A BAD progression of pushes is not in and of itself a promotion killer, but it certainly affects a mid-grade record.
There certainly is a secret decoder ring for all of this:
Strats: looking for Strats in your rank, or as you get higher, Strats in your sq/cc title, etc
opr push lines: a consistent message of school, sq/CC, and staff pushes is part of the equation. Being pushed for a majcom or NAF staff is not a good thing. HAF is 70% of us. JT staff is top tier.
PRF: it needs to match the OPR with those pushes.
The verbiage of definitely promote is a message. The check box of definitely promote is obviously the strongest message
a strat amongst board eligibles in PRF is also a message.