Posted on Jul 7, 2015
Bryce Englin
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Maybe it's because I've worked around the joint world for 8 of my 19 years on Active Duty but I've come to believe that the word counseling has too many negative connotations associated with it. If an NCO uses the word people automatically expect the worst. If you had a chance what do you thin could be done to erase the connotation and show folks that "counseling" can be used in a positive manner.
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Responses: 6
COL Charles Williams
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Counseling... is for many applications... and many should be positive... But, in the Army too, it generally connotes a bad thing...

This might help from a couple months back...

https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/do-army-leaders-military-leaders-really-understand-counseling-and-leader-development--2
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Bryce Englin
Bryce Englin
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COL Williams, sir thank you for sharing, I appreciate it and I wish there was a way to remove the negative connotations with this word. It just surprises me that what we refer to as a Feedback in the Air Force is called a counseling in the Army. They are both given by supervisors usually within 60-90 days to arrival with the names and forms used being the only difference.
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COL Charles Williams
COL Charles Williams
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Bryce Englin - I think all four branches have different names for everything....
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Bryce Englin
Bryce Englin
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COL Williams yes sir I agree they do, it also makes it fun to discover these things as well.
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Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS
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Counselling in and of itself is not bad. We start off with Quarterly Counselling Sessions, and FitReps are Annual Counselling Sessions. Any time we talk to a subordinate about positive or negative progress it is a Counselling Session (on the spot). The issue is that we equate counselling with Corrective Action, and avoid using the word when speaking of the positive.
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CPT Ray Gilmore
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The requirement was annual, with developmental, every 6 months; and correctional as needed.

I took the time to do monthly counseling, and my NCO's and I would hash out what needed to be improved or sustained every month.

This way, nobody was ever caught by surprise, the NCOERs wrote themselves, and it was seen as a helpful feedback loop that my NCOs appreciated.

Change the method, to change the perception.
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