So Oda said that depending on the users' COC, even fodder can resist getting knocked out if they have strong enough willpower. In addition, it's up to the COC to increase the strength of their COC to keep that from happening.
So if your COC is good enough, you can still intimidate powerful, strong-willed people. Shanks' COC intimidated Jozu(had him slightly shaking). Rayleigh's COC intimidated Kidd and Law(had them sweating). Shanks' COC by postskip standards is so potent that he made GB shake, sweat and surrender. One can say that GB was caught off guard and has an eccentric personality like Queen, but it's still an extreme reaction regardless. GB was all like "Ayo chill!"