British people will do more for their team than they will do for themselves. The knowledge that colleagues are depending on you, that your effort directly affects others, and that failing to contribute means letting people down — this motivates more powerfully than any personal bonus or career incentive.
If you want British people to perform at their best, connect their work to the team. Make clear how individual effort contributes to collective outcomes. Build genuine interdependence so that people know their contribution matters to others, not just to themselves. Conversely, isolating individuals through pure competition or individual incentive schemes can actually reduce motivation, because it strips away the collective obligation that provides the strongest motivational force. The most powerful motivational appeal is not “you will benefit” but “the team needs you.”
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