Few people leave the stage at the right time and Brian Cornell may have overstayed his welcome as Target CEO. When he was hired in 2014 as the company’s first-ever outside pick for CEO, Target  (TGT)  was a bit of a mess.

Target was in crisis mode after a series of major stumbles:

• 2013 data breach that exposed 40 million credit cards and hurt consumer trust.
• Failed Canada expansion (2013–2015), which left the company billions in the red.
• Leadership turmoil: His predecessor, Gregg Steinhafel, resigned in May 2014 under pressure from the board.

It was an ugly period and Cornell quickly righted the ship. He shut down the company’s Canadian business in order to focus on the United States and he began making investment to both improve the in-store experience and to keep up with Amazon and Walmart despite lacking their resources.

Cornell was even named CNN’s Top CEO in 2019 and he seemingly had the company back on track. 

Target made smart investments

Cornell traced his success back to 2017 when he unveiled a plan that was heavy on brick-and-mortar investment.

“The decision was not well-received at the time. The ‘retail-is-dead’ narrative was in full effect, and we were making one of the largest investments in our history. But we knew that, over time, we would demonstrate we were doing the right thing for our guests, our business and our team,” he told CNN. 

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About a year later, the chain reported its best results in a decade. 

That success continued until a relatively recent series of missteps.  

Brian Cornell Target Successes

• 2017: $7 billion investment in remodels, wages, supply chain. 
• 2017-19: Store traffic returns to growth after years of decline. 
• 2019: Target’s same-day services (Drive Up, Shipt, Order Pickup) scale nationwide. 
• 2020: Pandemic boom: sales surge, $15 billion growth in a year. 
• 2020-21: Digital sales triple in three years. 
• 2021: Owned brands (Cat & Jack, Good & Gather) hit billions in sales. 
• 2023: Target ranks among top 10 U.S. e-commerce retailers. 
• 2024: Loyalty program Target Circle surpasses 100M members.

You can argue that buying Shipt for $550 million was Cornell’s best move. It allowed the chain to build out same-day delivery services for a fraction of what Walmart and Amazon had to spend to do the same thing.

Target’s Cornell made mistakes with customers

Cornell’s largest mistake has been that he has not made Target a place that’s welcoming to everyone while also celebrating diversity. He backed down countless times when faced with scandals that were essentially attempts to gaslight the brand.

That included a 2016 scandal where the company faced controversy over its decision to allow customers to use the bathroom of the gender they identified as. Target went a step further and added a solo bathroom so no customer would have to share a bathroom with someone they found objectionable.

As he would later do with the chain’s Pride collection and its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, Cornell made concessions that alienated the brand’s core audience. 

Target, in the DEI case, was clearly trying to appease President Donald Trump.

Experts think Target stumbled

Eric Schiffer of Los Angeles-based Reputation Management Consultants, had strong words for Target on the move.

“For Target, with an inclusive audience, this is their version of brand suicide,” he told Reuters.

Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD, told MarketWatch she was not surprised by the consumer reaction to Target’s DEI move.

“With the LGBTQ community wielding $1.4 trillion in spending power, and the fastest growing consumer segments being Black, Latine, and younger consumers, it’s no surprise that Target’s bottom line is down,” she said in a statement. “Other companies must take note: Prices and value are one thing, but to grow your business, you need to look at your values.”

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He realized his mistake and tried to address it an email to employees.

“I recognize that silence from us has created uncertainty, so I want to be very clear: We are still the Target you know and believe in,” said Cornell in the email.

The CEO also emphasized that Target’s values of “inclusivity, connection, drive” are “not up for debate” and said that the company is “committed” to sharing how its values create an impact,” reported TheStreet’s Patricia Battle. 

“The world around us is noisier and more complicated, but that doesn’t change who we are,” added Cornell.

Except, companies get judged by actions, not emails, and many of Cornell’s actions did not support the diverse audience that makes up Target’s core.

Brian Cornell Target Missteps Timeline

• 2016: Bathroom policy sparks boycott, sales drop. 
• 2022: Inventory glut, billions lost in markdowns. 
• 2023: Pride backlash, boycotts hit sales. 
• 2024-25: Foot traffic declines, Walmart gains share.
• 2025: Target scales back its DEI efforts.

As Cornell plans to retire this year, many believe he should be replaced by someone from outside the company.

“With the slew of challenges it faces, Target would benefit from an experienced outside hire. New ‘best practices’ are needed, as the well-worn Target play book is no longer resonating with customers. Just as they turned to Brian C a decade ago, bringing in his experience from Sam’s Club and Pepsi, a new external veteran of the industry is who they need now,” longtime retail industry executive Frank Margolis told RetailWire. 

Cornell himself understands that Target has work to do.

