Corporal's Course (Leadership II) Questions with Verified Answers

IMPORTANCE OF COACHING - Answer- The Marine Corps' vision of leading is less concerned with rank, self-identity, recognition, or privilege than with the essence of our Corps —the individual Marine and the unyielding determination to persevere. Our vision of leading is linked directly to our common vision of warfighting, which needs leaders devoted to leading, capable of independent and bold action, who are willing and eager to assume new and sometimes daunting responsibilities, and willing to take selfless risks because the Corps must succeed. This guidance and the objectives of Marine corps leadership inspired the framework for this lesson. IMPORTANCE OF COACHING CONT. - Answer- The coaching methodology complements a leader's existing knowledge toward developing leadership in subordinate leaders. Coaching is defined as a process of ongoing observation and encouragement for a Marine's personal and professional growth. It occurs on a daily basis and provides informal feedback, documentation, and communication of goals focused on the development of the Marine. Improved competence is the desired outcome of coaching. The coaching methodology uses interpersonal interaction to impart techniques and improve the recipient's ability to accomplish their goals. Coaching occurs whenever an individual provides a fellow Marine with the benefit of their experience. IMPORTANCE OF COACHING CONT. x3 - Answer- Coaching is a continuous process. It occurs during training while Marines show others how to perform actions during the course of their duties or the accomplishment of their missions. While Marines carry out tasks, coaching is applied to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their work and simultaneously develop subordinate leaders confidence and knowledge base. The true value of any training is not so much the training itself, but the change in behavior that should result from learning. Performance is not so much about what you know as it is about what you do with what you know. CHARACTERISTICS - Answer- Coaching is a process that enhances potential in individuals to improve performance. It is about helping someone learn rather than drilling them on memorization. Coaching uses: •Hard leadership skills: -Goal setting -Reviewing performance •Soft leadership skills: -Believing in potential -Developing self-belief It is often about addressing the "attitude or motivation of an individual," which all too regularly limits their performance, progress, and potential. SETTING GOALS - Answer- Using the SMART method of setting goals empowers subordinate leaders to influence coaching outcomes. Additionally, developing goals should be treated as Marines treat mission statements. Therefore, include a proper in order to (IOT) at the end of your set goals. Characteristics of Goals: - Answer- •Specific: The goals must be clear (PT, education) •Measurable: Check progress and hold accountable •Attainable: Relevant, manageable, and challenging •Realistic: Tools and abilities to accomplish •Timely: Provides focus and accountability REVIEWING PERFORMANCE - Answer- After you create and document SMART goals with a plan for reaching them, engaged leadership becomes easier and more focused. Assessing progress is where small unit leaders truly get to know and understand their Marines. By using a recommended goals form or a locally produced version, documenting these SMART goals sets a standard of assessment. Additionally, leaders have the opportunity to ensure these goals are balanced against all other competing factors of their Marines' time. The foundational key to setting and meeting these goals centers on the fact that the Marine is in control of achieving them. If adjustments to existing goals need to be made, leaders are involved in reinforcing or advising the adjustments. "Equipment is useful only if it improves combat effectiveness" MCDP-1 BELIEVING IN POTENTIAL - Answer- Coaching is not a short-term fix; it is a long-term solution to help a person unlock their true potential and maximize their own performance through instilling confidence. Coaching involves a skill set that can only be developed with practice and requires an investment in time, energy, and resources to maximize performance. As a leader there are four facets of coaching to keep in mind. You want to develop yourself to: •Coach as a guide—to keep individuals on target with performance. •Coach as an instructor—to focus on objectives. •Coach as a motivator—to enhance performance. •Coach as a mentor—so that your subordinate leaders have the desire to emulate you. DEVELOPING SELF-BELIEF - Answer- The key to reaching the established SMART goals is to continuously create and maintain an inspiring shared vision. Developing self-belief is essential and the most powerful instrument a leader can cultivate. Useful tactics include coaching on: •The "golden hour": Your thoughts in the first hour of the morning, the "golden hour," have a strong influence on how you think, feel, and act for the rest of the day. Take advantage of the "golden hour" and start every day in a thoughtful, productive way that sets you up for greater success in the hours