Robin Dreeke

For a book called "it's not all about me," the author sure likes to talk about himself a lot. Some of the advice is worth keeping in mind, but this isn't enough to save the book. Unofruntately, the majority of the prose here is bad social science explanations and lots of boring personal anecdotes ("one time I had road rage but decided not to get mad!"). Save your money and your time by finding a listicle on Buzzfeed or something about this stuff -- it'll probably be higher quality than this drivel.… (meer)

If there is one thing we all know about Trust, it is the fact that it is difficult to obtain and maintain. Any time a book comes out that tells you a new way to earn trust easily, it comes across as some kind of a scheme or scam. That is the way of marketers, Door-to-door Salesmen, and greasy used-car salesmen. No offense to people in those professions, but that is generally how they are perceived by the public.

However, Robin Dreeke, a former counterintelligence operative has cracked the code. He puts together five rules to follow to earn and maintain trust. Using a bit of humor and wit, Dreeke proceeds to tell us all about it. The thing about these rules is that they are simple: they are terse and easy to understand. I could tell you the rules right now, but the real lion’s share of the book is devoted to explaining them and how to apply them in your life. Using touchstones of popular culture also helps in this case. Take the television show Seinfeld; I never really watched it that much since I was born in 1986 and Seinfeld was a bit over my head for a lot of its run. Dreeke uses it to great effect by mentioning the time Jerry was “flipped the bird” in traffic and had two minds of what to do. He could return fire and perhaps anger his assailant, or he could apologize and wave it off. He chose to wave it off and ignore his ego.

As I mentioned, the lion’s share of the book is devoted to anecdotes and advice on how to apply these rules of gaining trust. So it talks about different situations and personalities that one would meet on a job.

This makes the book relatable and interesting. The book is very amusing in how Dreeke presents himself. His voice is very conversational, but still has a slight air of Jedi Master to it. I really enjoyed this book and do recommend it.… (meer)

Robin Dreeke with the help of author Cameron Stauth uses his professional experience working in national security to illustrate five principles for dealing with trust in situations where trust is hard to find. The five principles are suspend your ego, be nonjudgmental, honor reason, validate others, and be generous. Readers will recognize at least one of the six types of people that Dreeke identified as bad people in the work place. He suggests the best way to combat their illusions and fear is to provide a relationship based on self-respect and identify that their problems are not your own problems. There is a user guide in the appendix and glossary.

I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway. Although encouraged, I was under no obligation to write a review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.… (meer)