AbstractsPsychology

Leading successful organizational change is central to an effective leadership approach. Servant leadership with its emphasis on follower growth and development, may be beneficial for organizational change. This study added to the understanding of servant leadership and commitment to organizational change by surveying participants (n = 244) of a large non-profit specialized healthcare organization implementing an electronic medical records system to assess if perceived servant leader behaviors correlate with followers’ attitude toward change. This study utilized Winston and Fields’ (in press) Essential Servant Leadership Behaviors (ESLB) scale to assess servant leadership’s ability to predict follower commitment to change mindset and interaction time with supervisor as a mediating mechanism. The survey results showed ESLB was found to be a statistically significant but weak positive predictor of affective commitment to change and a statistically significant but weak negative predictor of continuance commitment to change. The results showed evidence that servant leadership behaviors are appropriate for not just maintaining status quo but are also influential during disruptive times of organizational change. No significant relationship was found between ESLB and normative commitment to change. Interaction time with supervisor was not a mediating variable between ESLB and follower commitment to change.