Paul Polman: Imagining A New Future

With a long and complicated history in the consumer goods industry, Paul Polman has spent decades studying the structure and operations of multinational corporations. Working from the ground up, Polman became one of the leading figures in the industry. Despite setting his sights on sustainability late in his career, Polman has managed to dedicate most of his work in recent years to merging traditional corporate knowledge with new sustainable initiatives.  

Unlike many leaders on the sustainability frontier, Polman has not always engaged with the movement. However, having become acquainted with the new and exciting opportunities in sustainability, as well as its benefit to businesses, Polman quickly rose to meet the occasion and became a formidable force in the sector.  

Learning the Trade at Procter & Gamble

Polman’s longest engagement was at Procter & Gamble, where he learnt much about big business and consumer goods. Polman began as a cost analyst, but quickly worked his way up to leadership positions. By 1995, he was managing director of the UK division. By 1998, he was president of global fabric care. And finally, in 2001, he became president for Western Europe.  

During his tenure at Procter & Gamble, Polman rigorously studied its operations and business model. He became intimately familiar with all aspects of the business and how the company pushed its products so well. Understanding how consumers prioritized and interacted with their products allowed Polman to get significant results. However, this seemed to be the ceiling for him in Procter & Gamble.  

The best advice I was ever given is you either make the dust, or you’ll eat it. Be bold, and don’t waste time on things you don’t believe in. I’ve never felt more motivated to help put a business in service of humanity.

Taking the Helm at Nestlé and Unilever

Having learnt as much as possible from his experience and position at Procter & Gamble, Polman finally took the leap to head a company on his own. In 2006, Polman joined Nestlé as chief financial officer. Having spent so many years dedicated to Procter & Gamble, he now broadened his experience to include an even more senior position at a larger organization. In this role, he was able to get some much needed experience and insight into the industry from another perspective. However, this experience was ultimately short-lived as a more intriguing opportunity was presented to him just two years later.  

With decades of experience in the industry and senior positions in two formidable companies, Polman was now poised to take over Unilever as chief executive officer. His career was leading to this point, and he was the perfect option to revamp the struggling company. But this is where he took another direction. While Polman fully committed himself to bringing Unilever up to par with their competitors, he also decided to step into the world of sustainability. Although this was a surprise to some, Polman had already planned a sustainability strategy that perfectly merged a reinvigoration of the company with a clear commitment to global sustainability efforts.  

Under the guidance of Polman, Unilever began to adopt a wide range of sustainability initiatives and set ambitious goals for the distant future, as well as pursued humanitarian efforts through the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan. Polman foresaw that true sustained growth in the modern world could only be achieved through sustainable means. For Polman, this was even more true for companies that dealt with non-renewable resources, which consumer goods undoubtedly did. With Polman at the helm, Unilever saw consistent growth over the next decade, delving into emerging markets that Procter & Gamble and Nestlé currently face difficulties breaking into.  

Polman took Unilever from a company struggling to keep up with their competitors to an expansive company with robust sustainability initiatives. By the time Polman left Unilever, it was just one year away from announcing that its sites, which were spread across several continents, were now powered completely by renewable electricity, ahead of its 2020 goal.  

A New Era with Imagine

After leaving Unilever, Polman took this opportunity to launch his own organization, Imagine, in 2019. This group aims to tackle the big problems in poverty and climate change. Imagine works hand in hand with corporations to help them understand and meet UN global goals for sustainable development. Seeing the amazing results of his work on Unilever, Polman now wants to bring his expertise and vision to companies around the world. By helping them help themselves, they can achieve substantial growth through sustainability.

Actionable Takeaways

• It is never too late to pursue sustainability, whether you are in the beginning, middle, or end of your career.  
• An effective sustainability strategy must be wholly integrated in a long-term business plan.  
• True sustained growth, especially in industries that rely on non-renewable resources, can only be achieved through sustainability.

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