Moment of truth: I feel stagnant. While I’ve had some amazing experiences in my life and career in media, I wash hoping to be a lot further along by now that I am. Maybe I’m just too ambitious. Maybe I’m impatient. Maybe I’m doing something wrong? I’m in need of career guidance so I did what any well educated millennial would do.

I did a quick search on Google to seek answers to my quandary: What do yo do when your career stalls?

• Executive Presence
• Communication Style
• Peer Relationships
• Excessive Optimism and Perfectionism

A few stood out to me so I want to share these silent career killers with you so that you can avoid or correct them.

While this term could mean any multitude of things like issues from body odor to instances when someone doesn’t carry themself in a way consistent with company culture. Confidence, or the lack thereof, play a huge role in this pitfall. According to research from The Harvard Business Review (HBR), executives presenting as “highly confident” were 2.5 times more likely to be hired.

It’s possible that your performance demonstrates strength and intellect, but appearing meek and understated could give the perception that you are not quite ready for that step up.

So, study your behavior so that you show up in person the same way you show up in your work. Make eye contact. Speak with authority and conviction. Sturdy handshakes. Posture your body, dress the part and manage your hygiene with pride so that your Executive Presence doesn’t hold you back from that big promotion.

I’ve actually gotten feedback on my communication style in professional settings. In broadcast, brevity is important. Scheduled times are typically hard set, multitasking is not just a skill, but a way of life and management is extremely busy.

I come from an academic background, writing papers and essays. To add insult to injury, I’m a blogger with a degree in PRINT journalism. Writing long-form just feels good to me.

I also am BIG on over-communicating because I prefer to avoid never-ending back-and-forth exchanges. So I try to put EVERYTHING the recipient needs to know in one email. The lesson: you have to adapt to your unique corporate culture. So if you work in a bottom-line oriented environment, get to the point as quickly as possible.

HBR’s research shows that candidates who used more intellectual vocabulary were eight times less likely to be hired compared to candidates who used more colloquial language. Try to use down-to-earth storytelling, drawing on memorable results.

Also, watch how you use “we” and “I.” The most successful job candidates are capable of explaining their individual contributions without overusing “I.” Keep “team work” in mind when communicating and watch doors open.

Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that this study found a huge disparity in hiring candidates with accents. The perception is that those with insufficient language fluency are less competent than were. Once those candidates worked to reduce the accent their career trajectory improved. Speech therapy or a language coach might be a good investment if it can improve your chance to move up the corporate ladder, right?

What do you do when your bosses love you, but your peers can’t stand you?!

If you feel stuck in a middle management role, it could be because of your peer relationships. You never want your counterparts to fear that your individual success is more important to you than a team win. Keep in mind how your role or division contributes to the overall company and play to that. Beware of corporate incentive systems that reward achievement of individual targets.

I faced a similar challenge in my last role. I was Online Editor, a management role of sorts, but specifically over Digital Content. I won’t take all the blame as this was also an organizational flaw, but it was almost like the OE’s had our own little world apart from what was happening in the radio station.

We would have our own weekly calls, praising our wins and even get bonuses for reaching key performance indicators. It was an uncovered manhole for focusing solely on our own unique objective. It was our unique responsibility to figure out how to play to both side’s interest at all times.

Making broadcasters want to think like bloggers was not easy. Pageviews was never the priority that Time Spent Listening on-air was to a Program Director. Getting HR to grant station truck privileges to an OE was a no-no, so a street team member would have to be scheduled to drive one around. This cost the company money, so it didn’t always happen, but the event still had to be covered. Conflicts like these made an otherwise enjoyable work experience quite stressful and tricky.

Structural conflicts across functions are common in large complex organizations, according to HBR, leaving peers to fight for finite resources or finding middle group on projects and issues. Yet, leaders with the highest potential find ways to deliver on their target while also playing for the team. So find your rhythm and practice the art of persuasion .

I know, it would be nice is management would just spit out criticism like this so that you can address it, but keep in mind they may be trying to spare your feelings. (Or their own in hopes of avoiding an awkward conversation.) So you take control. When you get your review and see issues, no matter how small they may seem, dig deeper for clear answers and suggestions on ways to improve. If you still don’t feel that you are getting the answers you need, seek help from a third-party. Career guidance is a great start.

Do you think you’ve made any of these mistakes? What are some ways you’d address these career killers?