How do I ask for a promotion without sounding pushy?

First, the mindset flip: asking isn't pushy — silence is how you get skipped. Promotions go disproportionately to people who state the ambition clearly, because managers promote whoever makes the case easiest to argue upward. The non-pushy script, in a regular 1:1: 'I want to be operating at [next level] within the next year. Can we talk about what the gap looks like from where I am, and put together a concrete path?' Why this works: you're not demanding a title — you're recruiting your manager as a collaborator on a plan. Follow with: get the criteria in writing, check progress against it monthly (not quarterly), and keep a brag document of evidence mapped to those criteria. Timing matters: raise it 4–6 months BEFORE review season — that's when promo lists are actually drafted; by review time it's usually decided. And the part nobody enjoys: if you do this, hit the agreed bar, and the goalposts move twice — that's your answer. The fastest promotion path sometimes runs through another company's offer letter.