The Rodman Paradox: When Your Most Valuable Employee Isn't Your Star

Former NBA player Dennis Rodman didn't look like a traditional star. In a sport obsessed with scoring, he averaged fewer than eight points per game. He was passed over for All—Star games and waited eleven years for the Hall of Fame to call. Yet wherever he went, winning followed.

Rodmans are in every type of organization. They are the engineer with a unique understanding of the company’s product architecture, the financial analyst whose data ...