I guess I got lucky w/ my IP........though of course you know when you get on deck what you sucked at, like you say it is helpful to hear from the instructor how you can improve. Having an IP who pushes you to perform above MIF, or above average (either way) rather than just being happy to sign you off on an "average/good" hop has probably been the most helpful thing for me so far. If I get a 4 in something, you know "hey good on this, but here is how you can get the 5 next time".....and then he is really looking for me to show that kind of improvement by the next hop.
Thats how my onwing was, and it was the instructors like the one you describe that I learned the most from.