What Not To Do During a Company Turnaround, According To Former Newell Brands CEO Michael Polk

Turning around a struggling company is one of the most challenging tasks a leader can undertake. It requires a clear vision, disciplined execution, and the ability to lead an organization through uncertainty. Michael Polk, the former CEO of Newell Brands, successfully led the company through a dramatic transformation during his eight-year tenure.

From 2011 until his retirement in 2019, he tripled the company’s value and increased the dividend by nearly 4 times. It wasn’t easy: Polk spent several years building the proof of concept through leading change at Kraft Foods and Unilever before gaining Board support to drive his transformation plan for Newell.

Former CEO of Newell Brands Michael Polk Shares The Don’ts of Turnarounds

Newell Brands tapped Michael Polk for the role of CEO because of his successful track record of driving change. With a resume boasting leadership positions at large public companies like Kraft Foods and Unilever, Polk had the chops to design an aggressive transformation plan for the struggling company. He and his team developed a plan to reposition the company as a focused consumer packaged goods (CPG)  company with streamlined offerings and a new business structure.

The plan worked, but after 40 years in the trenches, Michael Polk believes knowing what not to do during a turnaround is just as important as having a blueprint of what to do next. He shares his top list of must-avoid tactics for CEOs interested in turnarounds of their own.

1. Don’t Avoid Tough Decisions

Turnarounds demand tough, sometimes unpopular, decisions. One of the first steps in a successful turnaround is identifying the key value drivers of the business and reallocating resources accordingly. However, leaders often fall into the trap of trying to please everyone.

“When driving change, you have to be choiceful and decisive,” Polk explains. “Often, that means reallocating resources from some businesses and giving them to others. You may not win popularity contests, but you have to do what is necessary.” Failing to make the harder right choices early can lead to wasted resources and prolonged inefficiencies, jeopardizing the entire effort.

2. Don’t Rely on Old Models

A turnaround is not the time to stick to the status quo. Polk inherited a Newell Rubbermaid operating model that functioned as a loose conglomerate of disparate businesses. He recognized its limitations and shifted the organization to a unified operating company with seven consumer-facing divisions. “The real goal was to transform the company into an operating company with a more single-minded purpose,” he recalls. Had Polk clung to the existing model, the company would have continued to struggle.

3. Don’t Underestimate the Power of Communication

One of the biggest mistakes a leader can make during a turnaround is failing to communicate the strategy and its rationale to the organization. Without buy-in from employees, even the best-laid plans can falter. Polk over-communicated his vision to ensure alignment. Leaders who overlook this step risk alienating employees, fostering resistance, and undermining morale. “We created a document that outlined on a single page the company’s where to play and how to win choices and gave every employee a copy. This device gave our people the context for change and helped them stay grounded through the transformation,” he says.

4. Don’t Spread Resources Too Thin

Michael Polk warns against the temptation to distribute resources evenly across all business areas. This approach dilutes impact and hinders progress in critical areas during a turnaround. Instead, leaders need to focus on investments where they will drive the greatest value. “In many of my experiences, I’ve found that companies are very democratic in allocating resources. In turnaround situations, that just doesn’t work.  You have to focus resources on the businesses with the greatest right to win,” he says. Leaders can maximize returns and build momentum for the broader transformation by concentrating resources on the strongest opportunities.

5. Don’t Ignore Organizational Culture

Turnarounds often focus on finances and operations, but ignore culture-building and that can be a costly oversight. Polk understood that building a strong leadership team and fostering alignment within the organization were critical to Newell’s success. “The progress we made would not have happened without strengthening the leadership team and investing in talent deeper in the organization,” Polk says. Leaders who neglect culture risk creating a disengaged workforce that struggles to execute the turnaround plan.

Avoiding Mistakes is Half the Battle in Transformations

The transformation of Newell Rubbermaid into Newell Brands wasn’t an easy journey, but as the former CEO of Newell Brands, Michael Polk transformed Newell Brands. In the first quarter of his serving as CEO, net sales were $5.4 billion; in his last quarter (2019), they were $9.4 billion. That’s an eight-year CAGR of 7.2%. “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 two-hundred and fifty-three percent increase in the dividend,” Polk says.

