THE IMPACT OF TRANSFORMATIONAL AND CHANGE LEADERSHIP ON CHANGE READINESS AND COMMITMENT TO CHANGE

Negative attitudes towards change are one of the main reasons why an organizational change fails. Initially, researchers focused on resistance to change, subsequently developing several constructs with research instruments, which represent positive attitudes of organizational members to change, among which a readiness for change and a commitment to change stands out. Readiness for change creates positive energy necessary for the success of a change effort and it is an important link for achieving the desired outcome of a change. Readiness for change is a complex and multidimensional construct. A commitment to change is a construct with a strong positive focus. Highly committed organizational members make efforts, show initiative and act cooperatively, which contributes to the effective change implementation. Within the context of organizational change, two approaches are generally used to understanding the role of leadership in shaping a follower's response to change: transformational leadership and change leadership. Transformational leadership is a construct which took a long time to develop, and it is one of the most interesting topics in modern leadership research. On the other hand, there are infinitely fewer research papers on change leadership, the construct and research instrument having been established only recently. This paper examines the influence of transformational leadership and change leadership on a readiness for change and a commitment to change, including relationship between a readiness for change and a commitment to change, and suggests a model in which a readiness for change has a mediating role between leadership behaviors and a commitment to change.