Meet the team - Shannon Yates

Shannon Yates is a Lessen Regional Vice President for Commercial Account Management. In his role he develops relationships with clients and ensures excellence in service delivery. He is based in Seattle.

Tell us about your job.

I manage a three-person team that supports 20 different commercial accounts for Lessen across many different industries. My responsibilities primarily include developing trusted advisor relationships with client executives and ensuring both delivery excellence and operational efficiencies that help their organizations grow and remain profitable. For many of our clients, Lessen is an extension of their facility management departments. That means there’s a heavy reliance on meeting both short- and long-term expectations. Either way, what we do supports their broader strategies.

What’s an example of a long-term expectation Lessen helps manage?

One example is the client’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) framework used to assess sustainability on factors that can influence their long-term business performance. For facility management that often means taking a stand on emissions or issues related to smart building technology. We may check to see if their HVAC systems are still using R-22, which both the US and the European Union prohibit because it is among the many man-made chemicals linked to thinning the ozone layer.

We help our clients sunset materials like these and, on a large scale, transition their assets to using materials considered more sustainable.  

What do you like about your role?

I like the ability to influence real estate strategies and show the impact they have on client business outcomes – whether growing their business or improving the client-customer experience at the locations we support.

What makes Lessen so unique?

Lessen offers technology solutions that help our clients operate more efficiently, but at the same time we also offer clients our affiliate network. That means our customers don’t need to hire outside their organization. We supply vendors who are already vetted specialists and are ready to work whenever our clients need them.

We have people on the ground, no matter where our client is located. We can solve any kind of problem quickly and efficiently while managing the end-to-end process. No other company can do both.

What did you do before you came to Lessen?

I’ve spent my entire career in commercial real estate which has included large scale commercial construction, third party fee management, and corporate real estate outsourcing through large institutional clients. I started in large scale commercial construction supporting renovations and new builds for a chain of health clubs in the Washington DC area. Over time I naturally progressed from construction oversight to facility oversight to broader commercial real estate and operations.

I served for four years as a U.S. Army Infantry Officer, a position that included multiple overseas deployments. Despite all our different titles, the person who is in charge is the person who knows what to do next. As a leader that means having a healthy sense of self-awareness and a lack of ego; that carries over to what I do at Lessen today. I might be a VP, but I rely on team members whose skillsets make them the subject matter expert for specific scenarios. At the end of the day, it’s all about healthy teamwork.

How do all those different experiences help you in your role?

I know how to build a team, set goals, and execute successfully while taking advantage of the strengths of each member. From the commercial real estate side, I’ve been in every role imaginable, so I know what it’s like to be a property manager, a vendor, and a customer – which means I can look at a problem from many different angles to find the right approach that works best.

What do you do outside the office?

My wife and I have a 15-year-old daughter. As a family, we work to travel, from short weekends to international trips. We love to learn about different cultures and people, enjoy the outdoors, and explore the wonder in the Pacific Northwest or wherever our travels take us.

One trip I’m looking forward to this year is Prague and the surrounding areas with a close group of high school friends. Last year we started what we hope will become an annual trip. Traveling with old friends is a great way to experience a new place because you’re taking the time to reminisce about old times while experiencing something completely new together. It’s also a lot of fun.