Is Threadline a good fit for you?

Ralph Haffenden, President and Owner

The driving force behind Threadline Leadership is a deeply personal and challenging journey - mine.

Despite extensive training, my leadership capabilities were hindered by personal issues such as lack of authentic confidence, limited empathy, and defensiveness.

Pushing through stress:

My biggest obstacle wasn't a lack of training or support - I had plenty. My leadership capabilities were constrained by significant blind spots affecting my whole life. Through a leadership development program, my coach highlighted that many stressors I thought were work-related were personal. We discussed how supposed strengths were working against me:

  • Reluctance to ask for help for fear of being seen as ineffective

  • Fear of making mistakes due to hard-wired perfectionism

  • Avoidance of vulnerability and emotion to avoid appearing weak and revealing my imposter syndrome

  • Unhealthy work-life balance to ensure that I was not at risk of being seen as a failure and losing my job

  • Separation of work and family life to create an artificial boundary between stressors

Coaching identifies hidden challenges:

Much of what I saw as 'beneficial' was unhealthy. Obsolete beliefs, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress drove extremely negative thoughts and emotions. They impacted my family, self-worth, and work. It also reduced my effectiveness as a leader. I was successful at work, but the personal cost was very high. I couldn’t effectively find and address my issues because I was looking in the wrong place. Insights from an experienced leader/coach helped me realize that I needed to change and that what I needed to address wasn’t going to be found at work.

Growing skills, capabilities, and knowledge:

As I began my personal transformation, I developed many new skills and ways of thinking through therapy, self-study, and the guidance of experienced leaders. These experiences opened up a much more positive world that I didn’t know existed. The process inspired me to extensively study human behavior. Work provided many opportunities to apply new thoughts and behaviors. When I had a positive experience at work, I could immediately apply those lessons throughout my life. Similarly, successes in my personal life benefited me as a leader.

Helping clients become better leaders and happier people:

Whether my clients are addressing mild or significant challenges, the core principle that was true for me is true for them. When they clear personal blind spots, it improves their self-worth and provides them with a more positive outlook. This makes them better leaders.

My style of coaching requires more than business savvy to deliver Threadline’s promise. I augment decades of business experience with training in leadership, coaching, and human behavior to help you become a great leader. In doing that, you also receive insights and experiences that will benefit your entire life.

If my approach resonates with you, I strongly encourage you to schedule a free 45 minute meeting with me to learn more. You can do that on this site.