There is a lot of great information already put here. When I counsel my NCO, I split it into two counselings. Within the first few days, I provide a “counseling” of sorts in the form of a memo. This outlines topics I believe will help our ability to work together and certain non-negotiable items. Two areas I have found especially useful outline how I work and areas the NCO can assist me. Here is what I mean by that.

How I work
Everyone has particular leadership styles, ways they like information, ways they process information, preferences, etc. For example, I am a leader who would rather have information sent digitally than given to me via paper copy. It helps me process information and store information better. Letting my NCO know this can help make things flow better. However, I always caveat this by saying I am not trying to change any system currently in place. I do not want extra work created to digitalize something. We may change processes later, but this is not something I would do right away.

Where the NCO can help me
I believe that a strong NCO-Officer relationship is built on trust. Thus, I share areas that I am weak where the NCO can possible assist. For example, I am not good at recommending people for awards (Certificates, CO/BN/BDE coin, award, pass, etc). I realize when people do good work and will verbally tell the Soldier that, but I don’t always think to then reward them (I see work as our job, so I have a very high threshold in my head before I think to reward someone, which is not always great). In the initial “counseling” with my NCO, I will tell them this and emphasize this is something I would appreciate their feedback on. Additionally, I tell them they are welcome to push back harder (behind closed doors) when recommending an award if I am questioning it because of my bias. This has served the unit well and has also helped me improve as a leader.

I then do a formal counseling around the 30 day mark. That is just what works for me.