at the cool kids table lest they deem you worthy of joining their exclusive society of key-carriers and Starbucks drinkers. Make no mistake, performance has little to do with whether or not they promote you, if you don't "look" and act the part of a Target TL, you wont get in. They have to protect their brand, after all, god forbid they hand an actual, decent, hard-working TM the keys to the kingdom.
 
And now that we have a whole new leadership team it seems like I'm starting over and am doing my best not to lose motivation.
This is actually your chance to move up because of new leadership they know nothing about you . Step up , take initiative , manage your time , strategize , execute and communicate effectively and always , always let your etl know what you’ve done and express your interest in moving up .
 
Never in Target world would a tm have nothing to improve on . Especially if you’ve mentioned that you are interested into a leadership position .
That's what I thought. That's wh
No project 52 in target . 62 yes but that’s not magnolia either . You mean department 324 which is “ heck and hell”
Yeah that was a typo on my part. Project 62. And Hearth and hand. Our sign says magnolia under hearth and home
 
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I have applied. And they literally told me I have to show that I am doing the job before they give me the job. That's from my SD

I got the same exact thing to be honest. The thing is they already have who they want in mind for any openings so you’ll want to kiss up to the ETLs and have them know who you are so when another opening comes around they say they want you as their TL.
 
I got the same exact thing to be honest. The thing is they already have who they want in mind for any openings so you’ll want to kiss up to the ETLs and have them know who you are so when another opening comes around they say they want you as their TL.
In my store even when they posted openings or needed to fill a TL position, it was common knowledge among the leadership who was going to get it before the posting hit the wall. A lot of the time they didn’t even say there was an opening, but the next thing you knew, a new TL appeared out of nowhere. The best candidates were rarely chosen, but the leadership team always seemed to have room for somebody’s kool-aid drinking, ass-kissing pet. When there were postings and interviews they were apparently just done to make the process seem fair, and to keep stringing along the people who were doing TL work for TM pay... 🙄
 
Target Leadership teams are nothing more than a revolving door of glorified high school cliques. Thus, they wont ever let you sit at the cool kids table lest they deem you worthy of joining their exclusive society of key-carriers and Starbucks drinkers. Make no mistake, performance has little to do with whether or not they promote you, if you don't "look" and act the part of a Target TL, you wont get in. They have to protect their brand, after all, god forbid they hand an actual, decent, hard-working TM the keys to the kingdom.

I see this suggested a lot and while it's possibly true in some cases, I think the current development process is being misinterpreted. If you don't identify with your HR or SD that you're interested in the TL position and then you apply, they're not going to support you. When I identified I was interested I took over a department, started to do TL things without being a TL, etc. You can complain about that if you want or just take it in stride and know that come interview time you're going to be 100% prepared for all of the questions they're going to ask you, and expect you to answer from the perspective of a leader rather than a good team member.

The people you notice that are friendly with leadership have very likely already done that, and the reason you don't see job postings is that you really shouldn't if your store can avoid it. SD's often talk about having certain TL positions backfilled in their meetings if they suspect somebody is going to leave, change role, or be promoted. It's apart of their job.
 
"but first, tell us you want to promote"

i promoted to TL about 6 (or 7?) months ago. i was in a unique position to be approached about my development first, but only because i stepped up and took charge of my department without being asked to. i partnered with a TL who mentored me and worked with my ETL and SD for about a month to get ready for interviews. you need to have regular, ongoing conversations about your development with your leaders. remember, there's 120 (at least) other team members in the building, so if you want to promote you need to take charge and own it.
 
For me promoting to TL took about a year. I was peer leading my team during that time and my TL had my peers come to me before going to her for any questions or problems that they were running into and had statuses every couple weeks with my TL. Make sure you are talking to your TL for feedback and ask for more responsibilities to help you develop. I had leadership changes while I was developing as well, and it was really hard because it does feel like you're starting over. What I was told was basically not to worry about it. As long as you have had conversations (not just with your TL, I was talking with her as well as my ETL and SD to make sure all of us were on the same page) and everyone is aware of what you're working towards, you'll be fine.

Sometimes it really has to do with waiting for the right opening. Make sure they know what you want but you also have to be flexible.
 
I have applied. And they literally told me I have to show that I am doing the job before they give me the job. That's from my SD
I’m currently working with two TMs who are wanting to become TL, but they both are lacking on just the basics. For me, you have to do your current role 100%, all day, every day. It’s that simple. I can’t really ask you to boss the team, but you can surely make sure that everything is getting done and have an open line of communication with me to inform me of your findings.

When I walk my department for food safety and I find soda BIBs that are out of date, a slew of undated items that stretch back to the day before, and you’re not wearing a name badge... remind me again why I should be working on developing you? My team knows the expectations, they just choose when to follow it and when they don’t care.

For you, I would say that your SD is both right and wrong. You want to be a TL? Start asking questions. Have constant conversations with your direct leader and find out what you can be doing better. Applying for the position without talking to both your leader and HR will gain you nothing, even though I feel everyone should have a shot at interviewing just so you can really see the process.
 
I’m currently working with two TMs who are wanting to become TL, but they both are lacking on just the basics. For me, you have to do your current role 100%, all day, every day. It’s that simple. I can’t really ask you to boss the team, but you can surely make sure that everything is getting done and have an open line of communication with me to inform me of your findings.

When I walk my department for food safety and I find soda BIBs that are out of date, a slew of undated items that stretch back to the day before, and you’re not wearing a name badge... remind me again why I should be working on developing you? My team knows the expectations, they just choose when to follow it and when they don’t care.

For you, I would say that your SD is both right and wrong. You want to be a TL? Start asking questions. Have constant conversations with your direct leader and find out what you can be doing better. Applying for the position without talking to both your leader and HR will gain you nothing, even though I feel everyone should have a shot at interviewing just so you can really see the process.
This true for about 95% of TMs... what else you got?
 
Did you get an interview? Cause they are supposed to give you an interview when you apply.
Nope no interview. Just sat down in the SD office and he said what I mentioned before. When I brought it up a few days ago they did say they would make it a goal to have me "signed off" by November of next year
 
Good things come to those who wait 😅..
Honestly. And it was frustrating me at first since I had been showing my SD I was able to handle it, there were days he would check in with me on my TL days off to assure everything was on track. Statusing and getting feed back from him. And JUST when I thought i was getting through to him, he leaves to another store !!!
 
Honestly. And it was frustrating me at first since I had been showing my SD I was able to handle it, there were days he would check in with me on my TL days off to assure everything was on track. Statusing and getting feed back from him. And JUST when I thought i was getting through to him, he leaves to another store !!!
Some people are not capable of recognizing talent so they end up losing talent. Promoting is such an ASANTS thing, modernization has put development of new talent on the back burner... its a dash to adapt and survive, maybe when the dust settles pipelines and benches will be re-established....good luck.
 
Thank you for the positive vibes ! But in all honesty, the amount of work they give to department owners looks REAL good on a resume. And in any other store just those things alone I feel would qualify someone for a management position
 
Commenting without reading other responses:

You can kill it everyday and be a good worker but you need to show that you can lead and manage TMs. Fill in the gaps where your current TL lacks, and give further direction to TMs when your TL didn’t. Do that without stepping on the TLs toes and communicate what you did to your TL. Kiss the SD’s ass a bit too because they’re where the line ends. I’d the SD don’t like you then you’re SOL unless you apply to another store. Good luck
 
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