Are you intimidated by some people?

[questioner]

Do you ever come in contact with people that whose confidence and force of personality intimidate you?

I am forced to interact with quite a few people in the company I work in that are "senior management" and have very strong intimidating personalities. Some times I feel they are talking down to me and I feel like a 10 year old being spoken to by a stern school Principal. I lose my train of thought, my voice gets high and I start sweating. I feel like such a fool. Many of these people are younger than me.

How do you handle intimidating people?

 

[Tigger_Magic]

Picture them standing there in their underwear. But sometimes it's hard to suppress the giggles.

 

[Quackmore]

Try to be more outspoken with them and don't ever let them sense that you are intimidated by them and DON'T let them push you around. Stand your ground with them. They will respect you more that way. (either that or you will be out of a job) No seriously if you are timid they will pick up on that and walk all over you. Don't let that happen. Just be prepared for these meetings and act strong and professional with them.

Good Luck!

 

[Tea Please]

I find that the older I get the more outspoken I have become. I'm a pretty confident person so I'm sure that shows thru, but I remember hearing this a long long time ago and it is so true "no matter what, remember we all come from the same place". So in answer to your question, I honestly cannot remember the last time I felt intimidated.

 

[RickinNYC]

Nope, not particularly. I used to get intimidated by folks with fancy titles. Then when I had the fancy titles myself (back in the corporate world days), I realized that they mean nothing, nada, zilch...

 

[snoopy]

Sometimes. Some of the people that I work with who are real intellectuals intimidate me. Or very serious people, they intimidate me too.

 

[stemikger]

My father-in-law.

Enough said.

 

[NMAmy]

I've worked as a secretary for bigwigs in several different businesses and colleges. In my last position, I worked for the president of a college and interacted with the mayor, legislators, the governor, other college presidents and community leaders on a daily basis. DH says I have the ability to treat anybody like they are just folks and laugh and joke with them while still maintaining a professional businesslike manner.

The only people I came into contact with who treated me like I was a peon because I was "just" a secretary were those in lower level positions. I remember the mayor chastising one of his aides for treating me rudely and saying, "I couldn't do my job without my secretary and I know that Amy's boss feels the same way."

 

[Maleficent13]

Generally, no. Actually, I should probably be more intimidated by some of the senior management here. I know they'd like it, and I'd probably get in less trouble.

 

[savedagain]

Generally, no. Actually, I should probably be more intimidated by some of the senior management here. I know they'd like it, and I'd probably get in less trouble.

Ditto!

 

[grinningghost]

Some of the parents at my DD's school intimidate me. They're big time intellectuals with cushy jobs and fancy houses. I always feel like the odd-parent-out at school functions.

But in reality - I'm the cool one.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

No one intimidates me at work (I suspect that I am the intimidating one, LOL).

There is one person in my life that intimidates me, and I deal with that just by trying to stand up for myself and not backing down on issues important to me. It's not always easy.

 

[Tarheel Tink]

As others, as I have gotten older the fewer people do intimidate me. I'm the "go-to gal" for difficult clients and I rub my hands together in near glee before confronting them.
As for anyone with wealth or position, my thoughts are "You are only there because your parents didn't use birth control!".

 

[Deb in IA]

Not too many.

(although, even after 17 years of marriage, my father-in-law can still intimidate me!)

 

[Disney Doll]

Nope. I am not easy to intimidate.

I can remember a few years back a patient's wife, who was a big woman...not fat...but just very tall and solidly built...who tried to do the "get in your face and intimidate you" thing with me....you know, stand really close and talk really loud. I finally put my hand up and said to her "you need to take a step back and get out of my space and you need to lower your voice. You may have noticed that your attempt to intimidate me isn't working, and is really just succeeding in annoying me". Of course, I am also not what one would consider "petite" so the fact that I had some size behind me helped.

She was taken aback, shocked into silence (since I am sure no one ever "called her" on what she knew she was doing), and she did step back and settle down.

 

[Kimberly]

Do you ever come in contact with people that whose confidence and force of personality intimidate you?

I am forced to interact with quite a few people in the company I work in that are "senior management" and have very strong intimidating personalities. Some times I feel they are talking down to me and I feel like a 10 year old being spoken to by a stern school Principal. I lose my train of thought, my voice gets high and I start sweating. I feel like such a fool. Many of these people are younger than me.

How do you handle intimidating people?

Guys at the gym who seem to go on roid rages really scare the hell out of me. Always seems like they are going to throw something.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

I do also, but I don't have any stragedy to cope with it. I do like the suggestion of thinking about them with just underwear on.