Alfred Sloan is among the top business leaders of USA of 20th century, according to 'Fortune' which has made an extensive and exhaustive research on the subject.

One of the best books ever written on leadership is 'Leading Minds' by Howard Gardner. He has examined to life of 13 great leaders of the 20th century. From the corporate world, Alfred Sloan is the only name. One of the best business journals published in USA, 'Sloan Management Review' is also in his name.

It is a testimony to his greatness that the world's richest man Bill Gates has written in his book "Business @ speed of thought".

"I think Alfred Sloan's My Years with General Motors is probably the best book to read if you want to read only one book about business. The issues [Sloan] dealt with in organising and measuring, in keeping [other executives] happy, dealing with risk, understanding model years and the effect of used vehicles, and modeling his competition all in a very rational, positive way is inspiring."

Sloan was at the helms of affairs in G.M. during the most exciting period of his life, as car production between 1915 to 1960 was rising at a volcanic speed. (amidst fierce competition.)

1. Sloan acted as if he was working in year 2000. He placed each division of G.M. on profit making basis which many European and Indian companies are yet to learn.

2. He thought from corporate point of view which many board level officers do not do so in India, even today.

3. He acted from the beginning as a leader and rarely as a manager. As he later recalled: "I never minimised the administrative power of the chief executive officer in principle when I occupied that position. I simply exercised that power with discretion; I got better results by selling my ideas than by telling people what to do."

4. In customer care he was far ahead in 1920 where Indian companies are no where closer in 2000.

"I made it a practice throughout the 1920s and early thirties to make personal visits to dealers. I fitted up a private rail road car as an office and in the company of several associates went into almost every city in the United States, visiting from five to ten dealers a day. I would meet them in their own places of business and ask them for suggestions and criticisms concerning their relation with the corporation, the character of the product, the corporation's policies, the trend of consumer demand, their view of the future, and many other things of interest in the business. I made careful notes of all the points that came up, and when I got back home I studied them."

He gave his own wealth back to the nation through major philanthropic gifts.

But what made Sloan one of the four business leaders of 20th century was his creation of an organisation General Motors. In his words.

"In the great expansion in General Motors between 1918 and 1920, I had been struck by the disparity between substance and form: plenty of substance and little form. I became convinced that the corporation could not continue to grow and survive unless it was better organised, and it was apparent that no one was giving that subject the attention it needed."
In "My Years with General Motors"
Alfred P. Sloan

It was not, however, a matter of interest to me only with respect to my division, since as a member of the Executive Committee, I was a kind of general executive and so had begun to think from the corporate view point.
From his autobiography

"Here we come face-to-face with the issue of Sloan as a leader-an individual who affects the thoughts, behaviors, and feelings of other individuals."
Remarked Howard Gardner

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