I moved from creating dashboards on request to running an analytics suite for our business. So it's less actual report building and more thinking strategically about the kind of reporting that will help solve business problems we find. A lot more exploratory analysis. A lot more saying "no" to things that don't fit the strategy I've set.
What I did was make it very clear to my boss that I had aspirations to move up, then put in a shit ton of good work so she'd be more apt to help with that. When I went out for my current role, my old manager met with the hiring manager ahead of time and sold her on my ability.
You're not going to create one thing that people look at and go "oh yeah promote this guy". But you are going to consistently churn out intuitive reporting that you're really good at explaining to end users. You're going to be receptive to feedback, easy to work with, and someone who keeps their promises. When we talk about corporate politics, that's just fancy speak for people liking you. Make working with you easy, show that you're reasonably intelligent, and reach out for the opportunities you want in your career.
