After retiring from Newell Brands in the summer of 2019, Michael Polk Newell Brands did not stay away from corporate leadership for long. Following a period of time off, he returned to work in early 2020 as an advisory director of Berkshire Partners and as chief executive officer of Implus LLC, one of the private equity firm’s portfolio companies.
Berkshire Partners recruited Polk specifically to lead a turnaround and transformation effort at Implus LLC, a mission he has since described with a phrase of his own, the “double down” approach.
Building A New Direction At Implus
That approach included several moving parts. Michael Polk pursued changes to the company’s portfolio of products, introduced new ways of working across the organization, and established a set of core beliefs meant to guide its corporate culture. He also recruited a new leadership team to help carry out the plan.
The timing added extra difficulty to the assignment. Polk took on the Implus turnaround just as the global pandemic began disrupting supply chains and consumer demand across nearly every industry. Despite those obstacles, Implus has continued moving toward its goal of creating value for Berkshire Partners, though specific financial results remain private given the company’s ownership structure.
Those close to the company, including its owners and management team, have expressed satisfaction with the progress made so far, even though Implus remains privately held and does not disclose detailed financial figures to the public. Michael Polk continues to serve as both an advisory director for Berkshire Partners and as president and chief executive officer of Implus, applying lessons from his years at Procter & Gamble, Kraft Foods, Unilever, and Newell Rubbermaid to a smaller, privately held business. The assignment reflects a familiar pattern in his career, taking on organizations that need structural change and building a plan to carry it out from the ground up. Refer to this article for more information.
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