Don Liu

Former Executive Vice President, Chief Legal & Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary, Target Corporation

2022 CKA Elevate Series: Don Liu, Executive Vice President & Chief Legal Officer, Target Corporation

🎥 Jul 14, 2022 📺 CouncilofKoreanAmericans ⏱ 4m

Introducing the 2022 CKA Elevate Series, CKA's new video initiative consisting of brief 5-minute interviews to elevate leaders for greater impact in their respective sectors and industries. We invite you to engage, network, and grow with us as we spotlight our very own Korean American trailblazers. Meet CKA Member Don Liu (Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, Target Corporation) who shares with us a few thoughts on dreaming big, reaching the top of the mountain, and why failure isn't always a bad thing.

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About Don Liu

In 2022, Don Liu, then Executive Vice President, Chief Legal & Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary at Target, participated in two video interviews where he discussed his career, leadership philosophy, and efforts to mentor Asian American professionals. In the CKA Elevate Series, Liu said he was motivated to pursue law after observing his parents' lack of awareness of their legal rights and feeling they were "being had." He advised young professionals to "dream big," take risks, and not fear failure, adding that he believes many Korean Americans are afraid of failure due to potential family reactions. Liu also encouraged Asian American professionals to "send the elevator down" for younger generations, noting that some successful individuals do not spend enough time mentoring, while many mentees are reluctant to ask for help. In the NAPABA Coffee House interview, Liu described his career path from a mid-size law firm to in-house roles at US Healthcare, Xerox, and Target, which he called "the crowning moment of my career." He said he negotiated the title of Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Xerox to reflect the role's importance. Liu acknowledged receiving early 360-degree feedback that he was "arrogant, intimidating, and not a good listener," and said he learned to count to ten before responding under stress. He emphasized that professionals should move to a new job only when it offers growth, not to escape a bad situation. Liu also noted that when he was younger there were few Asian American role models, and he views his involvement with NAPABA as a way to help others obtain similar positions.

Source: AI-verified profile updated from Don Liu's recent appearances. Browse all interviews →

Transcript (5 segments)

Don Liu0:27

My parents were always ignorant of what their legal rights are. They were always being ignored, they were always feeling like they were being had. And what I wanted to do was to really create a much better life for them, much better community for them. And during college, I learned the impact that Martin Luther King had for all racially diverse communities, and I really wanted to be able to do something like that.

Because if you're not organized enough to be there on time and be ready to go, you're probably gonna miss the boat. So I do think that half the game is to be there. Dream big, really big. I think a lot of kids don't have the opportunity or don't see a horizon that can take them to the top of the mountain. Take some risk, take significant risks. What's the worst thing happen if you take risk and you fail? Well, you go on to the next project or next job doing something else. It's okay for you to fail on something, learn from it. I think a lot of people, next time you try, they'll be even more proud.

A lot of Asian Americans who reach a certain level of success in their profession, whatever their profession is, they work so hard essentially by themselves. They don't spend enough time, to quote Daniel Day Kim, to send the elevator down for the benefit of the younger generation. Sometimes it's simply the fact that they don't realize there are a lot of professionals who need help, and sometimes they just feel like, well, I did it on my own, so they should do it on their own as well. It's more complicated than that.

Then you go to the next potential mentor and ask them, but many of the mentees are a little reluctant themselves to go ask for help.

When I was growing up as a young professional, I had really very few role models who were either Korean-American or Asian American. I think we now do. I think there are some amazingly successful people in corporate America, entertainment. We realized that the sky is the limit, and to be able to connect directly with those young people who have aspirations, connect them directly and encourage them, keep going in their dream. That's why I do what I do, and it's been wonderful to be able to make some small contribution to their career.