“I want to be clear that we’re not satisfied with this performance, and we’re moving with urgency to navigate through this period of volatility. Throughout our operations, we’re focused on consistency and reliability with an emphasis on retail fundamentals and delivering a superior guest experience that features newness, differentiation and value,” he shared during its first-quarter earnings call,” he said.

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Several conservatives, news organizations and right-wing social media accounts are fighting a culture war over videos of sororities — typically majority white — doing choreographed dances for sorority rush week. But there’s one problem: There’s been no evidence of recent widespread backlash or public discourse over the videos this month. In other words… “no one cares,” as one expert in American studies says.

In a recent segment of “Finnerty” on Newsmax, host Rob Finnerty spent some time discussing a part of the sorority recruitment process, referred to as rush, as videos of female college students dancing together played on-air. Finnerty called rush “one of the great American traditions for female college students.”

“It should be OK to celebrate things that are uniquely American,” he said. “But over the past several years we haven’t done that, we’ve been scared. Scared of the backlash, scared of who we might offend, we’ve been told that what you’re seeing here is wrong.

“We were told there wasn’t enough diversity in all these videos. But all that is changing, and it’s changing because of what happened in November,” he said, referencing President Donald Trump’s presidential election.

“You can’t watch these videos without smiling,” he later continued. “And maybe wishing that you were in college. Maybe wishing that this could be you again. And that should be OK.”

Finnerty then bemoaned that the country has seen “four years of [Joe] Biden and DEI, and tremendous reverse discrimination, especially against white people — especially against white men.”

“Fun is back,” he said, before adding, “America is healing by being America again.”

Finnerty faced backlash after a clip of his on-air remarks made rounds on X. Several people pointed out that his rant on the conservative TV channel fell flat, since the supposed outrage over the sorority videos seemed manufactured — especially since sorority rush videos have been going viral on TikTok for years. Other X users thought his speech celebrating college girls dancing came off as “creepy.”

But Finnerty isn’t the only talking head who’s made an issue of these sorority rush videos in recent weeks. Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly recently celebrated the “amazing” videos on her podcast, “The Megyn Kelly Show,” saying: “Young women of America are happy to lean back into being hot and together and free and unmasked in every way.”

On Sunday, the official X account for Fox News tweeted a dancing sorority video, claiming that the viral clips are “making waves once more, with some calling it proof that ‘America is back,’ describing sorority girls as ‘warriors on the frontline of TikTok’ pushing back on lockdown-era culture and showing renewed Gen Z patriotism.”

Conservative radio host Jesse Kelly wrote on X last week that the “sorority dance videos are just another sign that we’re in the midst of a backlash against the ugly communists who ruled us for a short time.”

And elsewhere on X, there are countless posts claiming that the sorority rush videos are causing a “liberal backlash,” or a liberal “meltdown.” Other social media users are echoing Finnerty’s message, saying the videos are a sign that “America is back” and that the country is “healing.”

While, for years, there’s been many discussions and criticisms about the lack of diversity on display in these yearly overwhelmingly white sorority rush videos, among other criticisms about the campus culture at some of these schools, many people on social media are not buying the claims that there’s been recent waves of so-called liberal meltdowns over these videos.

“Manufactured outrage!! NOBODY gives a crap about any of this. But fox and media will sell the shit out of it and you will swallow it,” one X user wrote.

“It’s so weird that they keep saying we are outraged about shit that we are not outraged about,” wrote another.

“What does any of this have to do with conservatism?” another X user questioned.

Kari J. Winter, a professor of American studies at the University at Buffalo whose expertise includes gender, feminism, race and class, told HuffPost that Finnerty and “other MAGA folks are obviously trying to emotionally charge a trivial non-issue in order to distract us from real issues like — gee, I don’t know — the big ugly bill’s devastating impact on Americans?”

“Trump’s meeting with Putin while excluding Zelenskyy?” she continued.“Trump’s decades-long intimacy with Jeffrey Epstein? The devastating impacts of climate change? Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza?”

“Finnerty and Kelly really don’t want Americans to be asking important questions. For example, why does Trump think that building a $200M ballroom is more important than allowing Americans to keep their Medicaid insurance?” she added.

And as it relates to Finnerty’s remarks that the sorority rush videos are “uniquely American,” Winter thinks his remarks are “too idiotic to merit a response.”

Shaun Harper, a professor of education, business and public policy at the University of Southern California, said that when Finnerty and others make a point of celebrating the majority white sorority videos as proof that America is “healing,” what they’re really celebrating is “the absence of Black and brown faces in these videos, which to them looks familiar and characteristically American.”

And it’s all a tactic, Harper tells HuffPost.

“The conservative play here is predictable: lure liberals into a fight they didn’t ask for, misrepresent their critiques of exclusionary too-white spaces as wokeness, and then further convince the MAGA base that it is white Americans who are being discriminated against by policies and practices that aim to make organizations like sororities more racially diverse.”

