A lot of great techniques/ideas on counseling. I am late to the conversation, but I do want to add one technique that was valuable for me as a commander. As Gary points out in the above post, providing questions in advance is important for an effective counseling session. Taking the advice of a mentor, the last question I always asked on the pre-counseling form was “if you were counseling me, what we would you say?” That question usually sparked positive discussion, helped me assess my strengths and weaknesses as a leader, and provided the candid feedback I needed from the leadership. The only stipulation was the responses had to remain professional…and they always were.

~Scott