Newell Brands’ turnaround was impressive, and there are plenty of lessons to learn from his transformational efforts with the conglomerate. However, Polk is clear that the transformation of Newell was not a function of one person but rather the whole team involved.  He is also clear that there are bound to be missteps along the way. Polk says, ”You just need to pick yourself up, keep going, and learn from the mistakes. I've grown through all of my different experiences in my career, and I probably have the most fulfilling experiences when I'm learning, which even after 43 years in business, I do every day,” he says.

The Benefits of High-Stakes Leadership, According to Michael Polk Former CEO of Newell Brands

As a first-generation American, former CEO of Newell Brands Michael Polk is no stranger to taking risks. His family came to the United States with nothing but a dream. Today, Michael Polk is one of the most decorated consumer packaged goods (CPG) executives in the nation.

With a career spanning leadership roles at large corporations like Kraft Foods and Unilever, Polk has seen his fair share of high-stakes moments, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. “I've grown through all of my different experiences in my career, and I probably have had the most fulfilling experiences when I'm on a learning curve,” he says.

As the former CEO of Newell Brands and current Advisory Director with Berkshire Partners and CEO of one of their portfolio companies, Polk’s insights into leadership reveal the profound opportunities—and challenges—that come with driving transformation in complex organizations. From steering a public company to revitalizing private equity-owned businesses, Polk explains how high-stakes leadership fosters growth, resilience, and a broader perspective on what it means to lead.

Former CEO of Newell Brands Michael Polk on the Challenges of Leadership

Michael Polk has decades of experience leading companies like Newell Brands in the public sector, but every company is different. Polk is candid about how the size and structure of a company affect a CEO's role. While large public companies demand significant time managing investor relations and delivering shareholder value, smaller private equity-backed firms require a more hands-on approach.

CEOs at large public companies have to contend with demands from employees, the public, customers, and shareholders. “Your time is allocated differently. As a CEO of a public company, I was certainly spending 25, 30% of my time with investors and with the public markets. As a leader of a public company, a large public company, you are obviously clearly accountable for unlocking shareholder value,” Michael Polk explains. Being everywhere at once is impossible, so Polk created a strong and empowered team to get the job done. “The way you do that is by focusing on the strategic agenda of the company in allocating resources in a way that delivers against the strategic plan you've got. You're typically working through other people and leading through other people to get things done,” he adds.

In addition to the number of demands for such a visible role, Michael Polk also admits work-life balance can be a struggle. “Obviously, you work really hard. You're making trade-offs, and you're trying to keep that all in balance between your life and your work,” he explains. “That's a tension that's always there. It doesn't matter whether that's a big company, it doesn't matter whether that's early in your career or further along in your career.” Polk is deeply appreciative of his wife and children, who moved several times for his professional development. However, as his children grew up and the consistency of friend networks became more important to them,  Polk made the sacrifices for the sake of his career. “The family said we’re not moving around anymore,” Michael Polk says.  “So, at Unilever, I commuted weekly from New Jersey to London for two years, and at Newell Brands, I did the same for five years between New Jersey and Atlanta.”

Polk was affiliated with Newell Brands for 10 years, first as a member of the Board of Directors for 2 years and then as CEO for 8 years.  He subscribes to the view that one has to perform and deliver results consistently to earn the right to be the CEO.  Michael Polk says that he was driven to perform and be effective as the CEO of Newell Brands. “I would guess that all CEOs recognize that they have to deliver results to be in the role, and with the opportunity to lead comes both the potential for success and the risks of not being effective,” he explains. Leaders in high-stakes environments understand the tradeoffs they are making and the occasional sleepless night that comes with the territory.

Growing Through Difficult Moments

Michael Polk’s career has focused on leading change and driving business transformation. Businesses bring him in when they need a change in direction or a turnaround,  and he has impressive results to show for it. The former CEO of Newell Brands Michael Polk increased the company’s size by 75% and tripled its value in his eight years as CEO. Polk restructured the business from a holding company to an operating company and he transformed the portfolio through 35 different transactions – 18 divestitures and 17 acquisitions.

Of course, not all transformations work out. Polk frames these situations as opportunities for growth. “I've made plenty of mistakes and had plenty of challenges in my career that have hurt in the moment, but you grow through those experiences,” he says. “It's all been opportunity. Some of that opportunity realized in a way I couldn't have imagined and others maybe not fully realized, but part of my growth journey.”

