Planning with purpose is essential for any career-driven professional seeking growth and success. Discover the tools to enhance your professional skillset and draw your own career roadmap with the Career Breakthrough Playbook. Authors Will Lukang, Hiba Tanvir, Donya Smida, Joël B. Vaudens-Chan, Neha Deshpande, and Eric Ebron present a comprehensive guide to equip readers with actionable strategies and practical tools that will help them chart their course toward career success. Assess your strengths, identify areas to improve, recognize growth opportunities, create an action plan, practice accountability, and track your progress. Additionally, you will learn to cultivate emotional intelligence, manage stress through helpful tips for high achievers, set boundaries and maintain work-life balance, reinvigorate your physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual energy, develop strategic networking and communication skills for career progress, enhance public speaking skills, and more.

Whether you're about to start on your very first job or looking to climb the steps of the corporate ladder, Career Breakthrough Playbook is a must-read for any modern career-driven professional. Through personal anecdotes and keen observations, authors Will Lukang, Hiba Tanvir, Donya Smida, et al. bring readers an A-Z handbook to help them plan their career journey with intention, purpose, and clear goals in mind. This book is not only for seasoned professionals seeking to break free of career stagnation, but also for ambitious newcomers looking for career guidance and clarity. At the end of each chapter, readers will find key takeaways that summarize the relevant topics. All in all, I found the book very insightful, informative, and motivational. It's accessible, well-written, and will appeal to a wide range of readers. Highly recommended!

Career Breakthrough Playbook is a collaborative effort in which six authors provide guidance on how to “Get Unstuck, Get Ahead” by digging into their individual experiences. Will Lukang speaks on his path from a family convenience store to becoming a CPA and software engineer, discussing mentorship, self-assessment, and goal-setting. Hiba Tanvir talks about emotional intelligence in leadership and workplace success in light of AI advances. Donya Smida addresses corporate burnout through Lazarus’s stress theory and her 5S Process, promoting boundaries and mindfulness. Joël Vuadens-Chan offers strategic networking advice, harnessing authentic connections and follow-up. Neha Deshpande shares lessons from overcoming public speaking fears, leaning into communication essentials like the 7 C’s. Eric E. Ebron presents the 4R Blueprint, framing leadership as a continuous journey shaped by experience and accountability.

Career Breakthrough Playbook: Get Unstuck, Get Ahead is an excellent curation of intelligence that is polished and informative, especially with its six distinct voices. There is no question that each is an expert in their respective field, making the book a multifaceted resource. For me, it is Donya Smida’s Stress Management 101 for High Achievers that stood out the most. It is notably progressive, considering the widespread mental health pressures in today’s workplaces, and offers crucial tools for managing stress and restoring energy. I agree that mental health is the foundation that everything else rests on. Following closely is Hiba Tanvir’s Emotional Intelligence Mastery for Rising Professionals, which builds on Smida’s work by showing how emotional intelligence is the key to authentic human connection and leadership—a vital skill in an era increasingly shaped by AI. Together, every aspect of the book elevates it beyond typical career advice, with practical, forward-thinking approaches that are essential to a career breakthrough.

Career guidance, however well-meaning, does not always prepare us for what lies ahead. Careers have many phases that require constant assessment and adaptation over time. Career Breakthrough Playbook: Get Unstuck, Get Ahead sets out to remedy this. Will Lukang, Neha Deshpande, Donya Smida. Hiba Tanvir, Joël B. Vuadens-Chan, and Eric Ebron propose an intentional approach, with a structured strategy to avoid career stagnation. There are 10 tips for career management. These include assessing your strengths, identifying areas for improvement, reviewing growth and promotion prospects, and knowing what is expected of you. The role of managers in career progression is discussed, as line managers can either act as mentors or block advancement. Readers should take charge, finding a suitable mentor and an accountability partner for support. Emotional Intelligence is described as embracing self-awareness, empathy, compassion, and relationship building. In this regard, the David Hawkins Map of Consciousness is especially informative. Apart from career guidance, skills such as networking, stress management, and leadership are covered. The tips on public speaking are particularly useful. Other topics include finding your path while not being afraid to change, setting realistic but ambitious goals, and reviewing them periodically, while building momentum through small gains.

The Career Breakthrough Playbook provides sound advice from six seasoned experts who will assist readers at all levels in revisiting their careers. Will Lukang, Neha Deshpande, Donya Smida, et al. share their collective experience to add considerable depth to the publication. The authors point out that many employees are unhappy with their current situation, voicing feelings of being bogged down and unappreciated. The guidance provided will enable readers to better understand the corporate world and its demands, and plan for future growth by maximizing their potential. The higher you advance through the ranks, the more your focus will be on management, rather than your primary qualification or specialty. Resilience and teamwork, ongoing learning, and adaptation are thus essential skills. The book looks ahead to the AI era that will require new skills. The concise writing style brings welcome clarity and wisdom from each of the authors, who provide checklists and encouragement. This is a practical guide that will generate confidence, momentum, and purpose. It is a professional work that is highly recommended.

Get Unstuck, Get Ahead is a collaborative work by six authors: Will Lukang, Neha Deshpande, Donya Smida. Hiba Tanvir, Joël B. Vuadens-Chan, and Eric Ebron. They come from diverse backgrounds and have wide ranges of experience, and their goal is to help people get jobs, advance in their careers, and make the most of their abilities. The book is divided into six sections. Chapter titles include Ten Tips for Managing Your Career, Networking: A Key Skill for Your Career, Public Speaking: The Game Changer, and 15 more. Key takeaways, a summary of the most important points, are interspersed throughout the book. Get Unstuck, Get Ahead is an interactive book, asking readers many questions and assigning exercises to get them to delve into their own goals, strengths, weaknesses, and to discover ways to improve their value as employees. The book concludes with an About the Authors section.

I wish that Get Unstuck, Get Ahead had been available when I was still working. Authors Will Lukang, Neha Deshpande, et al. have written a valuable book that will help anyone not only to enter a career but also to thrive. I liked the comprehensiveness of the book; it covers everything from composing a cover letter and resumé to avoiding burnout. One of the book’s strengths is that it was written by six different authors. The recounting of their personal experiences is invaluable because every employee can identify with some of what the authors have undergone. The charts, graphs, and statistics are also useful in making the points easy to grasp. Get Unstuck, Get Ahead is full of practical advice that every person who wants to succeed in the job will find helpful. I highly recommend this fine book.