There are often two ways a CEO of a public company rides off into the sunset.

One is when the CEO realizes they can't do more at a company and that current results are as good as they are likely to get in the near term.

They hand the reins to someone younger, a candidate who has been developed over the years to wade into rejiggering an already finely tuned operation.

In this case, the grizzled veteran CEO will usually slip into an executive chairman role for a year to oversee their pupil.

Another way is to recognize that it's time for a change in voice or a new generation, if you will, for the good of the company and shareholders.

The situation for longtime Target (TGT) CEO and chairman Brian Cornell looks to be an amalgamation of both. And how Cornell and the Target board — comprised of former CEOs of UPS (UPS), Clorox (CLX), Safeway, and Cardinal Health (CAH) — act could set the tone for the next decade as the chain tries to reclaim market share from Walmart (WMT) and thwart the new world order of tariffs.

Somewhat lost in the retailer's brutal first quarter results (a recurring theme for Target since last year) is the announcement of a new "multi-year Enterprise Acceleration Office."

Target said this is more than just corporate jargon. The office will be led by COO Michael Fiddelke, the former Target intern who started at the retailer in 2003 and rose to CFO before his current title.

Fiddelke — who has the same calm demeanor as Cornell — will be tasked with improving operating efficiencies throughout the company and driving faster decision making at the top.

In effect, Fiddelke is now leading one of the most important initiatives at the company while still being COO and reporting directly to Cornell. If he can get Target back to efficient earnings growth, Fiddelke may be handed the keys to the kingdom.

With more results like the ones over the past five quarters, the board may be inclined to look outside the existing management team for a new CEO. It would be similar to what happened more than 10 years ago when Cornell was brought in.

A decision on the CEO position could be coming soon.

In September 2022, Target scrapped its CEO retirement age of 65. Cornell signed on for three more years, making 2025 the year when a successor could be announced.

A Target spokesperson told Yahoo Finance that CEO succession is led by the board. They added that Cornell doesn't have a "contract" and committed in September 2022 to lead the company for approximately three more years.

"He will retire soon," one former CEO with ties to the retailer told Yahoo Finance.