“Feathers In the Wind”

There is a 19th century folktale about a young fellow who went about town slandering the town’s wise man. One day, he went to the wise man’s home and asked for forgiveness. The wise man, realizing that this man had not internalized the gravity of his transgressions, told him that he would forgive him on…

Persuasion At The Northern Border

The following actually happened a couple of years ago. While something specifically like this may or may not ever happen to you, the general situation most like has, and will again. Take note of the various “principles” and “techniques” used to turn this situation around. — 9:45 pm at “customs” at the Toronto International Airport,…

Deflection Via The “Parry”

16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was one of the best when it came to Winning Without Intimidation. He knew how to make friends out of enemies, and keep conflict to a minimum. The following story is an excellent example: “…{On one occasion}, when another official sharply criticized Lincoln’s judgment, the president responded to a reporter’s…

Winning Someone Over . . . Over Time

Having attended a holiday get-together several months ago at the home of a friend of mine, I was reminded of a Positive Persuasion (Winning Without Intimidation)-type situation from a while back. Actually, quite a while back, like about 30 years, when present day, quasi-mature me was but a young lad of 20. (“Quasi Mature?” “Young…

Finding The “Yes-Man”

What does the term, “Yes-Man” (or, “Yes-Woman”) mean to you? Possibly, the person who is so insecure that he says “yes” to any person, thing or idea in order to be liked and accepted. Well, when it comes to “Positive Persuasion” that kind of Yes-Person is not the kind we mean. Instead, we are talking…

Do We Always Have to Know?

I was skimming through my old copy of Vernon Howard’s, A Treasury of Trueness (http://www.anewlife.org/html/home.html) the other day and came upon this passage: “When you don’t know something and stick with that unknowing, there is no conflict. Conflict occurs when you don’t understand something about life but pretend that you do by grabbing your own…