Building a Promotion Case

The Guide

4 key steps synthesized from 1 experts.

1

Build Your Wins Log

Start a dedicated document to track your accomplishments, metrics, and feedback as they happen. Include screenshots of praise, links to successful projects, and specific data points showing business growth to ensure your evidence is concrete and undeniable.

Featured guest perspectives

"Go open up a new doc and start dumping a list of times you’ve made an impact at your current job. Include metrics, screenshots, timelines, stories—anything that’ll help you tell the story of your successes."

— Lenny Rachitsky

2

Align on the Growth Plan

Schedule a specific 1:1 to discuss your career trajectory. Share your ambition for the next level and ask your manager for a clear list of 2 to 3 skill gaps or behavioral changes required to get there, then document these in a shared action plan.

Featured guest perspectives

"When was the last time you told your manager you’d love to get promoted? It may seem obvious to you, but they may not know how important this is to you. Bring it up at your next 1:1 and see what happens."

— Lenny Rachitsky

"No matter your role or level, there’s a skill or behavior that is keeping you from the next level. To get promoted, you’ll need to demonstrate that you’ve addressed that gap, in the eyes of both your manager and other influential leaders involved in the promotion process."

— Lenny Rachitsky

3

Proactively Expand Your Scope

Identify projects or organizational gaps that are currently unowned and volunteer to lead them. Focus on work that is typically handled by someone at the next level, such as visioning exercises, mentoring junior staff, or simplifying complex cross-functional strategies.

Featured guest perspectives

"People don’t get promoted for doing their jobs really well. They get promoted by demonstrating their potential to do more. At many companies, you get promoted only after you’ve demonstrated you can handle the next level."

— Lenny Rachitsky

"The best way to get promoted into any role, including a PM manager, is to make it obvious you’d do a great job in that new role. This involves a combination of doing the job before you have the job, demonstrating that you have the necessary skills, and simply asking for it."

— Lenny Rachitsky

4

Formalize the Promotion Case

Draft a written document that articulates your impact, scope, and readiness. Map your achievements directly to the company's career ladder criteria and provide this 'ammo' to your manager so they can effectively champion you during calibration meetings.

Featured guest perspectives

"Write reviews for your team before you go out on leave (especially for anyone who you want to put up for promotion). Share them with your manager and HR before you go out, and incorporate any feedback."

— Lenny Rachitsky

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Guest Perspectives

Deep dive into what 0 podcast guests shared about building a promotion case.

From Lenny's Newsletter

4 newsletter posts cover building a promotion case.

How to be prepared for layoffs 1 quote

Read the post →

"Go open up a new doc and start dumping a list of times you’ve made an impact at your current job. Include metrics, screenshots, timelines, stories—anything that’ll help you tell the story of your successes."

Tactical:

Start a 'brag document' today while your memory is fresh and you have access to the details.
Capture specific metrics, screenshots, and timelines of your successes.
Use established templates to organize your impact stories for future resume building.

How to create an exceptional coverage plan for your parental leave 1 quote

Read the post →

"Write reviews for your team before you go out on leave (especially for anyone who you want to put up for promotion). Share them with your manager and HR before you go out, and incorporate any feedback."

Tactical:

Complete all performance reviews and promotion cases before your leave begins.
Decide if your manager will represent you in calibration meetings or if you want to be available.
Align with HR and your manager on how they will communicate review outcomes to your reports.

How to get promoted 4 quotes

Read the post →

"No matter your role or level, there’s a skill or behavior that is keeping you from the next level. To get promoted, you’ll need to demonstrate that you’ve addressed that gap, in the eyes of both your manager and other influential leaders involved in the promotion process."

Tactical:

Push your manager in your next 1:1 to articulate the specific 2-3 skills or behaviors keeping you from the next level.
Collaborate on an action plan spreadsheet with 3-10 concrete steps to improve these attributes over the next six months.
Schedule a monthly career coaching session to review progress on each action item and stay aligned on your status.

"Explicitly or implicitly, every company prioritizes different skills and behaviors. If you pay attention to who gets promoted, you can start to see what actually matters at your company."

Tactical:

Analyze the common skills and impact driven by colleagues who have recently moved up to the level you want.
Ask your manager what you should be 'reading between the lines' of the career ladder to understand what really matters to leaders.
Interview recently promoted peers to learn about the specific projects and behaviors that contributed to their advancement.

"When was the last time you told your manager you’d love to get promoted? It may seem obvious to you, but they may not know how important this is to you. Bring it up at your next 1:1 and see what happens."

Tactical:

Explicitly state your desire for a promotion during a 1:1 to ensure it is on your manager's radar.
Transition from a simple request to a collaborative discussion about the necessary action plan to get there.
Check in periodically to ensure you and your manager remain aligned on your progress and the timeline for advancement.

"People don’t get promoted for doing their jobs really well. They get promoted by demonstrating their potential to do more. At many companies, you get promoted only after you’ve demonstrated you can handle the next level."

Tactical:

Volunteer to lead ambitious projects or visioning exercises that exceed the expectations of your current level.
Proactively take on specific tasks that your manager currently handles to demonstrate you can operate at a higher level.
Mentor junior team members or take the lead on cross-departmental initiatives to show expanded scope.

Moving from IC product manager to manager of product managers 1 quote

Read the post →

"The best way to get promoted into any role, including a PM manager, is to make it obvious you’d do a great job in that new role. This involves a combination of doing the job before you have the job, demonstrating that you have the necessary skills, and simply asking for it."

Tactical:

Mentor two or three junior PMs to demonstrate your ability to develop people.
Simplify overly-complex strategy documents for others to show you can handle complexity.
Bring up your interest in management during every performance review and career conversation.