Who's the boss?

A wolf pack always has an alpha. When the alpha is strong and in control, the pack is quiet. When the alpha weakens, the next strongest is obliged to challenge him or her.These are the rules the alpha and the pack operate on:

• The alpha always goes first
• The alpha eats first
• The alpha decides who is admitted to the den
• The alpha comes and goes without reference to the pack

Dog owners know that they have to be the boss dog, because the puppy will only obey if the boss dog is in control (this applies even to half-sized miniature schnauzers who would more often get mistaken for a rabbit than a wolf).It’s simple: if you are not in control of your dog, then your dog is in control of you.Control is a binary thing: you’ve either got it or what you’re trying to control has got it.This applies to all sorts of things, such as drinking: if you don’t control your drinking, your drinking is controlling you. If you don’t control your eating, your eating is controlling you. If you don’t control your anger, your anger controls you.You might think this is about being the boss dog with your people, and making sure they know who’s boss.It’s not.It’s about you and your business. Either you’re in control of it, or it’s in control of you.If you are working more hours than you want to, if you are putting up with underperforming clients and staff, if you think you can’t go home before your staff, if you worry about what your staff would think if you took a week off, if you are missing out on seeing your family because you are late home and working at night, then you’re not the boss dog.The business is controlling you, which makes you what exactly?