Relationships at Work - the leadership podcast helping you build workplace connection, improve culture, and avoid blind spots. Design the Work, Empower the People: Human-Centered Leadership w/ Derrick Mains
In this episode of Relationships at Work, host Russel Lolacher sits down with Derrick Mains — speaker, consultant, and CEO of The Process Fixer — to dive into the power of building human-centered systems at work. Derrick shares why most businesses are unintentionally designed for failure, the hidden costs of command-and-control leadership, and how shifting from goals to aims can unlock unprecedented performance.
From real-world stories about industrial fans and sticky notes to lessons from WWII shipbuilding and Japanese manufacturing, Derrick makes the case for structure over chaos, fresh perspectives over legacy thinking, and why we urgently need a new version of capitalism — one that actually supports people.
Whether you're a leader looking to fix broken systems or someone wondering why your workplace feels harder than it should, this conversation will challenge what you think you know about efficiency, accountability, and culture.
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