When Michael Polk joined Implus LLC as CEO in 2020, he carried with him a career’s worth of experience from some of the most prominent public companies in the consumer goods world. What he discovered at Implus, however, was a leadership environment that demanded something different from anything he had encountered before.
Implus is owned by Berkshire Partners and manages a portfolio of 16 brands focused on fitness accessories and active lifestyle products. For a seasoned executive accustomed to managing thousands of employees across global operations, the shift to a leaner, privately held organization prompted a genuine reconsideration of what good leadership means.
Closer to the Work, Closer to the Team
At Newell Brands, where Polk served as CEO before retiring in 2019, his role required navigating the scale and complexity of a major public corporation. He made decisions that shaped the company’s overall direction but was naturally separated from the granular work of building individual brands. At Implus, that separation does not exist.
“I spend much more time doing the brand and business development work directly with my team as opposed to focusing on resource allocation and having to work through layers in the organization to influence the demand-creation or cost-reduction choices people are making. I am right there with them in the crucible, helping them make the choices that are going to drive our business forward,” said Michael Polk.
That direct involvement shapes how talent develops at Implus as well. Private companies, Michael Polk Newell Brands has observed, push employees into substantive roles earlier than large corporations typically do. Resources are limited, so there is little room for redundancy or over-specialization. People learn by taking on real responsibilities, navigating actual decisions, and dealing with genuine consequences.
Building the Next Generation of Leaders
“They grow and learn by doing,” Polk said of the employees at smaller private companies. “As a corollary, senior leaders are drawn deeper into the business as player-coaches and have to help their people in those moments of choice and also manage risk.”
This model, in Michael Polk’s view, accelerates growth for leaders at every level. For Michael Polk personally, it has rekindled the hands-on brand-building work that defined the earlier chapters of his career, while allowing him to fulfill the broader purpose of shaping a company’s future. He has said he is having the time of his professional life at Implus, building what he expects will be a bigger and more competitive fitness and active lifestyle business. Read this article for more information.
More about Michael Polk Newell Brands on https://www.businessload.com/run-grow-business/michael-polk-newell-brands-former-ceo-shares-his-unique-approach-to-leading-through-transformation/