Michael Polk is currently an Advisory Director at Berkshire Partners, a private equity firm, and the Chief Executive Officer of Implus LLC. He was previously the CEO for Newell Brands, President and COO of Unilever, President of Nabisco at Kraft, and a member of the board of directors of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, Enactus, The Yankee Candle Company. He is also currently on the board of directors for both Logitech and Colgate-Palmolive. Mr. Polk holds a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University where he studied operations research and industrial engineering. He also holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School. Mr. Polk enjoys ice hockey and acapella, and was a member of the Glee Club during his time at Cornell.
Q: How did you get where you are now?
A: I graduated from Cornell’s Engineering School with a degree in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering in 1982, which was R mathematical modeling of manufacturing systems. I went to work in a manufacturing environment, in a paper mill that was part of Procter & Gamble’s network of factories. I liked P&G as a company, as a big chip consumer goods company, but the reality was I ended up picking P&G because of its proximity to Ithaca. I wasn’t ready to let go of my college experience, and my girlfriend at the time was entering law school at Cornell.
I had options at P&G to move laterally into more commercial roles, but it was going to take two to three years to transition. I decided a quicker path would be to go back to business school. So I applied to graduate school, and received my MBA from Harvard. After graduation, I spent my next 16 years at Kraft in a variety of roles from brand management and marketing to sales. Nine years in, I moved to Australia and ran all of Kraft Foods International across 20 different countries, including Australia, Japan, China, and New Zealand.
In 2003, after integrating Nabisco into Kraft, I left to run Unilever’s US food company. I led the integration of Unilever foods, home and personal care, and ice cream businesses (including Ben and Jerries), into one company. Then I was given the opportunity to run all of Unilever’s brands globally, including their marketing and R&D. I commuted to London every week, flying out from New Jersey on Sundays and returning Thursday. After Unilever I was recruited to be the CEO of Newell Rubbermaid, where I ran the company for eight and a half years. In 2019 I retired, but retirement didn’t suit me very well. I’m now working in Private Equity at Berkshire Partners and am the CEO of one of their portfolio companies, Implus. All different and exciting opportunities, and since graduation it’s been a wild, extraordinary ride.
Q: Did you have any particularly memorable experiences at Cornell?
A: My most memorable experiences were not the academic ones, but the things I got involved with outside of school, such as Glee Club and a small singing group called the Hangovers. Some of my fondest memories are going to hockey games and sleeping out for season tickets. I went to nearly every hockey game while I was there. It was a formative time for me personally because I grew up in college, rebelled in college, and did all the things you’re supposed to do in college. I would describe it as my breakaway years.
Q: Did obtaining an MBA change your outlook on the business world?
A: What business school did for me was to broaden my perspective. I arrived wondering whether I was worthy of being a student there, but quickly found out that a lot of my peers didn’t have experience in the real world. I became comfortable holding my own in a fast-paced environment, and my confidence grew a lot. Perhaps the single most important learning experience was being able to think on my feet and communicate clearly under pressure. We were taught using the Socratic method, and you would get cold called to open a business case.
For me, it opened doors. Sometimes people coming out of technology are burdened by the belief that they can't think broadly or commercially, but the Harvard experience allowed me to diffuse that filter. I proceeded to become one of the best marketers at Kraft and well thought-of marketer in the U.S., and it all happened as a result of choosing to go back to business school and widen the aperture of my education.
Q: How has your leadership style changed over the course of your career?
A: My whole leadership style has evolved over time. When I did Myers-Brigg testing, I was always an extreme introvert. Over time, I learned to be comfortable being “out there.” I think the key for success in any business is to figure out how to engender followership and align your agenda for the role you are in with the agenda’s of others, to create a scenario where all the people involved can achieve an outcome that allows them to declare success.
Learning how to work through others to get things done was probably the most important variable for me throughout my career. With respect to my CEO roles, a primary responsibility is to paint a picture of the future of the company and then put in place the activities that are going to get you there. That requires you to understand the strengths and the weaknesses of the company, the opportunities the company has, the competitive, environmental, and regulatory threats that could potentially get in the way of the company achieving its goals. You then communicate to the company to help people understand the context of your decisions.
That style of communication is a learned behavior; some people think it is natural, but I don’t believe that. You deliver through others, but you have accountability for articulating the strategic road map of the company. Inspiring people to deliver is important. Being at the front of the room, allocating resources the right way, and making the sharp choices necessary will get you there.
Q: What advice would you give to young professionals just starting their career?
A: The first and most important thing is to find something you are really passionate about, but of course that means different things to different people. I didn’t have a preconceived notion about doing consumer goods for my entire career, and it's been nearly 40 years. I love what I’m doing and I’m having a lot of fun doing it.
The other piece of advice is that it's really important to get stuff done, to make a contribution and to focus on the outcome. It matters how you get the outcomes of course, and you have to do it in the right way with integrity, but your next opportunity in life is going to be contingent on producing in the role you’re in today. Always focus on contributing to the company’s agenda. Finally, make sure you work in a way that respects people and respects the power of relationships, because relationships will enable you to get a lot more done. Always be principled in what you do - find your code and live by it, whether in your personal life or in your work.