Today’s post is a Monday weekly Leadership Playbook series. Last week’s post was – Mastering Promotion Advocacy: A 3-Pillar Framework. In this post, I will talk about how to write effective promotion cases and defend them.

Writing the Promotion Recommendation

The Narrative Structure I Use

Opening: Position statement with clear level transition “I am recommending Alice for promotion from IC-4 to IC-5 based on her demonstrated technical leadership, organizational impact, and consistent performance at senior engineer level.”

Current Level Mastery: Specific evidence of excelling at current role “Over the past year, Alice has consistently delivered complex projects with minimal oversight…”

Next Level Performance: Examples of already operating at target level “More significantly, Alice has demonstrated IC-5 capabilities through…”

Strategic Value: Why this promotion serves organizational goals “This promotion aligns with our strategic needs by…”

Growth Trajectory: Future potential and development path “Looking forward, Alice is positioned to…”

Closing: Clear recommendation with timeline “I strongly recommend Alice’s promotion to IC-5, effective at the start of next quarter.”

Common Advocacy Mistakes to Avoid

The Tenure Trap

Wrong: “Bob has been with us for three years and is due for promotion.”

Right: “Bob has demonstrated consistent growth over three years, now showing clear IC-4 capabilities.”

The Comparison Problem

Wrong: “Bob is much better than Rob, who got promoted last quarter.”

Right: “Bob meets and exceeds all IC-4 criteria as demonstrated by…”

The Potential Fallacy

Wrong: “With promotion, I think Alice will really step up her performance.”

Right: “Alice has already demonstrated IC-5 performance and promotion recognizes current reality.”

The Nice Person Error

Wrong: “Everyone loves working with Alice. She deserves recognition.” Right: “Alice’s collaborative approach has directly contributed to team productivity improvements of 25%.”

The Follow-Up Strategy

Promotion advocacy doesn’t end when you submit the recommendation:

Committee Preparation

• Anticipate Questions: What concerns might the committee have?
• Prepare Additional Evidence: Have supporting examples ready
• Practice the Pitch: Be ready to summarize the case clearly and concisely

Timeline Management

• Set Expectations: Let the candidate know the process timeline
• Regular Updates: Keep them informed of progress without creating false hope
• Backup Plans: What if the promotion is delayed or denied?

Post-Decision Support

If Approved:

• Help the candidate transition into the new role successfully
• Set expectations for performance at the new level
• Create development plan for continued growth

If Denied:

• Provide clear feedback on what needs to change
• Create specific development plan to address gaps
• Set timeline for future promotion consideration

The Broader Impact on Team Culture

When you successfully advocate for team members’ promotions, you create positive cultural effects:

• Trust Building: Team members see that you fight for their career growth
• Retention Improvement: Engineers stay longer when they see promotion opportunities
• Performance Motivation: Clear promotion examples motivate others to excel
• Organizational Reputation: Your team becomes known as a place where people grow

My Results

• Approved with unanimous committee support
• Approved with acceleration to faster timeline
• Other engineers ask to discuss their promotion paths
• Retention of high-performing engineers

Your Promotion Advocacy Checklist

✅ Evidence Portfolio: Comprehensive documentation of performance and impact

✅ Strategic Alignment: Clear connection between promotion and business needs

✅ Level Criteria: Specific demonstration of next-level performance

✅ Narrative Flow: Compelling story that builds to logical conclusion

✅ Timeline Planning: Appropriate promotion timing and committee preparation

✅ Follow-up Strategy: Plan for both success and setback scenarios

The Long-Term Leadership Development

The best managers don’t just advocate for promotions, they develop people systematically toward promotion readiness. This means:

• Regular Career Conversations: Frequent discussions about growth and development
• Stretch Assignment Creation: Projects that build promotion-relevant skills
• Visibility Opportunities: Chances to demonstrate capabilities to broader organization
• Skill Gap Identification: Clear feedback on areas for development
• Success Metric Tracking: Measurable progress toward promotion criteria

The ultimate goal: Your team members should never be surprised by promotion decisions because you’ve been preparing them systematically for advancement.

What strategies have you used successfully for team member promotion advocacy? What challenges have you faced in making compelling promotion cases?