Meet the Founder:

About Dr. Robb Erskine

At Driftwood Consultants LLC, our work is grounded in the belief that how we communicate—verbally, in writing, and through presence—shapes how we lead.

Founder Robertson S. Erskine, Ed.D. has spent more than three decades studying, teaching, and applying this principle across higher education, government, healthcare, and complex organizational systems. His work sits at the intersection of communication, leadership, and human behavior—helping individuals and teams translate insight into meaningful, sustained performance.

Dr. Erskine’s academic foundation began at the University of San Francisco, where his doctoral research, “The Sound of Ink: A Bakhtinian Analysis of Expressive Intonation in Written Feedback,” explored how individuals “hear” tone in written communication—and how prior experiences with a person shape interpretation. This work continues to inform his approach to leadership, feedback, and organizational communication, particularly in high-stakes and high-ambiguity environments.

Academic & Teaching Experience

Dr. Erskine has served as faculty at the University of Arkansas, Heald College, and the University of San Francisco, teaching across multiple disciplines including composition, psychology, business, leadership, and speaking. His teaching focused not only on subject matter expertise, but on developing critical thinking, communication, and self-awareness—skills essential for leadership and professional effectiveness.

His classroom work emphasized:

The relationship between communication and perception
The psychology of learning, motivation, and behavior
Leadership development through reflection, feedback, and practice
The application of theory to real-world decision-making

This interdisciplinary foundation allowed him to bridge human behavior, communication, and organizational performance—a throughline that continues in his coaching and consulting work today.

Academic Leadership

Dr. Erskine advanced from faculty into senior academic leadership roles, serving as Department Chair, Academic Dean, and ultimately Vice President of Academic Affairs and Curriculum.

In these roles, he led academic strategy and operations across 13 campuses and online programs, overseeing:

Curriculum design and instructional quality
Faculty development and performance
Accreditation and regulatory alignment
Student success initiatives and academic support systems
Institutional research and data-informed decision-making

His leadership required balancing academic rigor, operational execution, and organizational alignment—experience that now directly informs his work with executive teams navigating complexity and change.

Driftwood Consultants

Through Driftwood Consultants, Dr. Erskine brings together his academic, executive, and coaching experience to support individuals and organizations at critical points of growth and transition.

His work spans:

Executive and leadership coaching
Team development and alignment
Organizational design and change management
Learning and development strategy across the employee lifecycle

The goal is not simply insight—but clarity, alignment, and sustained performance over time.

Entrepreneurship & Startup Work

In addition to large-scale organizational work, Dr. Erskine has deep experience supporting startups and entrepreneurial teams.

Through his work with Thinktomi and his consulting practice, he has:

Designed and delivered team development programs for early-stage companies
Facilitated workshops on alignment, communication, and decision-making
Supported founders in navigating growth, ambiguity, and team dynamics
Integrated tools such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) with research-based frameworks like the 6 Conditions for Team Effectiveness

His approach helps startup teams move from individual capability to collective execution, particularly in fast-moving, high-pressure environments.

Government, Healthcare & Enterprise Experience

Following his academic leadership career, Dr. Erskine transitioned into enterprise and government environments, where he led organizational development, learning strategy, and leadership initiatives.

With the City and County of San Francisco at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), he built and led enterprise-wide learning and development initiatives, including:

Designing and implementing an integrated learning ecosystem aligned to performance management
Developing leadership programs for supervisors, managers, and individual contributors
Conducting enterprise needs assessments to align training with operational priorities
Leading employee engagement survey strategy and translating insights into targeted development programs

He later extended this work in healthcare as a consultant with CommonSpirit Health, supporting leadership development, organizational alignment, and system-wide capability building across a complex, mission-driven organization.

Across these roles, his focus has remained consistent:
aligning people, systems, and strategy to improve performance in real-world environments.

Coaching & Organizational Development

Dr. Erskine is an ICF ACC-certified executive coach specializing in neuroscience-based, solutions-focused coaching. His certifications include DiSC, StrengthsFinder, and Crucial Conversations, and he has extensive experience applying personality and team-based frameworks to leadership and organizational development.

His coaching focuses on:

Decision-making under pressure
Emotional regulation and cognitive clarity
Communication and influence
Leadership presence and effectiveness
Translating insight into sustained behavioral change

Across coaching, team development, and organizational consulting, his work integrates:

Neuroscience and predictive processing
Organizational psychology
Adult learning theory
Practical business application

Closing Perspective

Dr. Erskine’s work is grounded in a simple but powerful idea:
how we think, communicate, and interpret the world shapes how we lead—and ultimately determines the effectiveness of the systems we build.

Mission, Vision, and Values

Mission:

At Driftwood Consultants, our mission is to help leaders, learners, and organizations transform reflection into meaningful action.
Grounded in neuroscience and guided by practice, we design experiences that cultivate clarity, regulation, and connection — ensuring that learning doesn’t stay in the classroom, but lives in the work itself.

Vision:

A world where reflection and neuroscience come together to help people understand how they think, learn, and lead.
Where growth is shaped by curiosity and care — and where organizations evolve into humane, high-trust systems that balance performance with purpose.

Values:

Curiosity – fuels learning, empathy, and innovation.
Integrity – ensures authenticity between words, actions, and values.
Reflection – anchors insight and deepens growth.
Praxis – transforms learning into meaningful action.
Resilience – sustains energy, balance, and adaptability.
Connection – honors the neuroscience of relationships and trust.
These values reflect how we think, create, and lead — with curiosity that drives discovery, reflection that builds understanding, and integrity that turns awareness into action.
Together, they express our belief that learning and leadership are living crafts — shaped through attention, resilience, and connection.

Close-up of a large piece of driftwood on a beach with a blurry, light-colored sky and sand in the background.

A Leadership Lifecycle Perspective

Driftwood Consultants is grounded in the belief that growth happens across the full arc of professional life — from early formation to mature leadership to legacy and renewal. This includes helping leaders not only perform effectively in their roles, but also prepare others, pass on institutional knowledge, and navigate meaningful transitions into retirement and second-chapter contribution.

Robb’s work in leadership development, learning strategy, organizational design, and coaching has consistently centered on how people grow, how knowledge is transferred, and how systems sustain leadership across generations.

From Our Clients

“What stood out immediately was how grounded Robb’s coaching is in real science, without ever feeling clinical or abstract. He helped me understand what was happening in my nervous system and how that directly impacted my leadership, communication, and stress levels.” — Director, Public Sector Organization
“Working with Robb fundamentally changed how I think under pressure. His coaching helped me slow down, recognize unhelpful patterns, and make clearer, more confident decisions. I didn’t just feel supported — I felt equipped.”
— Senior Leader, Healthcare System
“Robb creates a space that is both challenging and deeply supportive. I felt comfortable being honest about my doubts and frustrations, and at the same time I was consistently pushed to grow. That balance made the work incredibly effective.”
— Manager, Higher Education
“This wasn’t coaching focused on quick fixes. Robb helped me build habits and internal skills that have continued to pay off long after our sessions ended — better boundaries, better focus, and more sustainable energy at work.”
— Senior Manager, Nonprofit Organization