When Michael Polk retired from Newell Brands in 2019, he carried with him a record of transforming the company’s enterprise value from roughly $5 billion to more than $15 billion during his tenure. That kind of track record typically leads executives toward advisory boards or board seats at other large corporations. Polk chose something different entirely.

In 2020, he became CEO of Implus LLC, a fitness and active lifestyle accessories company with a 16-brand portfolio and a global footprint, backed by private equity firm Berkshire Partners. The move placed him in a smaller, more agile environment than he had known during his years at Kraft Foods, Unilever, and Newell Brands. Michael Polk has been candid about what drew him back: the chance to lead differently.

Private Ownership Changes the Calculus

Public companies operate under constant scrutiny from shareholders, analysts, and quarterly reporting cycles. Private companies carry different pressures. Owners like Berkshire Partners tend to take a longer view, which gives leaders more room to make decisions based on what is genuinely right for the business rather than what protects the next earnings report.

For Michael Polk Newell Brands, that shift opened up a more collaborative way of working. Without the layers that insulate senior executives in large organizations, he engages directly with his team on brand development and business decisions. Employees at Implus face bigger responsibilities earlier in their careers, and management fills in as player-coaches rather than distant directors.

Leadership Built Through Doing

Polk notes that private companies grow their people “by doing.” There are fewer training programs and more real-time problem solving. That scrappy approach builds a different kind of competence. For a leader of his experience, it also offers something refreshing: genuine connection to the craft of building a business. “I am having the time of my professional life building Implus LLC into what I expect will be a bigger, better, and highly competitive fitness and active lifestyle consumer goods company,” Michael Polk has said. Read this article for additional information.

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