As a first-generation American, former CEO of Newell Brands Michael Polk is no stranger to taking risks. His family came to the United States with nothing but a dream. Today, Michael Polk is one of the most decorated consumer packaged goods (CPG) executives in the nation.
With a career spanning leadership roles at large corporations like Kraft Foods and Unilever, Polk has seen his fair share of high-stakes moments, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. “I’ve grown through all of my different experiences in my career, and I probably have had the most fulfilling experiences when I’m on a learning curve,” he says.
As the former CEO of Newell Brands and current Advisory Director with Berkshire Partners and CEO of one of their portfolio companies, Polk’s insights into leadership reveal the profound opportunities—and challenges—that come with driving transformation in complex organizations. From steering a public company to revitalizing private equity-owned businesses, Polk explains how high-stakes leadership fosters growth, resilience, and a broader perspective on what it means to lead.
Former CEO of Newell Brands Michael Polk on the Challenges of Leadership
Michael Polk has decades of experience leading companies like Newell Brands in the public sector, but every company is different. Polk is candid about how the size and structure of a company affect a CEO’s role. While large public companies demand significant time managing investor relations and delivering shareholder value, smaller private equity-backed firms require a more hands-on approach.
CEOs at large public companies have to contend with demands from employees, the public, customers, and shareholders. “Your time is allocated differently. As a CEO of a public company, I was certainly spending 25, 30% of my time with investors and with the public markets. As a leader of a public company, a large public company, you are obviously clearly accountable for unlocking shareholder value,” Michael Polk explains. Being everywhere at once is impossible, so Polk created a strong and empowered team to get the job done. “The way you do that is by focusing on the strategic agenda of the company in allocating resources in a way that delivers against the strategic plan you’ve got. You’re typically working through other people and leading through other people to get things done,” he adds.
In addition to the number of demands for such a visible role, Michael Polk also admits work-life balance can be a struggle. “Obviously, you work really hard. You’re making trade-offs, and you’re trying to keep that all in balance between your life and your work,” he explains. “That’s a tension that’s always there. It doesn’t matter whether that’s a big company, it doesn’t matter whether that’s early in your career or further along in your career.” Polk is deeply appreciative of his wife and children, who moved several times for his professional development. However, as his children grew up and the consistency of friend networks became more important to them, Polk made the sacrifices for the sake of his career. “The family said we’re not moving around anymore,” Michael Polk says. “So, at Unilever, I commuted weekly from New Jersey to London for two years, and at Newell Brands, I did the same for five years between New Jersey and Atlanta.”
Polk was affiliated with Newell Brands for 10 years, first as a member of the Board of Directors for 2 years and then as CEO for 8 years. He subscribes to the view that one has to perform and deliver results consistently to earn the right to be the CEO. Michael Polk says that he was driven to perform and be effective as the CEO of Newell Brands. “I would guess that all CEOs recognize that they have to deliver results to be in the role, and with the opportunity to lead comes both the potential for success and the risks of not being effective,” he explains. Leaders in high-stakes environments understand the tradeoffs they are making and the occasional sleepless night that comes with the territory.
Growing Through Difficult Moments
Michael Polk’s career has focused on leading change and driving business transformation. Businesses bring him in when they need a change in direction or a turnaround, and he has impressive results to show for it. The former CEO of Newell Brands Michael Polk increased the company’s size by 75% and tripled its value in his eight years as CEO. Polk restructured the business from a holding company to an operating company and he transformed the portfolio through 35 different transactions – 18 divestitures and 17 acquisitions.
Of course, not all transformations work out. Polk frames these situations as opportunities for growth. “I’ve made plenty of mistakes and had plenty of challenges in my career that have hurt in the moment, but you grow through those experiences,” he says. “It’s all been opportunity. Some of that opportunity realized in a way I couldn’t have imagined and others maybe not fully realized, but part of my growth journey.”
No Risk, No Reward
After almost 40 years of corporate transformation, Polk has experienced his fair share of high-stakes decisions—and he wouldn’t have it any other way. “I’ve had so many amazing experiences. I’ve been privileged to live this life and have this career,” he says. “I feel like I’ve earned parts of it, but some of it is being lucky and being in the right place.” The busy executive retired in 2019, but that didn’t last long. He’s been out of retirement since 2020, leading a private equity-owned company through its own season of transformation. In many ways, his latest chapter of his career is a new interesting challenge in a new sector of the market. In other words, he is re-applying a playbook built over 40 years of experience in consumer goods. He sums it up the following way. “We are proud of our progress, but we still have a lot of work to do.”
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