On Intimidation

I just read an *old* book (1973) titled - Winning Through Intimidation.

Surely some of you who know me well are derisively wondering if in fact I WROTE it.

I did not.

It was penned by one Robert J. Ringer. I kid you not - that is his real name!

I guess with a name like that you pretty much have to become an intimidator, no? Just as Thom Dammrich had to go into the yacht industry. Just as a young boy named *Howard Pressman* (an attorney I used for my car accident) HAD to grow up to become a personal injury lawyer...

Anyway the book is okay - a quick enjoyable read that probably has more appeal for real estate salespeople than anyone else.

Marketing guru Dan Kennedy highly recommended it; and if you know anything about him you can certainly understand why he has Ringer up on a pedestal.

I am definitely an *intimidator* - always have been. Heck when I was 15 years old refereeing youth soccer games the parents were all scared to death of me.

And now that I am doing one of the most *offensive* things a parent can do in educating my own children *outside the system*....while most people who do this are continually interrogated, mocked, scoffed at, questioned, and considered loons....well, I can't tell you the last time someone expressed to me even a hint of disapproval.

But I don't see intimidation as a *winning move* - at least not in my life. It's more a self-defensive attribute than anything else. And it probably costs me many things too.