Scott Lodge
People hand me the hard thing.
Thirty years at ESPN, the last decade in creative production leadership. Nine Sports Emmys. Known for holding the center, and steering it.
Why? The honest answer starts with a movie. I've carried a line since I was a kid watching the 1978 Superman, where Lois Lane asks him, "Who are you?" and he just says, "A friend." It stuck. I can't fly, and I don't have superpowers. But I can be a friend. Being the person people can count on, that I can do, and it's turned out to be the whole shape of how I work. For thirty years I've been the one holding the center of a team, because people let me. They hand me the hard thing, knowing I'll help carry it.
How I lead
The clearest way to say it is a story. ESPN Creative Studio took on a first-of-its-kind project, an alternate NBA broadcast built with Marvel, blending live game play with comic-book characters and storytelling. It meant aligning three groups who don't usually share a table — the NBA, Marvel, and our own production — each with their own priorities, approvals, and brand rules. I was the one in the middle of it. A project like that can stall under the weight of everyone's competing interests, so my job was to keep all of them moving in the same direction, translate between the creative side and the executives, and hold it together until it got on air. It did, and when the project went in front of the company's most senior executives, I was the one in the room speaking for ESPN Creative Studio.
That's the job, the way I see it. Not being the loudest person in the room, but being the hub of the wheel that keeps everyone running in unison.
Executives trust a project Scott leads will be run transparently and honestly. Individual contributors trust that he will advocate for them. That dual trust is rare, and it's why teams rally around Scott.
I lead by guidance, not direction. I help people find their own strengths and work the problem out themselves, then I hold the line on the standard so the work lands. When it's coming at us, I stay calm and I don't throw anyone under the bus. People bring me the hard thing because they know I'll help fix it without making them feel small for asking. That's the friend part. It's also, it turns out, what makes the leading work.
People trust you. They come to you with problems.
I'm looking for the next thing now, and I can name it: leading creative production for a team building something that lasts. Director level and up, full-time or fractional. Good people, good work. If that's the seat you're trying to fill, reach out. I'd be glad to talk.
The back of my baseball card
- Thirty years at ESPN, every rung of it.
- Creative Production lead on Monday Night Football, the NFL and NBA Drafts, the College and Little League World Series, SportsCenter.
- Built and mentored teams of 10 to 30-plus.
- Nine Sports Emmy Awards.