Tara Desko

I did not follow a straight path into leadership. I began my career at Louisiana State University (LSU) as a student worker and grew into an accounting and business management role, learning early how to navigate systems, take on responsibility, and move forward without a clear roadmap. I later joined Tulane University as an Accountant I and spent the next 15 years working my way to Executive Director, navigating shifting roles, new leadership, organizational complexity, and my own doubts along the way.

That path — across two institutions, not a credential or a theory — is what I bring into every coaching conversation. I know what it feels like to be at the beginning, unsure whether you belong, and to keep building anyway.

I am a TULI-trained coach and currently serve as Executive Director for the Department of Orthopaedics at Tulane Medicine. In my coaching work, I partner with early-career professionals and emerging leaders who are ready to push themselves forward but feel overlooked, uncertain, or stuck inside complex organizational dynamics.

I coach emerging leaders to recognize their potential and move forward with confidence when they are navigating imposter syndrome, difficult workplace relationships, or the unspoken rules of institutional environments.

My coaching is conversational, grounded, and approachable. Clients tell me they feel at ease quickly and think more deeply than they expected. I ask questions that surface perspectives they have not yet considered and help them separate what they can control from what they cannot. Growth in our work is purposeful, but it does not have to feel rigid or intimidating.

What shapes my coaching most is my experience figuring things out in real time, inside systems with high expectations and uneven support. I have rebuilt disorganized processes, supported multiple leaders through change, and continued to grow through transitions without a clear roadmap. That experience gives me unusual standing to say: the confusion you feel is not a sign that you are behind — it is a sign that you are growing.

My coaching focus areas include imposter syndrome and self-confidence, navigating organizational complexity and workplace dynamics, self-reflection and professional identity, and career development for early-career and emerging leaders.

I hold a Tulane University Leadership Institute Certified Leadership Coach certification. I earned my bachelor’s degree from LSU and my MBA from Tulane and have spent more than 20 years building my career across higher education, where I now lead the Department of Orthopaedics at Tulane Medicine.

Outside of work, I love to cook, host, and talk about food. I’m part of a supper club called The House of Appetizers, where we try new restaurants and share every appetizer on the menu. That same instinct for bringing people together shows up in my coaching — creating a space where people feel comfortable, seen, and ready to grow.