Coming out of retirement is not a decision most executives make lightly. For Michael Polk, the choice to take on the leadership of Implus in 2019 was driven by the appeal of a different kind of challenge one that required a more hands-on approach than the large public company environments he had known at Newell Brands and Unilever.
What Drew Polk Back
Implus is a private equity-owned company with a younger, ambitious workforce. For a leader with Polk’s depth of experience spanning more than four decades and companies including Kraft, Unilever, and Newell Brands the opportunity to work directly with developing talent represented a meaningful shift. Large public companies are built around systems of delegation. Polk has been clear that at a company like Unilever or Newell Brands, getting things done means working through other people, not alongside them. Implus offered something closer to the early career work he had found most energizing.
Polk has described the experience as going back to the future reconnecting with the actual craft of building brands, designing commercial programs, and developing sales strategies. At a company of Implus’s scale, the CEO can participate directly in those activities rather than reviewing the outputs of teams several layers removed from the work.
Private Capital and Leadership Flexibility
The private equity structure also shapes how Michael Polk Newell Brands approaches risk. Without the quarterly reporting obligations of a publicly traded company an environment where he once estimated spending around thirty percent of his time on investor relations Polk and his team can take a longer view. Implus’s owners are oriented toward the long-term health of the business rather than short-cycle performance management, which gives leadership the freedom to pursue bolder moves. For Polk, that combination of hands-on work and patient capital made the return from retirement an obvious choice once the right opportunity appeared. Refer to this article to learn more.
More about Michael Polk on https://www.businessload.com/run-grow-business/michael-polk-newell-brands-former-ceo-shares-his-unique-approach-to-leading-through-transformation/