Book excerpt: Professionals face many critical crossroads in their careers, sometimes unpredictable, sometimes more expected, but for which they were often not truly prepared. This book discusses many such career transitions - from leaving a corporation to joining a non-profit, evolving from athlete to executive, or returning to a former employer. Using the stories of 50 leaders from all over the world, the authors describe what provokes the change, the challenges it creates, how the individual is surviving the transition, and what effective leaders do to navigate and grow from it. Disrupt Your Career offers a simple, easy-to-use framework to help make the most of any uncharted transition. Drawing on examples of a wide range of companies, it also provides recommendations to help organizations better acquire, develop and retain talent.