>> My name is David Kugler and I am an Executive Team Leader
for the Target Corporation in Denver, Colorado.
I guess I can describe my role a little bit.
So, I supervise three full time team leaders which are kind
of the equivalent to assistant manager.
So, I also serve as the leader on duty for the building a few times a week.
And so I just kind of am responsible for the daily operations of Super Target.
I am responsible for the leadership development of my three team leaders.
So, we're talking about strengths and opportunities for growth and how they're working
with their team to engage and inspire them to be results driven and engage
in their work so they enjoy what they do.
So, it's really cool coming from a psychology,
sociology and education background, my focus is the team and people.
And so going to work and being able to motivate
and inspire my team is really exciting, so that's what I do.
I create an environment where people want to come to work.
So, before starting at Target, I was an academic advisor here at the University of Denver
and I was creating experiences to help with the retention of students.
And so at Target the skills that I learned in education are so transferable
because I'm creating experiences to keep my team engaged but to also create great experiences
for our guests to keep them coming back.
So, it's kind of like creating programs for students but they are shoppers or guests
and then they come back and then they spend more money.
I love to focus on leadership and development that Target has.
The autonomy that I have to help my team leaders learn about themselves and just grow as kind
of a whole person is so rewarding and I also really like that Target lets me be passionate
about what I am passionate about.
So, I'm really passionate about giving back to the community and social justice.
And so I have the opportunity to just serve as the community captain for my store
so I explain all the volunteering community service events,
so it's something that's really exciting.
So, Target's primary focus is literacy and K through 12 education.
So, right now it's part of our commitment to community education
in the arts we give five percent of our income back to education in the community and the arts
which is about four million dollars a week.
So, being a part of that initiative is something that I'm really proud of and then being able
to provide service-- service learning opportunities really
through community engagement and volunteer events is something
that I think is really rewarding.
I think Target is always looking for people who are really passionate about people.
And so someone who has leadership experience coming from college
or previous work experience is something that we're definitely looking for,
someone who is really positive and so because you have to serve as a leader
in the building you're setting the entire tone for-- at my store 218 team members.
And so if I showed up to work everyday and I was just kind
of hoe hummer not engaged, my team would feel that.
And so Target has provided me with so many opportunities for me to engage in my passions
which allows me to show up to work with this incredible energy
that my team members and the guest in our store feel.
And so, I think that that's primarily what we're looking for is someone with great energy
and someone who has a lot of leadership experience.
So, I've always been passionate about people and making sure that people feel affirmed
in who they are and their identities.
And so I studied psychology and sociology in undergrad at Cornell College,
it's a small liberal arts college in Mount Vernon, Iowa.
I loved Cornell, I had such a great experience, I was able to get so involved
in the Cornell community and just in my academic-- in my academics.
I-- because I was so involved I wanted to go in a graduate school
for higher education administration and so I came to the University of Denver
where I got a master's degree
in higher education administration and college student development.
Throughout my time at DU, I worked-- or I worked as a graduate apartment adviser so I was kind
of like a building manager and then I also worked as an academic adviser for about a year
and a half, partly through my education and then a little bit after, after grad school too.
It was fun, I enjoyed that too and I liked to focus on development that education provided me.
When I decided to make the shift to Target I have family that works for Target too.
And so, they told me all about the opportunities
that Target had provided them to keep them engaged.
After several years of working for the company I was like,
"They've got to be doing something right, this is great,"
that my cousins don't really enjoy going to work after six years.
And I was like, "Tell me what Target has done to help you grow as a person?"
And my cousin was able to just tell me all of these different things about how she has learned
about herself through their strengths and opportunities
and challenging leadership experiences that Target has given her
and I've experienced the same thing since I've been there
and I've been there for almost eight months now.
Something that was really important for me and it's still really important
to me is I have a mentor and I also am a mentor.
And so throughout my undergrad and throughout graduate school
and still now I have a personal mentor who worked in education for a while
and then she left to so a little bit so our stories are a little bit parallel.
And so seeking her out multiple times a year just to solicit advice from her has been really,
really helpful and just to kind of process difficult situations.
And so when I was thinking about leaving education and moving
to Target just having her is kind of a voice of reason, was really, really helpful,
and so she's such a great resource.
So, that's my biggest advice is be a mentor and have a mentor.