We all want a promotion. More money, a bigger team, a glass office, maybe a company car, and a driver if you’re lucky. The appurtenances of success smell sweet – approximately like Tom Ford Oud Wood, we’d say. And even if you are not in it for the bells and the whistles, a little recognition for not being a waste of space is always welcome. The question is: how do you go about achieving it? How do you shimmy up the greasy pole swiftly and successfully without putting noses out of joint?

There are as many schools of thought on this matter as there are paperclips in the stationery cupboard. Some would have us believe that the only way to rise to the top is to imitate a raging bull: that you should sharpen your elbows and go in guns blazing, stamp your authority, and on everyone else’s shoes at the same time. Others counsel that you need to display fox-like cunning to queue jump your way up, never missing an opportunity for subterfuge or underhand tactics, destroying reputations in as covert a manner as possible and never letting the crumb trail find its way back to you.

We all wish we could be that paragon of the successful man who must display the humility of a saint and praise his team until the cows come home, but more often than not, it’s a race among middle management to vacuum up the credit like a squadron of avaricious Dysons.

The theories are not in short supply when it comes to this matter. And while there is no magic formula to be a winner in the workplace, we have assembled a collection of helpful hints, which, if followed, should see you prosper this year and the next.