Job Search, Promotion, and Career Clarity: The Mid-Career GPS Podcast

302: Ten Signs You Are Blocked from Being Promoted

• John Neral • Season 5

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If you're working hard, delivering results, and still not advancing in your career, you may be facing more than just bad luck—you could be blocked.


In this powerful episode of The Mid-Career GPS Podcast, career coach John Neral breaks down 10 unmistakable signs that your professional growth is being stifled by internal organizational barriers.


Whether you're being told you're "too valuable in your current role" or watching less experienced colleagues climb the ladder while you're stuck in place, these signs can point to a deeper issue: your organization may be holding you back. 


John shares real-world insights, personal experiences, and actionable strategies to help you recognize when you're being blocked and what to do about it.


More importantly, you'll learn how to take charge of your career by initiating direct conversations about your goals, growth potential, and what you truly want from your next role.


In This Episode, You'll Learn:

  • How to recognize the hidden signs you're being blocked from promotion
  • Why vague or non-actionable feedback is a major red flag
  • The impact of being the "go-to" person who’s never promoted
  • What to do when your manager isn’t advocating for your advancement
  • How to initiate meaningful conversations about your career path


This episode is a must-listen if you’re:

  • A mid-career professional feeling stuck or underappreciated
  • Frustrated by your lack of career growth despite strong performance
  • Ready to advocate for yourself and explore new opportunities


Resources Mentioned:

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John Neral:

As a mid-career, professional advancement is important, but have you ever felt as if you were stuck at your organization? Look, you work hard, you go above and beyond and you do all the right things and yet you feel as if you have nothing to show for it. Have you ever considered you might be blocked? And if you are, we then have to ask the question who or what is blocking your success? In this episode, I will share 10 signs you might be blocked from that promotion or advancing within your organization, along with one powerful tip to help you get unblocked. Let's get started. Hello, my friends, this is the Mid-Career GPS Podcast and I'm your host, John Neral. I help mid-career professionals like you find a career they love, or love the career they have, using my proven four-step formula.

John Neral:

It's been an exciting month here on the podcast and if you missed last week's episode, well, we celebrated 300 episodes and to kick off this celebration, I've got a brand new resource for you. It is called 10 Must Listen Episodes. You can find it on my website at johnnerrellcom forward slash resources. But the really great thing about this new guide is that when you download it, you will get invited to a special live Zoom event on Wednesday, june 25th, so it's just the day after this episode drops. But on that Zoom event, I'm going to share with you some more career tips and things about that are just happening in this space right now. That is completely ever-changing, but also it is a chance for you to come and meet some wonderful people as we celebrate this wonderful podcast. That I could not do without you So So go to my website, https://johnneral. com and download that guide, get the Zoom invite. But you know what? This podcast continues to grow because of people like you who enjoy listening and continue to share it with your friends and family. So please continue to do that. Know how much I appreciate it and I appreciate you Well in prepping for this episode episode 301, this brought up a lot for me because I can share with you that there have been numerous times across several organizations where I personally have been blocked.

John Neral:

I didn't get promoted as quickly as I would like or I saw some things that were happening where I really questioned whether this was the best fit for me to be inside of that organization. Now I look at my career path with a tremendous amount of fondness because it gets me to where I am today. But these 10 things I'm going to share with you. I want you to put a very critical lens on what I'm going to talk about today and if you find yourself experiencing even one of these, this could be an opportunity for you to evaluate your value and how valuable you are at that organization.

John Neral:

All right, number one you're blocked from getting promoted in that organization if you are consistently overlooked for promotions. You go and you talk to your manager or supervisor and they offer you vague or ambiguous reasons as to why. They'll say things like well, the timing's not right, or maybe next cycle, or well, there's just, it's just a really hard time for us, really Like, if the timing isn't right. My question at that point is then when? When am I actually going to be ready for a promotion? Because if I've done all of the things you've expected me to do and I'm demonstrating the competencies at the level above me, and now you tell me the timing isn't right, what's going on there? So radar should be going up if you are consistently overlooked for promotions.

John Neral:

Number two falls in line with this, which is your feedback that you're getting is vague or non-actionable. I will do a future podcast episode around feedback, but I want to offer you right now that in the words of Sherry Harley, who wrote a phenomenal book called how to Say Anything to Anyone. It is my favorite feedback book that is out there. She says in her book that we give feedback for two reasons. It's either to maintain behavior or shift behavior. When we get vague feedback that sounds something like this just keep doing what you're doing, it'll happen, or you're doing fine, we really value you here, but there's no developmental feedback that is specific enough about what you need to do to elevate your role or get that future potential. That's a problem. So think about the feedback you're getting and how actionable is that feedback, particularly around your career advancement.

