For some, the American dream looks like Little League games and holidays with the family. But for first-generation immigrants like former Newell Brands CEO Michael Polk, achieving the American dream meant digging deep and building a brighter future for his family. Raised by hardworking immigrant parents, Polk quickly grasped the value of independence and creating a meaningful life in the Land of Opportunity.
Polk’s early interests leaned toward the arts, influenced by his musically talented family. However, he had a natural aptitude for math and science. “I was doing well in school. While I enjoyed the arts, my real competency was in math and science. I loved the outdoors and natural sciences and had built my own weather station at home to track the weather and the storms that often hit the southern Connecticut coast,” he says.
While he considered becoming a meteorologist, Polk chose to pursue engineering instead, which set him on a path to a distinguished career in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry.
Michael Polk’s Ivy League Education and Career Beginnings
Polk’s educational journey began with a focus on engineering at Cornell University, where he majored in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering. This niche field sounded overly technical to Michael Polk’s college friends. Still, he credits his education with his capacity for optimizing systems — a talent that would later drive Michael Polk’s Newell Brands success. “My peers in civil, chemical, and electrical engineering called this major ‘imaginary engineering,’ poking fun at the fact that this was a pretty narrow field focused on mathematical modeling of manufacturing systems,” Polk says. “We were using early computer programming languages to figure out how to optimize material handling and usage in factories or how to optimize services industry flows using queuing theory.”
Michael Polk On Becoming Newell Brands’ CEO
In 2011, Michael Polk was appointed CEO of Newell Brands (formerly Newell Rubbermaid), where he led a remarkable transformation. His leadership strategy focused on leveraging value drivers and reshaping the company’s business portfolio. During his tenure, Polk completed 35 transactions, evenly split between acquisitions and divestitures, to sharpen Newell’s focus on consumer goods. His efforts included streamlining operations, reducing overhead costs, and embracing digital commerce, increasing eCommerce from 9% to over 20% of global business. Under Michael Polk, Newell Brands’ net sales grew from $5.4 billion to $9.4 billion when he retired in 2019.
The transformation of Newell Brands under Michael Polk led to impressive financial growth by restructuring the brand into a cohesive, consumer-focused global company. Through Project Renewal, he saved Newell Brands $500 million, allowing the company to invest more heavily in marketing and growth. “We met or exceeded our external guidance in 30 of the 32 quarters that I served as CEO, delivered significant value to shareholders through the nearly tripling of the enterprise value of the company, and the 253% increase in the dividend,” Polk reflects.
A New Chapter with Implus
Satisfied with the results of his hard work, Michael Polk retired from Newell Brands in 2019. However, the active executive didn’t stay out of work for long. Following his retirement from Newell Brands, Michael Polk took on the role of Advisory Director for Berkshire Partners and later became CEO of Implus.
Reinvigorated by the energy of working at a private company, Polk created a “double down” strategy to lead Implus through the challenging days of the 2020 pandemic. This “double down” strategy focused on portfolio changes, cultural shifts, and leadership transformation — all during a difficult global pandemic. The team is still in the process of executing on the double down strategy, but the company is already seeing a tremendous payoff from Polk’s ambitious plan.
Michael Polk’s Newell Brands Success
From transforming Newell Brands to his ongoing leadership at Implus, Michael Polk’s career journey shows the value of embracing change. A combination of hard work, out-of-the-box thinking, and collaboration allowed him to make big but necessary changes in the companies he led, generating impressive long-term results. “Each of these chapters helped me grow as a leader and I am a stronger executive and person for having had the experience,” he says.