ahead. •Improving habits of personal development: Investing in your mind by reading something motivational, positive, and consistent with reaching your goal. •Engaging in productive behaviors: Plan every day in advance—make a list of everything you have to do; prioritize your list by value and importance. METHODOLOGY OF COACHING - Answer- As a model of peak performance and emotional intelligence, the Performance Pyramid provides a simple framework that effectively guides the coaching process and employment of coaching skills. In this way, the methodology of coaching can be described as helping a person to develop their emotional intelligence alongside their technical competence. Coaching is a three stage process where the coach employs three core coaching skills. ATTITUDE, KNOWLEDGE, AND SKILLS - Answer- While coaching may very well be knowledge- and skill-based, it is first and foremost an attitude—your attitude as a coach will fundamentally determine the results. •It has long been acknowledged that a leader's attitude and emotions are contagious and they must convey energy and enthusiasm if their organization is to survive and thrive. •If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got. If you want different results for yourself or your people, you'll invariably need to change how you think and feel, but ultimately you'll need do something different. Stage one of the three-stage coaching process is: - Answer- raise awareness. During this stage, the coach helps the Marine create a vision of their goal in terms of what they want to achieve, why they might want to achieve it, and how they intend achieve it. Throughout the process, the emphasis is on guiding the person towards finding their own solutions to their own performance problems. Raising awareness is about encouraging the person to think for themselves for the purpose of self-education. Stage two of the coaching process is: - Answer- generate responsibility. During this stage, the coach challenges the person to take action to make their goals reality, while ascertaining their readiness to do so. Generating responsibility is about improving self-motivation. The third stage of the coaching process is: - Answer- facilitate performance. This stage is accomplished by supporting the Marine in dealing with the challenges of making their goal a reality for the purpose of self-actualization. The principles that guide this stage are: •Autonomy: the Marine has professional freedom to choose the course of action they feel best meets their needs in accomplishing their goals. •Responsibility: the Marine is responsible for the choices they make. •Accountability: the Marine is accountable for what they do and the results they get. These principles enable Marines to own the process and the product of their success. VISION, CHALLENGE, AND SUPPORT - Answer- By guiding the coaching process and employing the core coaching skills, the coach provides the Marine with vision, challenge, and support. •Vision - Help your Marines to visualize their goals. •Challenge - Challenge your Marines to take the necessary action to achieve their goals. •Support - Support your Marines throughout the process of achieving their goals. CORE COACHING SKILLS - Answer- During stage one, "raise awareness," of the coaching process, leaders use questioning to generate thinking and reflection. Examples of questioning and questioning techniques are: •Open and closed •Broad and narrow •Rhetorical and hypothetical •Leading and interrogative •Scale of 1 to 10 questions The process of thinking and reflecting encourages responsibility in those being coached. Open-Ended and Closed-Ended - Answer- Ask open-ended questions like: "What do you think?" or "How do you think we should approach this?" •Open-ended questions can be used to invite a free response from subordinate leaders without revealing the senior's point of view. •Examples include: "How is work going?" or "Why do you think that approach didn't work?" Asking closed-ended questions will lead to a yes or no answer like: "Did you take the test?" • By itself, the question leads no further. It may point the way to another question. For example, if the answer is yes, the next question might be, "Did you pass?" •Questions that begin with who, what, or when can be closed-end questions. They can be useful in getting the facts, but they begin to create the atmosphere of a cross-examination if they dominate the discussion. Broad and Narrow - Answer- Broad questions, like open-ended questions, begin with broad framework. For example: "Where do you see your leadership development in the next few years?" These questions are used to gather information and become more effective as your subordinate leaders become more comfortable with you. Use these questions to solicit how your subordinate leaders think about certain subjects. For example: "I'd like to hear more about your past experience leading Marines," or "How did you become involved in the company's leadership development plan?" •Narrow questions, like closed-ended questions, are used to focus the subordinate leader's attention on a specific topic. Closed-ended questions provide detailed information, verify accuracy, and clarify understanding. They can