LP 40 for 40 – Beverley Wright
The Plano Chamber of Commerce’s signature program, Leadership Plano, celebrates its 40th anniversary! For the past 40 years, Leadership Plano has been dedicated to educating, developing, and empowering current and future leaders for the community and motivating them to serve civic, charitable, and business organizations.
We are celebrating the impact of the past 40 years by spotlighting 40 Leadership Plano graduates who have paved the way for future generations, created meaningful change for the community, and continue to serve in leadership roles. This celebratory series, Leadership Plano 40 for 40, is Presented by UBS – The Kravitz Group.
Introducing our next spotlight, Leadership Plano Class 5 Graduate, Beverley Wright, Founder and CEO of the Wright Choice Group (WCG), LLC. Beverley has 30+ years of experience working for IBM in leadership roles in multiple areas spanning administration, sales, marketing, and talent management, providing a repertoire of experiences to draw upon. Her company offers C Suite leadership coaching and consulting, group and team coaching, intergenerational coaching, and services to diverse clients across multiple industries.
Beverley led her team in creating an award-winning internal coaching business at IBM, which was recognized with the International Coach Federation (ICF) Prism Award twice, in 2005 and 2009, and several regional awards. She wrote a bi-monthly coaching column for Eclipse Magazine for five years and had an article published in 2021 in Choice Magazine, where she serves as a member of the editorial board. Her article was the first for their new recurring column on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Bev is a committed community servant and has served as the President of the Board for Dallas Dinner Table/America’s Dinner Table for over 20 years. She is a board member and mentor for Unreasonable, a member of Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 coaches, a past President of The International Coach Federation of North Texas, and a member of the editorial board for Choice Magazine.
She and her late husband, Nathan Wright Jr. lived in Plano since 1977 and raised their 2 adult children here in the community.
1. What first made you interested in participating in Leadership Plano?
I wanted to learn more about the city I lived in and how I could participate as a community servant. I was a docent at the Ammie Wilson Museum before the renovation that makes it a great place to learn about some of the early residents. Leadership Plano helped me get to know the history of Plano and where I could contribute to the city that we chose to raise our family in.
2. What is the most memorable part of your experience (or what is something that was happening in Plano that you remember about that year)?
All the sessions we had were valuable but the one that stands out for me was the presentation from the leader that was responsible for our waste management service. Several members of our class were impressed with the passion he clearly had for his job, and we felt that as residents, we knew he took his responsibility seriously. It confirmed again that making a city a good place to live needs every single person in every job important. Of course, I also enjoyed hearing from the mayor and other leaders that gave us a behind-the-scenes view of the enormity of creating and leading a growing city, which was very true during my class.
3. Why do you think LP is so impactful for our community?
LP is impactful because you start to understand why we need informed leaders that are willing to serve in our local government as volunteers and for some, politics. One of my favorite quotes is, “Many hands make light work.” John Heywood also Nehemiah 3 has a similar quote. Not only does the class give you information, but we also join to determine how we can make a difference working together to make a bigger positive impact.
4. What is one thing you can attribute to LP that is a success in your life or career?
The friendships that were created are certainly a positive and lasting benefit. One of my LP classmates has remained a very close friend even after her family relocated to New York. They are interested in moving back here after they retire, which is not far away.
5. If your class had a class project, what was it and why was it important?
Our class had several members that became long serving community leaders in The Junior League, city government and other organizations when the city was still experiencing major growth. It required us to support all the explosive growth that was in the news locally and nationally. Our class was the best class ever for our time and each class is the best class ever to address the changes and needs of their time. Aren’t we lucky to have so many of the best classes ever that are willing to get down in the arena and work on solving the big issues during their time? I appreciate the opportunity to think back on my LP class experience and how special it was and still is.
