{"id":"eeda9f03-de32-4592-a060-a00742464feb","shortId":"R2w97t","kind":"skill","title":"building-a-promotion-case","tagline":"Build a promotion case: evidence log, impact narrative, manager alignment plan, submission-ready promo doc.","description":"# Building a Promotion Case\n\n## Scope\n\n**Covers**\n- Turning “I want a promotion” into a concrete **promotion thesis** tied to company priorities\n- Mapping your work to the **next-level expectations** (career ladder / competency model)\n- Building an evidence-backed **impact log** (metrics + artifacts + stakeholder proof)\n- Creating a **submission-ready promotion doc** (one-pager + appendix) that makes the decision easy\n- Aligning with your manager using a **partnership loop** (a.k.a. “Magic Loop”) and planning the next 4–12 weeks\n- Building a lightweight **sponsor/visibility plan** (political capital without being sleazy)\n\n**When to use**\n- “Help me write a promotion packet / promotion doc.”\n- “I need a promotion case that maps to our career ladder.”\n- “I want to get promoted this cycle—what should I do and how do I prove it?”\n- “My manager says ‘keep doing what you’re doing’—I need crisp promotion criteria and a plan.”\n- “I want to level up, but I’m not sure what evidence counts.”\n\n**When NOT to use**\n- You need compensation negotiation tactics for a new offer — use `negotiating-offers` (this pack is about *internal promotion readiness*, not external offers)\n- You are exploring a career pivot or role change — use `career-transitions` (this pack assumes you want to advance in your current ladder, not switch ladders)\n- You want to build a mentor/sponsor network from scratch — use `finding-mentors-sponsors` (this pack includes a sponsor *map* for an active promo push, but not the full relationship-building workflow)\n- You need general manager-relationship tactics without a promotion goal — use `managing-up`\n- You are in an HR/performance escalation (PIP, investigation, termination risk) — involve HR/manager process first\n- You don’t want to involve your manager at all (promotion decisions are manager- and org-mediated; this pack assumes partnership)\n- You only need a resume/LinkedIn rewrite (use a resume-focused workflow instead)\n\n## Inputs\n\n**Minimum required**\n- Your role + scope today (team, product area, what you own)\n- Target level/role and timing (desired promo cycle/date)\n- Your company’s leveling rubric / ladder (or a description of expectations if you can’t share the doc)\n- 3–8 work examples from the last 6–12 months (projects, launches, decisions, cross-functional leadership)\n- Evidence signals (metrics, customer outcomes, reliability, revenue/cost, quality, speed, adoption)\n- Stakeholders involved (manager, partners, potential sponsors, promo committee style if known)\n\n**Missing-info strategy**\n- Ask up to 5 questions from [references/INTAKE.md](references/INTAKE.md) (3–5 at a time).\n- If the ladder/process is unclear, proceed with a **generic ladder mapping** and label assumptions for the user to correct.\n- Don’t request confidential/PII; use anonymized numbers and redacted descriptions.\n\n## Outputs (deliverables)\n\nProduce a **Promotion Case Pack** (Markdown in-chat; or as files if requested) in this order:\n\n1) **Promotion thesis + target role/timeline** (what you’re asking for, why now)\n2) **Next-level expectations map** (ladder/competencies → what “good” looks like)\n3) **Evidence log** (impact table with metrics + artifacts + stakeholders)\n4) **Competency mapping** (claims → evidence; gaps → plan)\n5) **Impact narrative** (1-page story + “company problem solved” framing)\n6) **Manager alignment plan (“Magic Loop”)** (asks, commitments, check-ins, decision criteria)\n7) **Sponsor/visibility map** (who needs to believe what; how you’ll socialize)\n8) **Risks / Open questions / Next steps** (always)\n\nTemplates: [references/TEMPLATES.md](references/TEMPLATES.md)  \nExpanded guidance: [references/WORKFLOW.md](references/WORKFLOW.md)\n\n## Workflow (8 steps)\n\n### 1) Intake + promotion process snapshot\n- **Inputs:** user context; [references/INTAKE.md](references/INTAKE.md).\n- **Actions:** Confirm the goal (promotion vs broader career planning). Capture timing, process, and decision-makers. Identify constraints (confidentiality, limited metrics, org politics).\n- **Outputs:** Promotion context snapshot + assumptions/unknowns list.\n- **Checks:** Target level and promo window are explicit; boundaries are respected.\n\n### 2) Define the promotion thesis (make the decision easy)\n- **Inputs:** company priorities; your work themes; target level expectations.\n- **Actions:** Draft a 1–2 sentence thesis: *“Promote me to X because I already operate at X by doing Y which solves Z.”* Tie to a concrete company problem.\n- **Outputs:** Promotion thesis + 3–5 proof points (bullets).\n- **Checks:** Thesis is falsifiable and specific (not “I worked hard”).\n\n### 3) Map next-level expectations (promotion ≠ career, but they should align)\n- **Inputs:** ladder/rubric (or proxy); target role definition.\n- **Actions:** Translate the ladder into a small set of competencies and “next-level signals.” Separate: (a) table stakes, (b) differentiators, (c) visibility/scope expectations.\n- **Outputs:** Expectations map + initial gap list.\n- **Checks:** Each competency has observable behaviors; gaps are concrete.