Clients and students of mine ask what they need to do to one day be chosen for the ES&H vice president role. Job one: learn how your business makes money. Then learn how your ES&H department contributes to or detracts from your business making money. Remember that ES&H has been called the “company money pit.”
The next step is to ask operations and maintenance what and how they do their work and how ES&H interferes or complements their work routine. To build a level of trust with these folks before they offer candid opinions will take time, but in the long run the view is definitely worth the climb.