> I hit every target and my reviews are good, but the promotion keeps being next year. What am I missing? > > A question I am asked on most calls

Doing your job description brilliantly is the entry ticket, not the reason. People get promoted for the problems nobody assigned them and for the things they finish. Directors inherit every unclosed file below them, so they remember who closed one, and who picked up the gap nobody owned.

Two practical moves: find the problem in your area that everyone walks round, and own it to the end. And make sure someone senior will say your name in the room where the decision is made. A mentor makes you better; a sponsor gets you promoted.