And for those posting sorority rush videos as a way to slam the left? Winter says, “No one cares about sorority rush videos. Are you kidding me?”

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Pride Month is here, and there’s no question we’ve come a long way since the first Pride events, which advocated for collective solidarity, individual identity, and resistance to discrimination and violence. Yet we still have much further to go.

According to one recent report from the University of California at Los Angeles, nearly half of LGBTQ workers have experienced workplace discrimination or harassment at some point in their professional lives. Add in microaggressions, or the everyday slights that happen in plain sight in front of colleagues and managers, and the number is even higher.

Here’s where allies can make a difference—and there are plenty of them. One PRRI public opinion report indicates that three-quarters of Americans support policies that protect LGBTQ Americans from discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodation. 

But being an ally to any minority is hard, especially when it’s not always obvious when someone identifies as LBGTQIA+. 

So how can you be a better ally and bolster inclusion at work? Here are three ways (plus a bonus!) to be a more effective ally to the LGBTQIA+ community, from a business leader who also happens to be a lesbian.

1. Educate yourself

Allyship isn’t a passive thing that shows up without effort. Take it upon yourself to understand the struggles of your LGBTQIA+ colleagues and actively try to create change in your workplace. 

The LGBTQIA+ label is a huge catchall (and a long acronym by any measure). Learning about the everyday experiences of even part of this community is a great starting point to better understanding the struggles we face. In turn, you can take steps to become a more effective ally and drive informed change. At the very least, it’ll help you recognize when you have the opportunity to stand up for, or against, something on our behalf.

Checking unconscious biases is also part of this narrative. Being self-aware to identify behaviors we’re not usually conscious of is the first step in learning how to avoid unintentionally acting on them.

2. Recognize your privilege and use it for good

You don’t have to apologize for it, you don’t have to hide it, but you do need to understand your privilege and the power it bestows. 

Being a heterosexual person in the workplace—and in the world—gives you the chance to make a difference. It allows you to challenge bias, tackle unfairness, and effect change. And for a heteronormative individual, you can often do those things with far lesser risk. So be vocal. This doesn’t have to be in a big, highly visible way—it can be as simple as respecting someone’s chosen name or pronouns, and encouraging or gently correcting other people if they defer to the traditional he/she binaries.
You have the armor of privilege. Embrace it and then use it to open doors for those who don’t have that same protection.

Incidentally, having these conversations outside of the workplace with family and friends educates them on what being an effective ally can look like and what they can do to help. The more people we can bring to a place of understanding and support, the deeper the change.

3. Change the culture

Consistency is a major win when it comes to good allyship. It’s essential to building trust and driving lasting change, so model inclusive behaviors. 

How? Good allies share opportunities with others: they cut out (and call out) microaggressions thinly disguised as banter; they use inclusive language with intention and sincerity; they listen to a member of the community over coffee and welcome someone into their space. 

It can be as simple as being the voice against presumptions in the workplace. I’ve seen this myself when colleagues default to gendered generalities. For example, there’s using he/him pronouns when referring to generic or hypothetical humans (“Whoever we bring onboard, he should be highly skilled”). Or assuming someone’s gender on the basis of their name when you don’t actually know the person or how they identify (“I haven’t met Ryan, but I hope he’s top-notch”). By gently correcting (“Whoever we bring onboard, they should be highly skilled” or “I haven’t met Ryan, but I hope they’re top-notch”), you remind others that gender isn’t always what it seems—and that not everyone fits neatly into a gender normative box.

It can also be about consciously changing patterned social behaviors. For example, if a coworker mentions that they’re married, don’t assume they have a husband or wife of a different gender. I can’t count the number of times colleagues and clients have asked me “What does your husband do?” over the years. I’ve had to come out again and again over the span of my career. 

Instead, consider asking about who they most enjoy spending time with outside of work or who the important people are in their life. It’s an open question that, when asked in an authentic and respectful way, invites the other person to share within their own level of comfort.

Continue to challenge the microaggressions. Culture change doesn’t come solely from the top. It comes from repetition, from small corrections, and from people like you choosing to do the right thing consistently.

The bonus: Don’t beat yourself up

The ever-evolving language of inclusion means we all trip up occasionally, even with the best of intentions. No one expects you to get it right every time. Don’t sweat it.

Even we trip up within our own community, be it over chosen names, pronouns, or how we support our loved ones who are transitioning. Give yourself some grace. If you make a mistake, apologize, learn, and keep going. Don’t let a slip-up stop you from showing up.

Allyship isn’t about being perfect. It’s rarely about big gestures. It’s about showing up, paying attention, and doing what you can consistently. Sometimes it means speaking up. Sometimes it means stepping forward on someone else’s behalf. And sometimes it just means being someone others know they can count on. The small, everyday actions add up. And when enough people do them, that’s when real change happens.

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