Motivating a workforce can be a fine balancing act between carrot and stick - there are rich rewards for those who get it right and disaster for those who don't.

It applies to all levels of life and the best example of a job well done was the superb achievement of the English Rugby team in winning the World Cup.

It is incredible to think that four years of planning, millions of pounds and an army of back room staff have been justified by one, last minute kick of the ball through the posts, but in a top class sport that is how the fine margins are.

The euphoria of England's victory contrasts sharply with the despair in South Africa where a determination to discover why the team did so badly has unearthed the bizarre motivational tactics employed by the coach Rudolf Straeuli at the Springboks training camp.

Now I know rugby players have been known to indulge in some bizarre rituals, but the regime within Kamp Staalgraad - Camp of Barbed Wire - sounds like something out of a Japanese survival show.

Players were thrown out of a helicopter into a lake, starved, kept awake by live gunfire, forced to crawl across open countryside and crammed together naked in a pit while being doused in cold water.

No doubt the idea was that standing up to the England scrum would be a doddle in comparison, but sports minister Ngconde Balfour is not impressed and has called officials to a meeting to explain the tactics.

By contrast, there have been plenty of times when the cosseted lifestyle of other stars has attracted criticism. Astronomical wages, on-tap psychologists, masseurs and advisers, fuel the suggestion that the sports stars of today have gone soft.

In my view, there is a motivational factor far more effective than either bribery or bullying that applies in sport and everyday working life. It makes the difference between winning and losing teams, and it is the respect individuals have for their leader.

Brian Clough had it at Nottingham Forest where he transformed a second flight team into champions of Europe.

And the South African rugby team demonstrated similar desire in 1995 when, although not the favourites, they won the Rugby World Cup. They were clearly inspired to go the extra mile by the dawning of a new South Africa and their inspirational national leader, Nelson Mandela.

England captain Martin Johnson and the coach, Clive Woodward, are clearly held in high esteem by their team and a spirit has been built up in which defeat is simply not an option.

The secret for leaders in more mundane walks of life is to replicate that winning desire, that pride and team spirit.

Bosses need to think what would happen if a phone rang in the office as staff were putting their coats on to go home. If the call is ignored, the obvious reaction might be to criticise staff as lazy, and the thoughts of some bosses might indeed stray to the tactics of Kamp Staalgraad.

In fact, they would do better to conside why it was that staff had so little respect for them and so little concern for the welfare of the company that they couldn't even be bothered to pick up the phone.

Published: 28/11/2003