Counseling
Avoiding Counseling Pitfalls
Sessions fail in two directions. The Marine shuts down, deflects, or argues. The senior runs the halo effect, monologues, or sets vague targets. Pre-session checks catch most of them.
Leader Steps
- Run the pre-session self-check
- Spot junior pitfall patterns inside the first ten minutes
- Spot senior pitfall patterns in your own conduct
- Reset the session when a pitfall surfaces
Pre-Session Self-Check
Run before every session.
- Is the room neutral, quiet, free of interruptions?
- Are you mentally clear of unrelated tasks?
- Do you have records, notes, and a written agenda?
- Have you checked your bias against this Marine?
- Have you set time aside, no calls, no walk-ins?
A weak self-check produces a weak session.NAVMC 2795 5002.2
Junior Pitfalls
Per NAVMC 2795NAVMC 2795 paragraph 5001.NAVMC 2795 5001
| Pattern | Signal | Counter |
|---|---|---|
| Nervousness | Fidgeting, eye avoidance, tight voice | Open with praise, slow the pace, confirm the agenda |
| Blanket agreement | "Yes" to every prompt | Switch to open-end questions, ask for an opinion |
| Disagreement | Pushes back on an evaluation | Treat as legitimate, explore with questions |
| Persistent argument | Denies and rebuts continuously | Separate emotion from facts, refocus on objective events |
| Blame-shifting | Points at peers, leadership, OpTempo | Get facts on the table, redirect to ownership |
| Discouragement | Withdrawn, flat affect | Anchor on a recent strength, look for the underlying cause |
Senior Pitfalls
Per NAVMC 2795NAVMC 2795 paragraph 5002.NAVMC 2795 5002
| Pattern | Signal | Counter |
|---|---|---|
| Halo effect | One trait coloring every judgment | Force-list specific events from notebook, weigh each on its own |
| Personal bias | Stereotype shaping the read | Pull peer comparison data, audit your own pattern over months |
| Inflexible style | Same directive script every session | Read the Marine, switch styles inside the session |
| Monologue | You are doing 70 percent of the talking | Pause, ask a probing question, hand the floor back |
| Emotionally charged words | Marine reacts defensively to wording | Strip emotion from the language, focus on facts |
| Jumping to conclusions | Generalization from a single event | Build the conclusion from three or more concrete events |
| Vague targets | "Work on it," "do better" | Rewrite with action verb, object, standard |
| No follow-up | Marine never sees you check the targets | Schedule the next session before the current one ends |
Two Combined Failure Modes
- Marine arrives nervous. You open with criticism. The session ends with the Marine more guarded than at the start. The pre-session self-check would have caught the bias toward leading with the negative.
- Marine arrives ready. You arrive unprepared. The agenda dies in the first five minutes. The Marine reads the lack of prep as a lack of care.
References