This is your moment. The moment you’ve worked like a dog for these past three years. You’ve showed up early for every Monday morning meeting, and you work late. You even bring in donuts and coffee for your fellow employees every Friday morning, as a way to spruce up the office morale. You go above and beyond with your clients, and offer creative input for boosting up sales like a pro.

So, how do you handle the recent announcement of your dream job, available to anyone who’s worthy? Will you sit down and allow it to be passed over to the next guy, or will you stand up and say, “I’M WORTH IT!”

Bingo. It’s your moment. It’s you time to shine. It’s your turn to finally show your company just how much better you can make it, given your creative input, decisive problem solving skills and your uncanny ability to lead a team to success.

It’s your chance to show your boss, and your bosses’ boss just how much you deserve the recently announced promotion opportunity. The good news is, this could be the chance of a lifetime – a bigger salary, consistent interaction with the CEO and just the type of managerial platform you need to shine. The trouble is, your male counterpart – the notorious aggressive and successful persuader wants this job just as badly as you. So how can you possibly beat out your competition? By working your magic, as only a strong, intelligent woman like you can.

Extend Yourself Outside of the Workplace

What’s the #1 reason most women don’t ask for that promotion they know deep down they deserve? Fear and intimidation. Let’s face it – we’ve come a long way in the workplace, but with still quite a ways to go. Many women get passed up due to a more aggressive male competitor. Is it fair? Hardly. But aggression for what you want, or at least, an assertive stance = promotional success.

You don’t have to be naturally aggressive to win over your competition, but you do need to bulldoze over your fear, and extend yourself in all aspects of your work life. That includes ensuring you’re sales record, customer service and leadership skills are better than ever. It also means going the extra mile when you’re not at work.  Did your boss just invite everyone to a dinner with the Board of Directors you previously would have shy away from? Do you have an upcoming happy hour that will allow you to truly see who your competition is, and learn from the lessons of upper level directors? Talk to them. Discover what their biggest goals for the coming year are, and come up with create solutions – and clearly communicate them (oh so cleverly as only you can) during your interview.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Landing that promotion isn’t about working harder. You already work hard. The modern solution to land the job of your dreams (that no one is more perfect for that you) is by working smarter. For example, if you spend your time worrying or feeling anxious about what questions will be addressed in your interview, instead of building your case, you won’t go very far impressing the hiring team. If you worry about a miscommunication you had with your co-worker three months ago that affected the sign-on of a big client, you better believe that will be discussed. So think five steps ahead. How can you curve a potential ‘blame game’ into a direction of “I learned a valuable lesson in communication. Since then I have created a method for gaining new clientele by doing A, B, and C.” By thinking ahead of any and all directions your interview can go, you’ll land that promotion thanks to your quick and assertive response to any question they ask, and a confidence that translates to strong, efficient leader.

This promotion is yours, should you accept it.

You have everything it takes, and more. Show them how you can leverage your new authoritative position into success for the entire company, and shine with your radiant, savvy self for everyone – even your aggressive competition to see.