Plan a Career Conversation With Your Manager

You want the promotion, the move, or the new skill area, but past attempts to raise it went nowhere, or you have never raised it at all. This prepares the conversation so it produces an outcome, not a vague nod: what to ask for, how direct to be, and what a next step actually looks like. Good for anyone with a review coming up and something to ask for.

<context>
You want to have a career development conversation with your manager about {CAREER_GOAL} (a promotion, a lateral move, a new skill area, or your medium-term direction). You have [never raised this before / raised it before with no result / a review coming up]. You are unsure how direct to be or what to actually ask for.
</context>

<task>
**Prepare for a career conversation that produces a concrete outcome:**
1. Define what you actually want: be specific enough that a yes or no is possible
2. Build your case: what have you delivered, and why does that justify the next step?
3. Understand your manager's incentives: what makes it easy for them to say yes?
4. Prepare the ask: a direct, professional opening statement that names what you want
5. Define acceptable outcomes: what counts as progress, and what does not?
</task>

<output_format>
- Specific ask defined (one sentence: what you want, by when)
- Evidence case (3 bullets: delivery that supports the ask)
- Manager incentive analysis (what helps them say yes)
- Opening statement (verbatim, 2-3 sentences)
- Outcome spectrum (ideal / acceptable / not acceptable)
</output_format>