For the four years when he was vice president of supply chain management at Cleveland-based Eaton Corp., Rick Jacobs occupied an office with a spectacular view of Lake Erie.

Since last fall, he has been president of Eaton Filtration, a $200-million subsidiary of the company's hydraulics group in Iselin, N.J., and he looks out his window at other buildings in an office park.

Both views fit neatly with his business philosophy, the almost limitless expanse of a Great Lake symbolizing the need to explore uncharted waters for the potential they hold, and the office buildings reminding him that achieving success requires working with other people.

And that's where the table comes in. In Cleveland, he had a big conference table in his office. In Iselin, his office conference table is even bigger so he can talk with more people.

"Whether you're in executive management or purchasing and supply chain, it's about relationship building, encouraging teamwork and creating harmony," he says. "You have to listen to people, because no matter how big your ideas are, you can't do everything yourself."

Demonstrating that mindset and using it to get total value, especially from suppliers, clears the roadblocks between purchasing and the C-suite, whether you want to sit in the corner office or just have regular access to those who occupy it so you can get their support. It's one of the traits that has helped Brooklyn-born Jacobs move easily from the engineering cubicles he occupied in his early career through a variety of purchasing-management jobs and into his present position running a division of an industrial giant.

His experiences in purchasing prepared him well for his new job. As head of Eaton's supply chain organization, he and his team built relationships and collaborated with virtually every department within the company, from accounting to product design to quality control, and with key suppliers. Mastering the basics of that collaboration helped the team win the Purchasing Medal of Professional Excellence. And, it helped him earn the confidence of Alexander M. (Sandy) Cutler, president, chairman and CEO of Eaton, who believes that procurement practices are a major source of competitive advantage.

Suppliers are critical, Jacobs asserts: "Their breakthroughs can help their customers develop their own product breakthroughs and be successful. Purchasing knows that, while managers who come up from other functions don't always understand it." And since most CEOs know that too, they're especially open to providing the support purchasing needs.

Especially, if purchasing professionals combine that understanding with a keen business sense and broad knowledge of their companies' markets. "If you're in purchasing or logistics, you're a manager even if no one reports to you," he says. "You're not just a buyer. You're on the front line and you need good management and communications skills."

Jacobs says that C-level executives want the broad industry perspective they can get from their purchasing staffs. "I personally want to increase the speed of change, and I want to explore how the supply chain can help make improvements faster," he says.

His advice for purchasing and supply-management staff: "Know the business your company is in," he says, "and have a personal connection with what's happening with customers, suppliers and plant personnel."

That, plus collaboration and business skills, will get purchasing at the table in the C-suite or even in the corner office. And it will help purchasing and top management have the deep conversations they need to have to make business grow.

pteague@reedbusiness.com

For more information, read: Welcome to the C-suite