John Neral:

Well, speaking of career advancement, number three is a big one. You have no clear career path or development plan within your organization. Look, I get it that sometimes it just may be something within an organization where they're not able to open up a new position or nobody's leaving or retiring. But when you're told things like well, we're still figuring out the org chart, or there's really no room at the top, or we've got so many people at this advanced level we can't bring anybody else up there, you should be questioning that. Bring anybody else up there. You should be questioning that.

John Neral:

I want to offer you that if there are conversations about your career that you feel are missing or you feel as if you're being repeatedly delayed, that is a clear indication you are being blocked for any kind of promotion potential. Number four you are getting assigned busy work or you're moving to lateral projects that are doing nothing to advance your skill set. Right, you find yourself being given high impact, low effort tasks that never allow you to demonstrate those competencies at the level above you and where you want to be. Lateral moves can sometimes be presented as developmental opportunities or this will look good for you, but they never really align with your advancement goals, right? Oh, if you're busy, you're valued. Okay, if I'm busy, it means you need me to do stuff. If I'm valued within the organization, where do you see me growing?

John Neral:

Number five is you see other people inside your organization being fast-tracked while you are staying stuck. Oh, this one, this one, my friends. Oh, like, if you want to get really angry and upset about something, this one makes sense If you are finding co-workers or colleagues who have less experience or tenure than you and they are getting promoted ahead of you, often because they are visible to executive leadership or they're given assignments that increase their exposure, or that leadership is championing their efforts and not you, my friends. That's a big red flag. That's a problem. I do not want to overlook that there are high performers and high potentials who absolutely are fast-tracked and, yes, they should be promoted. But if you are not being given similar opportunities or you are not getting others in those leadership positions who are sitting in the room when it comes time for promotion and you're not being talked about because you don't get that same visibility, that's a problem. That's a problem where you may be blocked inside that organization Number six.

John Neral:

Your manager doesn't advocate for you. This one hurts, right. We often think that we get to work with somebody and they're going to be our biggest champion and advocate, and sometimes they're selfish, sometimes they are simply not a good manager and they are only caring about themselves or they have their favorites for whom they care about and they will avoid any conversation about your advancement by saying things to you like I really value you, I don't want to lose you from the team, you do such great work here, but you never get that visibility. That often becomes that pathway for you to get that advancement, that exposure, and be considered for that promotion, because you don't have someone directly in line in your org chart who doesn't advocate or support your advancement. Number seven, you're left out of the loop. It's obvious. You're not invited to meetings, you don't get assigned to special projects, you're not included in big initiatives and decisions are made without your input. I will wear this as a badge of honor to my day.

John Neral:

But I knew I was not going to be promoted inside a certain organization when I was invited to senior leadership team and two weeks later I was not. Because I spoke up in that senior leadership meeting and I said a few things in that senior leadership meeting and some people in the room didn't like what I had to say because I told the truth on some things and so the easiest way to punish me was to not invite me back. It was a fun conversation when I went to my VP one day and I said so I guess you've had senior leadership team meeting and she looked at me and she said yes. And I said and I was not invited to senior leadership team meeting. And she looked at me and she said yes, and I said and I was not invited to senior leadership team meeting and she said that's correct. And I said and I guess I'm never going to be invited back to senior leadership team meeting. And she said you are correct. Once again we had a very good laugh over that. I knew I wasn't getting promoted there, so all was good. But if you're being left out, something there is obviously going on.

John Neral:

Number eight listen very carefully to this one. You're the go-to, but you are never next in line. It can be really hard for us when we recognize that we're the go-to to fix or solve particular problems, or we're the ones to train the new hire when they come on board. But we are never positioned and that's the key word here. You are never positioned as a successor to your manager or someone in a higher level role. You will hear things like oh, you do such great work, we would be lost without you here, which can ultimately mask their reluctance to promote you. Mask their reluctance to promote you Like, think about it, in some ways it's a backhanded compliment oh, we'd be so lost without you here. Yeah, because you only see me as valuable in this role, and that's number nine.

John Neral:

You are told you are too valuable in your current role. Nine you are told you are too valuable in your current role and so that red flag if you are hearing that right now, I want to offer you that as a chance for you to get really curious about what that looks like. It means that they see you in this specific spot on the org chart. That is what they want you to do. They don't want to have to put anybody else in that role and it serves them and it never serves your growth. And you might get things for being really valuable in that role. You might get a bonus, a spot award, you may get an increase in your salary, you might get flexibility or comp days, right Because they don't want to lose you, because they want to keep you happy. But then you also might hear you have it pretty good here. You should be grateful. Again, it serves them. It doesn't serve you If you are on a path where you want to be promoted and you are not seeing those opportunities. That is a huge red flag.

