280: Aaron Schiff - Building Team Trust for Greater Productivity and Success

Team trust is an important aspect of every business. But do you know exactly HOW important? On this episode of Leverage, Ari and Nick discuss the issue of trust on teams with their friend, Aaron Schiff. Aaron is one of the people who inspired Ari to become an entrepreneur in the first place - you can hear that story at the beginning of the conversation. But Aaron has also become a master at building a very successful remote team and infusing it with the trust that makes it work well. Get all the details on this episode. ## What happens when a team trusts each other? The short answer is that success happens. But there’s more to it than that. Trust is what enables team members to communicate effectively, to work harmoniously, and to work toward common goals. There are so many implications of team trust that it took an entire episode to talk about it, and you can hear that conversation between Ari and Nick, and their good friend Aaron Schiff, on this episode of Leverage. ## OK, so it’s vital to build team trust. So, how do you do it? Trust is a commodity that isn’t easy to come by. It takes time because it requires that you demonstrate your trustworthiness to others repeatedly. But there are ways to speed up the process. On this episode, Aaron Schiff describes some of the things he’s done to infuse his team with trust for each other and for him - things like transparency in compensation, collaboration in the creation of systems and policies, and more. Aaron’s got a knack for this kind of thing so you’d be wise to hear what he’s got to say. It will undoubtedly challenge you to think outside your normal box as well as help you come up with your own ways to build trust on your team. ## It’s the CEO’s job to build a team culture that fosters trust. When Ari asked his guest, Aaron Schiff, what his primary role is now that his company - Matic Insurance - has gotten larger, Aaron pointed to three main parts he plays in the company’s success. One of the things he shared is that it's his responsibility to steward the company vision that provides a healthy and enabling team culture. There’s a lot to it but Aaron isn’t shy about sharing the details, so be sure you make the time to listen to this episode of Leverage. ## Always question what you believe to be 100% true about yourself. It’s usually not. As always, on this episode, Ari asked his friend and guest, Aaron Schiff for three pieces of advice to be more effective. Aaron pointed to the fact that most of us are not as self-aware as we believe we are. In his words, “Always question what you believe to be 100% true about yourself. It’s usually not.” He's pointing out that when you’re willing to see yourself in a new light you’re able to sidestep some of the issues that make for poor team communication and degrade team trust. You’ll enjoy hearing Aaron’s insights about team trust, so don’t miss this episode. ## Outline of This Episode - [0:08] You need to meet Aaron (and Nick’s) best friend - Aaron Schiff. - [2:34] Aaron’s story - the companies he’s built, worked for, and where he is now. - [6:58] Sometimes, being first makes you the winner. - [8:20] How Aaron has structured his team. - [9:15] The vital nature of trust in effective teamwork. - [12:39] Finding the right developers to create the platform. - [15:02] The unique role Aaron plays in the company now. - [16:25] How Aaron gets his company together in the Ukraine. - [19:07] The road ahead for Matic. - [19:53] How consumers can use the Matic tools. - [21:41] The tools used to run the company. - [31:21] Aaron’s 3 pieces of advice to be more effective. ## Resources Mentioned - Aaron’s company - [https://maticinsurance.com/](https://maticinsurance.com/) - Aaron on LInkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronschiff/ - Aaron(at)getMatic(dot)com - [Slack](https://slack.com/) - [Google Hangouts](https://hangouts.google.com/) - [Wheel Decide](http://wheeldecide.com/) - [Google Drive - Google Docs](https: