Introduction.

The interest in developing this article arises from the relevance of companies’ awareness for eliminating / mitigating the adverse effects they cause in the environment.

Objective.

Identify the influence of the type of leadership of the companies (transactional / Bass transformational leadership (1985)) in the involvement of workers in an ecoefficient culture.

Materials and methods.

The methodology is qualitative and used an intentional convenience sample, applied through semi-structured interviews to the coordinators or managers in charge of the implementation of the ISO 14001 System, Environmental Management System (EMS). Likewise, surveys were conducted with workers from three of the eight companies, in order to triangulate the information as a methodological integration strategy. The investigated organizations belong to the automotive, metal-mechanical and electrical sectors.

Results.

Organizations that have tried to applied an coefficient culture for a shorter period of time did not show a commitment attitude. Even though other organizations have implemented the culture for a long time, they did not show workers’ commitment with the environment either, due to high staff turnover. Therefore, the leadership type that prevails in these companies is the transactional leadership. Those who have been working under the ISO 14001 system for more than eight years and have minimal turnover evidenced greater commitment, so their leadership is transformational.

Conclusion.

The transactional and transformational types of leadership are not mutually exclusive and have a positive influence on different conditions and periods in the implementation of the EMS.