Sincerity and empathy

show up a lot with Shannon Full. Kids in the background on call? Technology glitch? Need to reschedule? She gets it.

Full is the new president and CEO of the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce, and she’s leading, her way.

“I’m very big on disruption and catalytic leadership — having the courageous will to disrupt the status quo and also doing so with an empathetic ear,” Full says.

Full, a Wisconsin native, was most recently the president and CEO of the TwinWest Regional Chamber of Commerce based in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

Joining Full to lead The Chamber is Sandi Piatz, board chair and Fargo site leader for Microso . It's the rst time that the board and chamber are both lead by women.

Locally, the demographics of the business community have changed with more women leaders, mirroring a global trend. In 2019, women in senior management roles globally grew to 29%, the highest number ever. The percentage remained the same in 2020, according to the Women in Business report 2020 by GrantThornton.

“We need to intentionally look for leaders who bring diversity in organizations,” Piatz says.

The need for diversity in leadership is even stronger since the COVID-19 pandemic. The crisis changed how people work, and it’s had a big e ect on women particularly. A 2020 study conducted by McKinsey and Lean In found that mothers are more than three times as likely as fathers to be responsible for most of the housework and caregiving during the pandemic.

Both Piatz and Full are mothers and say it’s important for businesses to support women in the workplace and nurture women leaders now and in the future.

“If you want a high-performing culture, you need tremendous amounts of empathy and a really great understanding of what are the priorities, the motivators, the passion areas for each team member,” Full says. “O entimes, it’s giving grace for our team members especially if it means they want something different than where the organization or leader wants them to go.”

Oftentimes, it’s giving grace for our team members

ESPECIALLY IF IT MEANS THEY WANT SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN WHERE THE ORGANIZATION OR LEADER WANTS THEM TO GO.

The other component essential to supporting women, and all people in the workplace right now, is professional development opportunities and making that part of the culture and the budget.

Piatz and Full’s challenge to local businesses is to not set aside leadership and mentorship programs during the pandemic.

“Find a way to foster them. Develop your diversity and talent for the future and our organizations,” Piatz says.

On the upside, Full says the pandemic and working from home shed a light on an integrated life — one where work and family intersect.

“Before, especially as women, we carried a lot of guilt if we crossed those lines — bringing family into business, or business into family,” she says. “COVID weirdly kind of made that a little more OK, a little more acceptable.”

Sharing a story from a recent meeting, Chamber team members joked that Full’s name should be “Shannon All-in Full” for her habit of saying “yes.”

Setting boundaries takes self-discipline, Full says, but they’re necessary for anyone in the professional world integrating their work and personal life.

Piatz echoes her sentiment, saying Full is a strong leader because she’s always put family first. “That’s important whether you’re a man or a woman, any partner in a relationship,” Piatz says.

Work-life balance? No such thing, she says. Rather, it’s the ebb and ow of prioritizing.

Full and Piatz’s leadership styles are aligned yet complementary. Piatz focuses on change management while Full provides the vision.

“We’re both collaborators and have a yin and yang,” Piatz says. “Shannon is a go-getter and strong leader who’s visionary and a driver. I think that’s important to The Chamber.”

Describing herself as a “catalytic leader,” Full values consensus-building and diversity in thought. She’s carried those principles throughout her 21-year career in chamber work.

“I talk a lot about identifying opportunities for intentional collisions, bringing diverse thoughts and leaders to collide for the betterment of the community,” Full says. “You’ll really see The Chamber leaning into how we can be a catalyst for the growth and prosperity of the region.”

What’s next for Full, Piatz and the chamber is embracing the leaders and community of Fargo-Moorhead and West Fargo.

“The table is set for anybody who has the passion and potential to lead,” Full says.