Are you honest with your subordinates IRT evaluations/counselings?

SGM Matthew Quick — Sat, 16 Nov 2013 22:38:49 -0500

Are you being honest with your Soldiers or are you trying to win a popularity contest?

Effective leadership is being HONEST with subordinates.

Too many NCOs are too friendly with subordinates and when it comes time for honest evaluations/counseling, subordinates aren't being told the "hard-truths'.

Response by CMC Robert Young made Nov 16 at 2013 11:50 PM

CMC Robert Young — Sat, 16 Nov 2013 23:50:30 -0500

MSG, I concur! Frequently we have a choice, be respected or be well liked. I' m not saying it is impossible to be both, but when the effort we put in the latter is more important the effort we put into the former, everybody suffers. The member doesn't get the constructive feedback they deserve to maximize their career potential, and we don't earn the respect required to function as high speed leaders.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 18 at 2013 9:07 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 09:07:50 -0500

I agree with you MSG. Soldiers need to know exactly what they are doing, both right and wrong, so they know what to do in order to correct or maintain their actions. The same question could be asked about NCOER's. I've seen NCO's that performed at the minimum standard and were given 3 excellence, 1 and 1, among the best NCOER's because their rater didn't want to end their career by giving them an NCOER that truly reflected their performance.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 18 at 2013 1:03 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 13:03:41 -0500

I agree! There is no way that I as a Leader can EFFECTIVELY counsel a new Soldier brand new to the unit at their first duty station on their performance that first month and not see anything they would need to show improvement in. By doing this, several things happen simultaneously:

***The Soldier is set up to believe that from Day 1 they've been doing everything perfectly.

***The Leader counseling the Soldier doesn't want to address the issues the Soldier may have because that in turn would mean he/she having to take time out of their schedule to fix these issues.

***The Supervisor of the counseling Leader, if they're not actively engaged in supervising the subordinate Leader is culpable to the Soldier not receiving the truthful feedback they are supposed to receive in regards to their progression be that feedback positive or negative in nature.

This in turn will perpetuate a cycle that we must strive to break now as it is currently happening. Those in a position of leadership should adhere to the regulation in treating every counseling opportunity as it should be treated.....

>>>Setting aside time beforehand to schedule a counseling session.
>>>Organizing and gathering all needed materials for the session.
>>>Informing the Soldier of the scheduled session.
>>>Properly conducting the session as outlined in ADRP 6-22, 7-59 "Counseling, Coaching and Mentoring".

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 19 at 2014 10:00 AM

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 10:00:42 -0500

MSG Quick,

One thing I have begun doing based on a suggestion from the FORSCOM CSM is counseling and directing my subordinate NCOs to counsel with a block on each monthly counseling statement:

o if you were to approach me about re-enlisting today, I would circle (yes/no) and my justification would be: (insert good response here)

I thought you would enjoy that.

Response by CMSgt James Nolan made Jun 19 at 2014 10:33 PM

CMSgt James Nolan — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 22:33:48 -0400

SGM Quick (congrats by the way), what service are you doing your Service and your troops if you are not honest with them. I can be honest in an evaluation and provide mentorship to create the desire to improve.

Some will respond, some badly. But I have found that being honest about the good and bad, strong and weak, will provide the guidance to improve.

I have found that there really are not that many who come into work with the attitude "today I am going to be jacked up". There are some, just not many.