\n\n### 4) Build an evidence log (receipts, not vibes)\n- **Inputs:** 3–8 work examples; available metrics; artifacts.\n- **Actions:** Create an evidence table that captures: problem, your role, scope, decisions, outcomes, metrics/proxies, and partners. Identify where you need stakeholder quotes.\n- **Outputs:** Evidence log + “evidence missing” list.\n- **Checks:** Each major claim has at least 2 evidence types (metric/proxy + artifact/partner proof).\n\n### 5) Convert evidence into a promotion doc draft (one-pager + appendix)\n- **Inputs:** thesis, expectations map, evidence log.\n- **Actions:** Draft the promo doc using the template. Write in exec-friendly language: impact, scope, leadership, leverage, and why you’re low-risk at the next level.\n- **Outputs:** Promotion doc draft + appendix (evidence snippets).\n- **Checks:** The doc is skimmable in 3 minutes; every claim has a pointer to evidence.\n\n### 6) Manager alignment loop (“Magic Loop”) + criteria agreement\n- **Inputs:** draft doc; manager context; promo process.\n- **Actions:** Create a plan to align with your manager: ask what would make them confident, commit to what they ask, and schedule check-ins. Draft your “ask” script and the next 4–12 week plan.\n- **Outputs:** Manager alignment plan + 1:1 agenda/script.\n- **Checks:** Manager expectations are explicit; next check-in date is scheduled; you’ve made it easy to sponsor you.\n\n### 7) Sponsor/visibility plan (politics as logistics)\n- **Inputs:** stakeholder map; known promo committee dynamics.\n- **Actions:** Identify 3–8 people whose belief matters. Plan how you will: (a) increase visibility of outcomes, (b) request feedback/endorsements, (c) avoid surprises.\n- **Outputs:** Sponsor/visibility map + outreach templates.\n- **Checks:** Every key stakeholder has a specific next action and a low-friction ask.\n\n### 8) Quality gate + finalize\n- **Inputs:** full pack draft.\n- **Actions:** Run [references/CHECKLISTS.md](references/CHECKLISTS.md) and score with [references/RUBRIC.md](references/RUBRIC.md). Tighten weak sections. Add **Risks / Open questions / Next steps**. Produce a submission-ready doc and a short “manager email” version.\n- **Outputs:** Final Promotion Case Pack.\n- **Checks:** Pack is evidence-based, ladder-aligned, and process-ready; risks and unknowns are explicit.\n\n## Quality gate (required)\n- Use [references/CHECKLISTS.md](references/CHECKLISTS.md) and [references/RUBRIC.md](references/RUBRIC.md).\n- Always include: **Risks**, **Open questions**, **Next steps**.\n\n## Examples\n\n**Example 1 (typical):** “I’m a Senior PM and want to get promoted to Staff PM in the next cycle (May). Here’s our ladder excerpt and 5 projects I led. Build a promotion case doc + evidence log + manager alignment plan.”  \nExpected: Promotion Case Pack with a ladder-mapped narrative and concrete manager check-ins.\n\n**Example 2 (limited metrics):** “I’m a PM on an internal platform team. My impact is hard to measure. Help me build a promotion case using proxy metrics, stakeholder evidence, and artifacts.”  \nExpected: Evidence log with proxies (cycle time, reliability, adoption, internal NPS) and explicit proof pointers.\n\n**Boundary example:** “My manager refuses to discuss promotions and HR is involved in a performance process.”\nResponse: recommend following HR/manager process first; offer to help later with evidence capture, role expectations, and a future readiness plan.\n\n## Anti-patterns\n\n1. **”Vibes-only” evidence** — Listing activities (“I attended meetings”) instead of impact with metrics. Every claim in the promo doc needs at least one measurable outcome or stakeholder-verified artifact.\n2. **Skipping manager alignment** — Writing a polished promo doc without pre-wiring your manager. If your manager is surprised by the packet, the case is already weakened.\n3. **Ladder-blind narrative** — Telling a great story that doesn't map to the actual leveling rubric. Promo committees score against defined competencies, not general impressions of “doing great work.”\n4. **Sponsor confusion** — Treating mentors (who give advice) as sponsors (who spend political capital). This pack needs people who will advocate in the room, not just coach you privately.\n5. **Premature submission** — Pushing a promo case before you have enough evidence cycles. If more than 2 competency areas show gaps, build a 3-month plan first rather than forcing a weak case.","tags":["building","promotion","case","lenny","skills","plus","liqiongyu","agent-skills","ai-agents","automation","claude","codex"],"capabilities":["skill","source-liqiongyu","skill-building-a-promotion-case","topic-agent-skills","topic-ai-agents","topic-automation","topic-claude","topic-codex","topic-prompt-engineering","topic-refoundai","topic-skillpack"],"categories":["lenny_skills_plus"],"synonyms":[],"warnings":[],"endpointUrl":"https://skills.sh/liqiongyu/lenny_skills_plus/building-a-promotion-case","protocol":"skill","transport":"skills-sh","auth":{"type":"none","details":{"cli":"npx skills add liqiongyu/lenny_skills_plus","source_repo":"https://github.com/liqiongyu/lenny_skills_plus","install_from":"skills.sh"}},"qualityScore":"0.474","qualityRationale":"deterministic score 0.47 from registry signals: · indexed on github topic:agent-skills · 49 github stars · SKILL.md body 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