How to Prepare for a Performance Review to Earn a Promotion

Earlier in my career, I watched colleagues who had accomplished less move up ahead of me. I kept my head down and assumed good work spoke for itself. That was my mistake. The problem wasn’t my performance — the playing field wasn’t level, and still isn’t. Men’s achievements are often recognized more readily than women’s — meaning that even when women outperform their male colleagues, they’re still 14% less likely to be promoted.

The good news: there’s now solid research on the steps that actually help women advance — and they don’t involve working harder. Here’s your week-by-week game plan to prepare for performance reviews or promotion requests.

At least one month before your review:

Get on the same page as your manager. Building genuine rapport with your manager creates trust and protects you against bias. Start by asking about their top priorities: “What are the two or three outcomes that matter most to you, and how can I support them?” Being the person who helps your manager succeed is one of the fastest ways to get ahead. If you’re hoping for a promotion or raise this half, frame it around your contribution, not personal advancement. Don’t simply say, “I want to get promoted.” Instead, say, “I want to take on more responsibility so I can have a bigger impact on [team goal]. What would you want to see me do to make that case?”

Build your wins tracker. Document your impact in concrete terms — revenue influenced, problems solved, metrics moved, feedback received. Use your manager’s priorities to shape what you emphasize — lead with the wins that speak directly to their top goals.

Two weeks before your review:

Brief your peer reviewers. This matters because research shows women are significantly less likely than men to have their contributions recognized in group settings. If your organization does 360 reviews, send a warm note to each peer reviewer and include a link to your wins tracker. That makes it easy for them to be specific.

One week before your review:

Write a great self-review. This shapes how your manager writes your formal evaluation, which directly influences promotion decisions. Pull from your wins tracker and structure your self-review around your manager’s top priorities, leading with the impacts they care most about. Frame every contribution around team and business impact, and don’t downplay your successes: “I drove X, which helped the team accomplish Y.”

The day before your review:

Prepare for the review conversation. By now, the promotion decision has likely been made. But this conversation still shapes your trajectory in the future. If any of the feedback you receive is vague, push for specifics: “What are some concrete things I could do differently?” And look forward: “What would I need to accomplish over the next year to take on more responsibility and increase our team’s impact?” The review isn’t the finish line — it can be the starting point for what comes next.