Q&A with Jade Floyd

  

 

 

Jade Floyd is the author of the new book The Leadership Labyrinth: Women Navigating Power and Purpose in a Changing World. She is an adjunct professor at George Washington University and is senior vice president at the consulting firm Bryson Gillette. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Leadership Labyrinth?

 

A: I was inspired to write The Leadership Labyrinth because I kept seeing a disconnect between how leadership is often portrayed - and how it’s actually experienced by women.

 

We’re taught to think of success as a straight line: work hard, climb the ladder, and you’ll get there. But when I looked at my own journey - and the journeys of the extraordinary women around me - it was anything but linear. It was winding, unpredictable, and at times deeply challenging.

 

I wrote this book because I wanted to tell the truth about those journeys from women in the C-suite at global brands like Revlon, Sam’s Club, H&M, Rare Beauty, UNICEF, ESPN, and more.  Not the polished version, but the real one. The version that includes the setbacks, the tradeoffs, the invisible labor, and the moments of becoming.

 

And I wanted to pair those stories with practical tools and journaling prompts that I call “Endeavors” so women are equipped to move forward with intention.

 

Q: The author Randi Braun said of the book, “Part pep talk, part playbook, this is the real-talk guide every woman needs to navigate the dizzying climb up the ladder.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I love that description because it captures the duality I was very intentional about when writing this book.

 

There are so many leadership books that either inspire you or instruct you—but rarely do both in a way that feels honest and grounded in lived experience. I wanted The Leadership Labyrinth to sit at that intersection.

 

It is a pep talk in the sense that it reminds women: you are not behind, you are not alone, and your path - no matter how winding - is valid.

 

But it’s also a playbook. It offers concrete reframes and tools, whether that’s shifting from “I want” to “I deserve,” learning how to set boundaries without guilt, or recognizing and managing the invisible mental load we carry.

 

And the “real talk” piece is important. I didn’t want to sanitize the journey. Leadership, especially for women, often includes moments we don’t say out loud—the exhaustion, the impostor syndrome, the tension between ambition and caregiving. This book creates space for those truths while still pointing toward possibility.

 

After reading Randi’s book, I attended her retreat in Washington, D.C., which focused on realigning and recharging. Her theme for the gathering—“saying yes to saying no”—reverberated across the day.

 

As women, we often say yes to too many things that are asked of us. Can you bake those cookies for the school fair? Absolutely. Can you join a board? Yes! Can you pick up all the supplies for your sister’s birthday party because she just doesn’t have time to do it? Absolutely. Can you join our board? Sign me up!

 

Women are often conditioned—by culture, community, and even our own internal dialogue—to say yes to everything: more responsibility at work, another school committee, one more favor for a friend or family member. But every yes that doesn’t serve us chips away at our time, energy, and clarity.

 

The truth is, we don’t have to carry the full load. We are allowed to say no without guilt, to set boundaries without apology, and to choose ourselves without explanation. Saying no isn’t about shirking responsibility—it’s about reclaiming balance and honoring your time.

 

Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: The title came from a realization that the metaphor we’ve been given as women, climbing the ladder, just doesn’t reflect reality. A ladder suggests clarity, direction, predictability and an ending once you reach the top.

 

But most women I know haven’t experienced leadership that way. Instead, it feels like navigating a labyrinth - full of turns, dead ends, unexpected openings, and moments where you have to pause and reassess.

 

For me, the labyrinth signifies both complexity and intention. It’s not chaos - it’s a journey that requires resilience and adaptability, and self-trust. Every twist and turn teaches you something, even when it doesn’t make sense in the moment.

 

And importantly, a labyrinth isn’t something to escape or reach the pinnacle - it’s something to move through with purpose and intention, owning the season we are in. 

 

Q: What impact did it have on you to write the book, and what do you hope readers take away from it?

 

A: Writing this book was deeply reflective for me. It required me to slow down and really examine my own journey - not just the milestones, but the moments in between. The decisions I questioned, the opportunities I missed, the relationships that shaped me.

 

It also gave me the opportunity to learn from and elevate the voices of incredible women. Women like Janet Yang, the Academy Award–winning producer and former president of the Academy of the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who speaks to the power of storytelling, and Heather Higginbottom, who has held senior roles in both the White House and global finance, offering invaluable lessons on navigating leadership at the highest levels and across the political aisle.

 

This book is a culmination of those lessons, shared in the hope that they will inspire and empower you to navigate your own leadership journey with the wisdom and grace of these extraordinary women.

 

What I hope readers take away is both permission and power. Permission to celebrate their wins, embrace their season of life, own their rest. I want women to walk away believing: I deserve to be in every room that I enter. My path makes sense, even if I can’t see the full picture yet. And I have everything I need to take the next step.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Right now, I’m focused on continuing to build the ecosystem around The Leadership Labyrinth. That includes expanding the framework into workshops, speaking engagements, and potentially a podcast that brings these conversations to life in real time.

 

I have a new role at a communications firm focused on mission-aligned brands and organizations. I’m also deeply engaged in board work and philanthropic initiatives, particularly those focused on education, the arts, and expanding food access. 

 

At the core of all of this is a continued commitment to finding my way through my own labyrinth, and giving women the opportunity to articulate who they are, what they stand for, and the impact they want to have on the world.

 

And of course, I have a big idea for a new book which my publisher is eagerly awaiting for the first few chapters. 

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: The Leadership Labyrinth is an invitation. An invitation to tell the truth about our journeys. And an invitation to redefine what leadership looks like.

 

So many women are navigating their careers feeling like they’re the only ones struggling with uncertainty or self-doubt. This book challenges that isolation. It says: you are not alone, and your path is not wrong - it’s unfolding. And if there’s one message I hope stays with readers, it’s this: your winding path is not a detour. It is the way.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb