Redirecting.work

Over time, that work evolved into helping companies reimagine and reposition themselves. He built a body of work around narrative strategy, first through client engagements and later through his own ventures, including The Narrative Playbook, Spatial Shift, and more recently Shift Story. For years, he has lived the classic solopreneur reality, working largely through referrals and building a reputation through trust, relationships, and results.

​

But the conditions around him changed. The consulting and marketing worlds were shifting. Freelancers and fractional leaders were competing in a more crowded market. His referrals began to dry up, especially in 2023 and 2024. At the same time, the rapid emergence of AI forced a new question: how would someone with his background stay relevant and differentiated in a world being reshaped in real time?

​

That became the catalyst for his latest pivot. AI did not simply threaten the market around him. It also reopened a deeper vision he’d been carrying since 2007. He’d long been interested in how people think, learn, and communicate, and especially in those whose minds do not fit conventional expectations. As the father of a son on the spectrum, and as someone who later found himself resonating deeply with neurodivergent executives, he began to see a new direction emerging. The technology had finally caught up with an idea he had held for nearly two decades.

 

At the same time, he was wrestling with another reality. At 65, he could choose retirement. He had enough of a cushion to do that. But he was not ready to disappear quietly. In his words, he was asking himself whether he was “insane” to keep pushing forward, or whether he was being called to build something that might become a real legacy.

​

Current Direction

Tobin’s pivot has not been clean. It’s been a fluid, ongoing reimagining–his word of the year. That’s part of why my Pivot in Progress label fits him so well.

​

Over the last decade, his work gradually shifted from helping companies find alignment to helping leaders find fit. He noticed that behind every company challenge were human beings struggling with clarity, role, ambition, and identity. As he worked more closely with founders and CEOs, he’s become more energized by helping the individual than by repositioning the business alone.

​

That led him toward work that sits somewhere between strategist, mirror, mentor, and guide. He resists the formal label of coach, even though elements of coaching are clearly present in what he does. He’s more interested in listening deeply, hearing patterns, and reflecting back what is true in a way that helps people move forward.

​

His own equation captures this well: Alignment + Fit = Harmony.

​

That idea now shows up in the way he works with executives, especially those whose complexity has never fit neatly into conventional boxes. He is particularly drawn to helping people discover latent strengths, suppressed gifts, and the energy conditioned out of them. He also sees growing possibility in work with neurodivergent leaders, where his lived experience and intuitive understanding seem to unlock something important.

​

He’s still refining the language for what he does. Several of the narrative statements he drafted for himself point to the same theme: helping brilliant, complicated people become more coherent to themselves and to the world. One of the strongest versions may be this: “I help people see the mosaic they’ve been building, and build the rest of it with intention.”

​

His satisfaction today is no longer measured only by money, though financial stability still matters. What matters more is seeing someone shift, grow, and step into a larger version of themselves. He admits that he still misses the big stage and still struggles to market himself with the conviction his work deserves. Yet there’s also a quieter recalibration happening. Success now includes gratitude, harmony, impact, and the deep satisfaction of helping others find their path.

​

Advice to Others

Tobin’s advice begins with one word: conviction. He believes people have to lean into the conviction that what they’re doing is what they’re meant to do, and then pour energy into it. That’s not easy, especially in an era shaped by AI, disruption, and constant reinvention. But he believes it matters.

​

He also argues that the so-called soft skills are becoming power skills. Human qualities such as curiosity, empathy, reflection, and the ability to connect are not extras. They’re increasingly central to how people will thrive.

​

Finally, he says to stay curious and keep trying things. Fail fast if necessary. People often learn more from failure than from success. In his own life, that’s meant accepting that progress may not look linear, polished, or complete. A lifetime of pivoting may not be a problem to solve. It may simply be the shape of a meaningful life.

​

For Tobin, the story is still unfolding. And, that’s exactly the point.