Laila is a sought-after trusted advisor and executive coach, speaker and author - a strategic leader able to drive transformational change within companies and leaders.
TRUSTED ADVISOR & EXECUTIVE COACH
Laila is a trusted advisor to senior leaders and leadership teams navigating complexity, change, and growth.
As an executive coach and facilitator, she helps high-performing leaders expand their emotional range, evolve their mindset, and build the inner capacity to lead with both strength and humanity.
Her work focuses on aligning teams around shared purpose, strengthening leadership capacity, and fostering cultures that can adapt, connect, and thrive in a fast-moving world. Her clients span industries including technology, consumer brands, financial services, and private equity.
AN ORGANIZATION CANNOT RISE TO A HIGHER LEVEL OF CONSCIOUSNESS THAN ITS LEADER.
STRATEGIC LEADER
Laila has spent over two decades leading People functions at high-growth operating companies and advising leadership in professional services firms.
Her work sits at the intersection of business strategy and human dynamics. She helps organizations align culture with strategy—whether scaling a brand, transitioning leadership, or strengthening partnership dynamics inside a firm. Her approach blends systems thinking with emotional fluency to build environments where clarity, accountability, and connection can thrive.
Laila believes exceptional organizations are built not just by smart strategies, but by leaders who are willing to lead with both strength and heart.
SPEAKER
View my speaker reel if you’re interested in having me come do a fireside chat, a workshop or keynote for your organization.
testimonials
“Laila leads with genuine compassion, while simultaneously holding you accountable in a nobody’s fool-kind-of-way.”
Pat O’Dea
Ex-CEO, Peet’s Coffee & Tea
“Laila has the innate ability to read her audience. She sets the stage, creates a safe and healthy environment and then flexes her style along the way resulting in a deep and authentic connection with the team.”
Jodi Bricker
CEO, Quay Australia
“Laila has been an invaluable resource for us. Her understanding of people and how to build and manage highly effective teams has given us a unique advantage.”
Nick Withers
CEO, Hunneus Vintners
“Laila has been an exceptional partner in helping me and my leadership team create a values-based, high-performance culture. Much more than a coach, she’s the CEO muse.”
Paul Coletta
CEO, Urban Remedy
Author
Laila’s April 2021 debut book, Strong Like Water™ How I Found the Courage to Lead with Love in Business and in Life published by 2019 Indie publisher of the year, She Writes Press, has been called a brave and heartfelt memoir of love and loss with surprising leadership insights.
© 2022, STONG LIKE WATER. All rights reserved.
In the press
Forbes
HR Dive
Harvard Business Review
Haas School of Business
LAILA TARRAF WINS THE 2022 SECOND ANNUAL COMPASSIONATE LEADERS CIRCLE AWARDS ON FORBES.COM FOR THE “COURAGEOUS” CATEGORY
LAILA TARRAF’S BOOK ‘STRONG LIKE WATER’ IS LISTED AMONGST BRENE BROWN & 10 OTHER LEADERSHIP BOOKS IN THIS FORBES ARTICLE
