Dr. Mark Goulston is a former UCLA professor who helps high performing leaders, senior management and sales people reach their full potential using skills he learned training FBI and police hostage negotiators. He is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches and writes the weekly Tribune syndicated career advice column, "Solve Anything with Dr. Mark" and columns on leadership for FAST COMPANY and Directors Monthly and is an expert at People Jam. He is frequently called upon to share his expertise with regard to contemporary business, national and world news by television, radio and print media including: Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Fortune, Newsweek, Time, Los Angeles Times, ABC/NBC/CBS/Fox/CNN/BBC News, Oprah, and Today. Mark Goulston is the author of The 6 Secrets of a Lasting Relationship, Get Out of Your Own Way: Overcoming Self-Defeating Behavior, Get Out of Your Own Way at Work and PTSD for Dummies. For more information visit: www.markgoulston.com.

Guest Blogger Mark Goulston--

A jerk is a know-it-all who doesn't know what he is talking about.  They are able to carve a wide path through the serenity in your lives, because you are so aghast, dumbfounded, and appalled by their outrageous behavior.  Instead of reacting assertively, you stand transfixed like a deer in the headlights of a car.  It takes almost all your self-restraint to keep your cool in the face of their audacity, which is why it is so difficult to "Just Say No" to jerks.  They are the opposite of a good guy or gal. (See Top 10 Ways to Recognize a Mensch)

1. They interrupt.

2. They don't take turns.

3. They take advantage of people who are down.

4. They gloat in victory.

5. They are sullen in defeat.

6. They are not fair.

7. They lack integrity.

8. They are the people you hope you won't grow up to be like.

9. They are the kind of person you wouldn't want your sister (or brother or child) to marry.

10. They are the kind of person you'll avoid, if you can break free of them.

More Goulston Favorites:  How To Deal With Anxious People

                                      Post Traumatic Stress Disorder From The Inside Out

                                      Election '08--The Best Man For The Job Is a Woman