John Neral:

And number 10 is that when there's leadership change or leadership turnover, it never works in your favor. A new leader will bring people in from a prior organization or people whom they already know, and they will ignore internal talent. I want to be clear sometimes internal talent is not always the best choice. But if you have demonstrated proficiency and competency and you are positioned for that promotion and you are being passed over because someone from the outside is being pulled in, it's an opportunity for you to be really curious about that. And especially when you have someone in your organization who has been advocating and championing for you and they leave because of their own reasons and your biggest cheerleader has walked out the door, the likelihood of you getting promoted diminishes at that point as well, because your biggest fan is no longer there. Somebody else has a bigger fan than you. So these things can be really hard to hear, especially if in this job market, you are doubling down and leveraging your career to stay in your current organization and you see there is a path to growing and being promoted. So just to recap here, okay, the red flags or considerations I'm offering you today are one you're constantly overlooked for promotions to.

John Neral:

Feedback is vague or non actionable. Three you have no clear career path or development plan within that organization. Number four you are assigned busy work or lateral projects. Number five other people are getting promoted and you're not. Number six your manager doesn't advocate for you. Number seven you are left out of the loop on important conversations. Number eight you are the go-to but you are never next in line. Number 10 is you're told you're too valuable in your current role. And number 10 is a leadership turnover never works in your favor. So as you think about those 10 and you're thinking about how many of them are applicable to where you are in your career and your current situation, I want to offer you this one tip to get you unblocked. For you, this one tip to get you unblocked, and that is if you believe you are blocked inside an organization and your promotion is being stalled or never going to happen. That is a conversation to have.

John Neral:

I am of the belief and it has served me very, very well in my career that I would far rather have an intentional conversation about my place in the organization and my promotion potential than speculate, worry and hypothesize what is actually going on and create all that drama in my head, because it's not going to serve me. The thought I stay with, and the thought I have shared with you time and time again now over 301 episodes is that you are 100% responsible for your career. Don't rely on somebody to hold the cards for you all the time in your career. Yes, a manager or a leader or a supervisor is going to have that ability to promote you, but it doesn't mean that you acquiesce and let them decide when they believe it's the right time for you. If you believe you are ready to be promoted and you have the evidence to back it up and the evidence is in proficiency in your task and not time at that organization you have demonstrated the value at a much higher level.

John Neral:

My offer to you is to consider how worth it it is for you to go and have that conversation about your career path and development and the likelihood of you getting promoted, because that's important to you as a mid-career professional. You don't want to feel stuck, you don't want to be undervalued, you don't want to be underutilized and you also don't want to make a mistake. You don't want to stay in a place that doesn't recognize you for the value you bring. So having that intentional conversation to move that conversation forward, to give you the information you need about what you can potentially do is the thing that gets you unblocked, because you take back control. You recognize the command you have in your career and you take control of that and when you have that conversation, you can then decide what is best for you, what's best for you and your family and your loved ones. Is it worth it to stay and stick it out and continue to make inroads, or are you simply at a dead end and it's time for you to consider to go somewhere else and get that promotion and get that increase in your compensation and get that increase in your visibility and scope of work, that you get to do the things you know you are called and ready to go do. But being blocked in an organization is never a good feeling. You are worth far more and that is why we continue to build a mid-career GPS, week after week after week. So giving you a lot to think about.

John Neral:

Today. We're going to wrap it up here, but obviously, if this is something that struck a chord, message me on LinkedIn. You can find me on LinkedIn at John Nero. Let me know what you thought about this episode or share a comment about it in the post when I share about it over there on LinkedIn as well. But if there's anything I can ever do for you as your coach or you are interested in hiring me as your coach to help you with your career and or leadership development. It starts with a simple email or message. You can email me at john at johnnerrellcom, or message me on LinkedIn, and I will share with you the next steps on how to get started in working with me and hiring me as your coach.

John Neral:

So until next time, my friends, remember this you will build your mid-career GPS one mile or one step at a time and, more than ever, how you show up matters. Make it a great rest of your day. Thank you for listening to the Mid-Career GPS Podcast. Make sure to follow on your favorite listening platform and, if you have a moment, I'd love to hear your comments on Apple Podcasts. Visit johnnerrellcom for more information about how I can help you build your mid-career GPS, or how I can help you and your organization withcareer GPS, or how I can help you and your organization with your next workshop or public speaking event. Don't forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and follow me on social at John Darrell Coaching. I look forward to being back with you next week. Until then, take care and remember how we show up matters.