5 way to ensure you NEVER get promoted

1. Reputation mismanagement. Don't "make a show" of yourself, as my mother used to say. Promoting your friends, sleeping with the boss or conducting personal vendettas with colleagues is bad politics in the long run and bad politicians never make it up the career ladder.

"The Gods demand five still-beating hearts from the Marketing Department!"

2. Being indispensable. If your boss can't replace you, you are going precisely nowhere. It makes sense to always have someone groomed to step into your shoes without too much difficulty. A risk if they are too hungry to get your job or if your lily-livered boss needs to cut a head to appease the Gods? Possibly, but then again do you want to be stuck in your current role forever?

3. Have MBA, expect career to soar. Don't overestimate the value of your qualifications and achievements while underplaying the political dimension. Being top of the class may have got you the prefect job in your school years, but they don't cut it for long in the real world. Good internal PR pays better dividends than letters after your name. There's no point in having achievements if they are invisible achievements - make sure that the people who should know about your wins hear about them.

4. Square peg / Round Hole. Stop going after roles that you are not really suited for. If the position on offer during a round of promotions does not play to your natural strengths, resist the knee-jerk impulse to apply for it just because it's one tenth of a rung higher up the corporate ladder. Make sure management understands that it's not lack of ambition on your part, but rather concern for a good fit, being fully effective, and making the optimal contribution that has stopped you from applying.

5. Taking it personally. So you were passed over for promotion and you hated Ted from Accounts before he got the job, but now ... it's like a red mist descends over your eyes every time you think of him! Get over it.

(a) It's not Ted's fault. If you must blame someone, blame the Pointy-Haired Boss who promoted Ted.
(b) 99 times out of a hundred, it really isn't personal. The Pointy-Haired Boss is just a bit clueless about who you are and what you can do and was dazzled by Ted's juggling skills ...
(c) Do better in the interview room the next time. Sometimes you can't find fault with your approach in the room and there's nothing to improve for the next time. But not often.