The Hidden Cost of Elevating Individuals and Ignoring the Room

Why collective identity matters more than personal branding at twenty two

Let’s be honest for a second. We’re living in a culture obsessed with individuals. Social media amplifies it. Institutions reinforce it. Business schools, in particular, have turned it into doctrine. Faces on alumni walls. Best student awards. Best professor titles. Employee of the month. Everything signals the same message: stand out or stay invisible.

For a handful of people, that is motivating. But for most students I teach, aged twenty to twenty five, it’s paralyzing.

They are not finished products. They are still figuring out who they are, how they speak, where they belong, and whether their voice deserves space. When you over promote individuals at that stage, many do not rise to the challenge. They retreat. They compare. They self censor. Confidence erodes quietly, behind polite participation and group work that never quite ignites.

I spotted this regretful trend years ago and knew I had to do something. So last semester, I stopped promoting individuals in one small way and started promoting collectives (on top of the usual team projects).

In courses with multiple sections, I published a live ‘Best Class’ ranking on Notion. A five criteria rubric. Part playful - part serious. Updated a few times during the semester. Fully transparent. Talked about openly in class.

The effect was immediate. The energy shifted from individual performances to team dynamics, and then to something rarer: a whole room moving in the same direction. Students stopped optimizing for personal visibility and started pulling each other forward. Participation rose. Silence disappeared. Belonging became a performance lever.

This is how sports teams work. This is how real organizations work.

So in in my view, business schools should start promoting cohorts, classes, shared missions, and collective contribution. Not just individual shine.

We’re not lacking talent. But we are starving rooms of confidence. And no wall of alumni portraits will fix that.