No Risk, No Reward

After almost 40 years of corporate transformation, Polk has experienced his fair share of high-stakes decisions—and he wouldn’t have it any other way. “I've had so many amazing experiences. I've been privileged to live this life and have this career,” he says. “I feel like I've earned parts of it, but some of it is being lucky and being in the right place.” The busy executive retired in 2019, but that didn’t last long. He’s been out of retirement since 2020, leading a private equity-owned company through its own season of transformation. In many ways, his latest chapter of his career is a new interesting challenge in a new sector of the market. In other words, he is re-applying a playbook built over 40 years of experience in consumer goods.  He sums it up the following way. “We are proud of our progress, but we still have a lot of work to do.”

The Hard Right Choices: Michael Polk's Proudest Moves at Newell Brands

Formerly known as Newell Rubbermaid, Newell Brands is a global $10 billion consumer goods company serving over one billion shoppers worldwide. But it hasn't always been this way. In 2010, the company was struggling to stay competitive with larger, better-funded, more focused competitors. Newell needed a new, transformative strategy and fast. Former CEO of Newell Brands Michael Polk was a member of the Board of Directors of Newell Rubbermaid and was tapped in 2011 to become CEO of the company, a position he held until his retirement in 2019. Newell chose Polk for his experience driving turnarounds on businesses at some of the world's largest Consumer Products companies, including Unilever and Kraft Foods.

Former CEO of Newell Brands Michael Polk's Transformation Effort

It wasn't easy, but over the course of eight years, Michael Polk's leadership transformed Newell Brands portfolio, organization, growth capabilities, and financials. Polk shares the accomplishments he's most proud of from his tenure at Newell Brands, which led to the company tripling its enterprise value from $5 billion in 2011 to $15 billion in 2019.

From Holding Company to Consumer-Centric Powerhouse

The company was at a crossroads when the transformative leader joined Newell Brands as CEO in 2011. Operating as a loose conglomerate of businesses acquired over time, Newell lacked the focus and integration necessary to compete effectively. Polk saw an opportunity to transform the organization into a consumer goods powerhouse with a singular, strategic focus. "The goal was to make the whole of Newell Rubbermaid greater than the sum of its parts," Polk explains.

His ambitious plan repositioned Newell Rubbermaid into Newell Brands, a company comprised of seven consumer-facing global operating divisions in writing instruments, baby gear, food storage, camping and recreation, fragranced candles, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and small kitchen appliances and cookware.

To restructure the portfolio, Newell Brands' CEO Polk led the company to complete 35 M&A transactions---half of which were divestitures. These transactions made it possible to restructure Newell from a holding company to an operating company, which reduced overhead and created more room in the P&L for investment. Simultaneously with the portfolio work, Newell Brands' Michael Polk also worked to unlock over $500 million in savings, which increased margins. Polk combined this with a drive to strengthen both the brand development capabilities and the digital commerce capabilities leading which increased digital commerce sales from 9% of global sales in 2011 to over 20% by 2019.

Strengthening Leadership

While Michael Polk and his team saved Newell Brands over $500 million dollars with this new organizational structure and way of working, he knew restructuring alone couldn’t turn around the business. Newell Brands also needed to deepen its leadership bench to turn it into an international CPG powerhouse and deliver sustained results. That’s why Polk’s team prioritized a blend of internal and external development, building a team of marketing, commerce, and supply chain experts while fostering talent throughout the organization. “The progress we made would not have happened without the strengthening of the leadership team and the investment in talent deeper in the organization,” Polk explains.

Sharp Choices and Smart Resource Allocation

Michael Polk is convinced the combination of smart choices of where to play and how to win coupled with disciplined resource allocation to those priorities was key to Newell Brands’ success. Making the harder right decisions about people and program investment didn’t make him the most popular person in the room, but it had to be done. “In many of my experiences, I've found that companies are very, very democratic in the way they allocate resources, whether it's human capital or money,” he explains. “In a situation where you have to drive change, you have to be much more choiceful, and that means you've got to take from some businesses and give to others.”

A Legacy of Growth and Gratitude

While there were questions about whether a more aggressive strategic approach to business development would work at Newell Brands, the transformation efforts at Newell were a resounding success. “I feel quite fortunate to have earned the respect and support of my Board through each phase of Newell’s transformation,” he says. “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 .” While Newell Brands’ financial performance is impressive, Polk finds satisfaction and pride in seeing the fruits of his efforts. “I've had so many amazing experiences. I've been privileged to live this life and career,” he says. “I feel like I've earned parts of it, but some of it is being lucky and being in the right place at the right time with the right ideas.”