$29 Billion CPO Reveals how they Manage 70,000 Employees - Michael Bowes

$29 Billion CPO Reveals how they Manage 70,000 Employees - Michael Bowes

From TruthWorks by editaudio

May 5, 2026 · 59 min

About this episode

Michael Bowes discusses leading 70,000 employees through a cultural reset at The Estée Lauder Companies.

What does it actually take to lead 70,000 people through one of the biggest cultural resets in beauty history? Michael Bowes, Chief People Officer of The Estée Lauder Companies, joins Jessica Neal on Truth Works for a candid conversation about stepping into the top HR seat at an iconic 80-year-old company in the middle of a billion-dollar restructure, the courage it takes to disagree with your CEO without breaking the partnership, and why the loneliness of the role is real but the work is wor...

People in this episode

Host: Jessica Neal

Guest: Michael Bowes

Topics covered

  • leadership
  • human resources
  • corporate culture
  • employee management
  • business restructuring

Keywords

  • CPO
  • HR leadership
  • corporate culture
  • Estée Lauder
  • employee management
  • business restructure
  • CEO partnership

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Estée Lauder Companies

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