be used to recall facts, or choose options from a list. For example, "You mentioned that you wanted to start an in-depth study on leadership development. Would you prefer coaching, counseling or mentoring?" Closed or narrow questions are effective in getting agreement or commitment. For example, "How many hours per week do you think you can devote to this reading?" Rhetorical and Hypothetical - Answer- Rhetorical questions are asked to make a point without the expectation of a reply and are often answered by the speaker. For example, "Isn't that window display effective?" or "What sort of impact do you think such a recommendation can have? Well, I think...." Rhetorical questions are primarily statements in disguise. •Hypothetical questions are designed to explore possibilities in an imaginary scenario. They are helpful when trying to decide between a number of choices. Examples of Hypothetical questions are: - What might happen if...? - What would you do if you were in my shoes? - What are the potential benefits if...? - What is the worst that might happen if...? Leading and Interrogative - Answer- Leading and interrogative questions suggest, hint, or exclude many other possible answers. For example, if you were testing your Marines on leadership, a leading question might be, "Which leadership trait is associated with the way a Marine carries themselves?" This is a leading question because it pointed the Marine in the direction of the answer (one of the leadership traits) and eliminated many other possible answers (anything other than a leadership trait). Scaling Questions - Answer- •Scaling questions evaluate a person's feelings towards a particular topic. Marines use scaling questions in a variety of settings but during coaching, they are often used to assess someone's goals and motivations. It is important for both the leader and subordinate leader to rate their interest in a topic because this number will indicate their likelihood to take the steps towards becoming a better Marine. •Here are some sample scaling questions: -"On a scale of 1 to 10, how ready are you to put energy into that goal?" -"On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely is it you will work on that plan this week?" CORE COACHING SKILLS - Answer- It is useless to ask the right questions if you do not listen to the answers. During stage two of the coaching process, leaders focus on employing active listening skills. To listen actively, a leader must: •Be silent and actively engage in the listening process as opposed to passively doing so. •Be genuinely interested in understanding what the Marine being coached is thinking or wanting. •Check your understanding before responding. Restate or paraphrase your understanding of what is being said and reflect it back to the sender for verification. This feedback process is what distinguishes active listening and makes it effective. CORE COACHING SKILLS - Answer- The core coaching skill employed to facilitate performance during stage three of the coaching process is empathetic responding. Responding with empathy requires the coach to have a true understanding of the Marine's needs before choosing the best response to meet them. •To respond with empathy, a coach must employ both constructive feedback and validated praise appropriately. •To be constructive, feedback must be positively presented, build self-image, and confidence. •To be validated, praise must be evidence-based, develop self-esteem, and motivate. BUILDING TRUST - Answer- MCDP-1 states that trust must be earned and is a product of confidence and familiarity. •Confidence is the result of demonstrated professional skill. •Familiarity is the result of shared experience and a common professional philosophy. Demonstrating professional skills through daily coaching: •Provides limitless opportunities for you to build confidence and familiarity in your subordinate leaders •Builds mutual trust and develops initiative in your subordinates It is this combination of confidence, familiarity, trust, and initiative that allows your Marines to execute missions with minimal supervision. BUILDING TRUST - Answer- A byproduct of effective coaching is a leader's ability to gain trust and respect through their actions. To do this, a leader must: •Do what they say they will do. •Be fair-minded and strike a balance between ideal and reality. •Clearly communicate goals, vision, individual roles, and responsibilities. •Create a belief in the communicated goals and vision, and instill the confidence to achieve them. •Understand and develop the individual Marine before the skill. •Be honest, approachable, and passionate about developing your Marines. Trust is a state of mind. All of the above are actions. It's not our words that generate trust, but what we do. The real message is in our actions. Trust is a combination of trusting others and being trustworthy. Coaching should occur on a __________. - Answer- daily basis SCOPE AND IMPORTANCE OF COUNSELING - Answer- The Marine Corps has a well-known image for developing people to their highest potential. Counseling is one way this is accomplished. Counseling involves two-way communication between a Marine senior and a Marine junior to help the