Some helpful pointers, not in any specific order:a) Tell everyone openly that you are looking to be promoted. Tell your manager, tell your SE, tell the other M/SM/SE people on your project as some/all of them will be sitting in your laddering meetings. Start talking about it early on. b) As the SE you are working for/have worked for in the promotion year to sponsor you. Best that can happen: they say "absolutely". Worst that can happen: they say "I don't think you're ready". In which case ask them to define what is lacking, what you need to demonstrate to get their backing. Write this down in an e-mail to them. In the next months make sure you prove these and write down evidence. Then approach them again, and show that you are ready. c) do stuff outside your direct role: present brown-bag sessions on the project, take part in people initiatives, go to recruitment activities to help, etc. etc. etc. This will do two things: 1) it will raise your profile across the business and show that you are committed to improving the business. 2) allow you to submit self-feedback on MyPerformance citing these contributions. d) This may sound trite, but I believe it is true: in everything you do, behave and perform like a Manager. Make yourself believe that you are already at that level, and make everyone else believe it also. Then when you do get the promotion, it will seem simply a change in title as you are already there.
