| The purpose of this descriptive quantitative method of study was to examine the similarities and differences in the perceptions of leadership characteristics of mentors and mentee who were potential front-line manager participants in the Rising Stars program. The Big Five Inventory was the instrument used to measure the perception of five domains of leadership characteristics (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism or emotional stability) via an online survey. A convenience sample consisted of 29 mentors and 7 mentee respondents. The Mann- Whitney U test confirmed a lack of statistical significance in the data. In addition, the data limitations did not allow the detection of a normal distribution. The results also indicated several factors might affect the use of online surveys in some occupational settings. Though statistical significance was not achieved, mentor and mentee mean scores were more alike in the domains of openness with a mean difference of .3 in openness, .2 in conscientiousness, and .1 in agreeableness. Mentor and mentee means scores were less alike in 2 domains with a mean difference of .6 in extraversion and .6 in neuroticism or emotional stability. The study results are significant to succession planning programs for the development potential front-line managers. The 5 domains provide an alternative approach to assessing the traits of leadership characteristics instead of over reliance on the popular transformational leadership characteristics. Furthermore, the practical findings of this study may contribute to further exploration of which of the 5 domains are priority for support and development of potential front-line managers. |
