I’ve spent much of my career inside the trenches of consumer packaged goods (CPG), leading teams, launching new products, and managing P&Ls for brands with billion-dollar footprints. It’s a fast-moving, high-stakes world, but the lessons I’ve learned along the way are surprisingly consistent , and surprisingly human. At the core of it all, P&L leadership in the CPG space is about clarity, courage, and collaboration.
The P&L is a Mirror
When I first stepped into full P&L ownership, I thought the job was about control. Watch the numbers, watch the spend, drive revenue, manage margin. And while those are critical pieces, what I came to realize is that the P&L is more of a mirror than a machine. It reflects the strength (or weakness) of your strategy, your team dynamics, and how closely your decisions align with consumer behavior.
When your gross margin starts slipping, it’s rarely just about rising costs. It might be the result of an overly complicated SKU mix or underperforming trade promotions. When top-line revenue dips, it might not be marketing spend but rather a lack of alignment between your innovation pipeline and what your customers actually want. A good P&L leader looks beneath the numbers. A great one asks the hard questions early.
Portfolio Thinking: The Balancing Act
One of the biggest challenges in managing a large portfolio is resisting the temptation to treat every brand the same. Not every brand should grow at the same rate, and not every product deserves equal attention. Some SKUs are margin leaders. Others are distribution drivers. Some are strategic bets you hold onto for future relevance. P&L leadership requires seeing your portfolio as a living ecosystem, and being honest about what each brand’s role needs to be.
I once inherited a portfolio with over 100 SKUs, and 30 of them were barely moving the needle. The data said it all, but the emotional attachments inside the company ran deep. The key to making changes wasn’t brute force. It was listening. I sat down with brand managers, finance partners, and sales leads and reframed the conversation from “cutting” to “optimizing.” Once we aligned on the bigger goal of sustainable growth, the tough decisions became easier to make.
Where Strategy Meets the Store Shelf
In CPG, the best-laid strategies fall apart if they can’t live on a shelf or compete in the cart. That’s why P&L leadership means staying close to the point of purchase. I’ve never been a leader who waits for the PowerPoint summary. I walk the aisles. I talk to store managers. I look at what consumers are grabbing and what they’re leaving behind.
A few years back, one of our key brands was getting crushed in a seasonal promotion. We had the pricing and trade spend right, but the packaging didn’t communicate urgency or value. Our competitors were shouting, and we were whispering. That insight didn’t come from a spreadsheet. It came from standing in the aisle at 5 p.m. on a Tuesday, watching real people shop. Within weeks, we tested new packaging with bolder claims and clearer benefits, and the sales bounce validated everything.
The Team Is the Multiplier
Managing a P&L at this level is never a solo sport. Your results live and die by your cross-functional team. I’ve worked with marketers, R&D leads, finance partners, and supply chain experts who were smarter than me in their domain, and that’s exactly how it should be.
What makes it work is trust and role clarity. Everyone needs to know what they own, and more importantly, they need to feel ownership. That only happens when leaders empower their teams to speak up, challenge ideas, and solve problems together. The biggest breakthroughs I’ve seen weren’t from lone geniuses. They were the result of friction, debate, and alignment.
One trick I’ve learned? Always leave space at the table for the person who sees the problem differently. The insights you need are often hiding in the perspectives you’re not naturally wired to seek out.
Fast Decisions, Smart Bets
In the CPG world, speed matters. You can’t always wait for perfect data. Sometimes, P&L leadership means having the courage to make a call , and the discipline to monitor it closely afterward. I’ve made bets that paid off big, and I’ve made some that didn’t. The difference wasn’t whether I was right. It was how fast I adjusted when I wasn’t.
Smart P&L leaders build decision-making frameworks that reduce risk while keeping momentum. One framework I rely on is “test, learn, scale.” We pilot in controlled markets. We monitor. And if the signal is strong, we go wide. If it’s not, we pivot without shame.
What I Keep Coming Back To
After all the category battles, quarterly reviews, and tough conversations, here’s what I keep coming back to: Leading a P&L is about focus. Focus on what the consumer wants. Focus on what your brand stands for. Focus on what drives profitable growth, not just in the next 90 days, but over the next three years.
It’s easy to chase short-term wins, especially when the pressure is high. But the best brands, the ones that stand the test of time, are built by leaders who play the long game, surround themselves with capable people, and make decisions with both heart and head.
P&L leadership isn’t glamorous. It’s a grind. But if you embrace it as a craft, and not just a number, it becomes something bigger: the art of building businesses that matter.