junior achieve or maintain the highest possible level of performance. The two inherent missions of all Marines are mission accomplishment and troop welfare. As a leader, you must be able to show and tell your Marines how to be a good Marine. The most effective and efficient method of molding young warriors into well-rounded efficient Marines is to mentor them through effective counseling. SCOPE AND IMPORTANCE OF COUNSELING - Answer- The NAVMC 2795 USMC User's Guide to Counseling is a prescriptive yet flexible reference tool to assist leaders and their subordinate leaders to be continuously motivated toward more effective individual performance. Counseling focuses on: •Creating an ingrained counseling ethic •Emphasizing the teacher-scholar or father-son relationship envisioned by General Lejeune •Effective means of communication between senior and junior Marines Counseling sessions keep Marines and their leaders directed toward effective individual performance, and thus toward increased unit readiness and effectiveness. FREQUENCY AND FORMAT - Answer- The format and frequency of counseling will vary; however, the process of counseling involves: •Supporting and reinforcing good performance •Correcting deficiencies •Transmitting guidance and standard •Providing direction to subordinate development •Shaping future performance FORMAT AND FREQUENCY - Answer- Initial and follow-on formal counseling sessions are prescriptive in nature. An initial counseling session occurs when a new senior and junior relationship is established. Common instances of initial counseling sessions are when a Marine reports into a new unit and when there is a change in a Marine's immediate supervisor. In all cases, the counseling session should occur within 30 days of the newly established senior and junior relationship. FORMAT AND FREQUENCY - Answer- The initial counseling session should be scheduled and planned in advance. The goals of the session are to: •Make the senior's expectations clear. •Convey the senior's interest and concern. •Help the junior understand the senior's leadership style. •Ensure the junior understands the mission of the unit and the junior's primary and collateral duties. •Set goals and plans to meet those goals for the junior. •Motivate the junior to achieve a high level of performance. The senior and junior Marine should both prepare for this session. FORMAT AND FREQUENCY - Answer- Follow-on counseling sessions for active component lance corporals and below occur at least once every 30 days. On the other hand, follow-on counseling sessions for reserve component lance corporals and below not on active duty orders occur once every three months and during annual training. Follow-on counseling sessions for corporals through colonels occur approximately 90 days after the initial counseling session and subsequent sessions will occur every six months. All counseling sessions are conducted on an individual basis to: •Address observed strengths and weaknesses. •Reinforce the junior's successes and provide guidance to correct deficiencies. •Identify and analyze performance problems that have emerged since the last counseling session. FORMAT AND FREQUENCY - Answer- Event-related counseling sessions are informal, unscheduled, can occur at any time, and can be initiated by either party. These sessions typically occur when the senior or junior sees a need to meet before the next scheduled follow-on session. These sessions are usually short and focus on a specific recent event. The senior may not draw on the full array of counseling techniques, and any planning or target setting that occurs is likely to focus on the short term. FORMAT AND FREQUENCY - Answer- It is important to remember that event-related counseling sessions are not only used to deal with problems, but are also occasions for praise. Counseling should be a means of reinforcing a Marine's strengths and correcting deficiencies. Leaders commonly use event related counseling when there is a time sensitive need to deal with a problem or correct a deficiency. These sessions will include the three D's: •Determine or identify the nature of the problem. •Discuss the impact of the behavior. •Develop a plan of action to correct the behavior or problem. FORMAT AND FREQUENCY - Answer- Formal one-on-one counseling sessions occur at the initial and follow-on sessions. They are scheduled, planned out, and follow an agreed upon agenda that includes discussing the junior's goals and targets. During these sessions, the senior should: •Draw on the full range of counseling practices and skills. •Document the session. •Schedule the next follow-on session. These sessions usually focus on the junior's overall performance and targets over a period of several weeks or months. FORMAT AND FREQUENCY - Answer- Informal counseling sessions can occur at any time. Even if they are brief, they keep the junior aware of the senior's interest and concern. They also give the senior and junior an opportunity to deal with problems before they become serious. These sessions are: •Unscheduled •Unplanned •Less formal in structure •Brief and pointed to the concern TYPES OF COUNSELING APPROACHES - Answer- There are three types of counseling approaches: