I'm Angry and In Need of Advice

Hi WSO,

I'm in need of advice on something serious so I've made this throwaway account. Currently at a mid-sized consulting firm and am at a crossroads based on something that happened recently. I got passed up for a promotion. Now, to keep things anonymous let's call my rank Level X. A bunch of people started with me towards the end of 2018 at Level X. The promotion time from Level X to Level X+1 is usually 18-24 months. At the 18 month mark I didn't make it, and was the only one (barring two Level X people who got fired) who did not make the jump. I personally feel that the quality of my work warranted a promotion, but evidently the evaluation committee didn't. Here's the thing. I've always been good with clients (as told by project feedback, often much better than others at my level) and have also been strong in technical skills with the potential to improve by paying a bit more attention to detail and so on. Minor things. The main thing that held me back (I think) was a personality clash with some senior people. I'm a confident outgoing person who gets along very well with other confident people (50% of the company) but can come off as arrogant and overly confident to the other 50% that is a bit shier and quieter. My bad luck is that in this latter 50% you have influential people at the firm and I fear that this perception will stick around even despite me trying to work on these personality traits.

When everyone else made the jump except me, a very very small part of me accepted that this could have been an objective view because I had no confirmation that I wasn't the "worst" despite being pretty sure. Shortly after this promotion cycle I got to work with one of these recently minted Level X+1 people and I was appalled. The quality of their work was well below their and my level. Typos, inconsistencies and general poor attention to detail - things that I was told I needed to work on to make the jump. This to me seemed like proof that the whole "work on your attention to detail and the quality of your work" was bullshit and that it was solely the personality clash that got in my way. Additionally, I have had this confirmed by others I am close with (and have worked with) at Level X+1 and X+2 that some of those recently promoted produce worse quality work than me.

I am aware that office politics always play a role in things like promotions, but I did not expect it to this extent. The annoying this is that I like the firm - the work is cool, people are great and the WLB is awesome. I really would not want to leave in an ideal situation, but I fear that this inability to view my work objectively and having politics against me may hinder future promotions too.

Would it make sense to leave? Find someone internally I can talk this out with without causing drama? Could use some professional advice.

Cheers.