Leadership and the Alpha Male

Awhile back, I’m sitting out on the patio watching my two dogs act up in the back yard when I realize that I have seen this before. Not before when I had the older dog, Buck and his sister Maggie; but long before that.

I have been watching this action take place, over and over, through out my entire career. It’s the same thing you see in any pack, group, and a bunch of people together or a work group for that matter. Somebody is the alpha male and the others aren’t; no matter the size of the pack//bunch.

Somebody is leading and the rest aren’t. Watch the others and see just exactly what they are doing. As I watch my two in the back, the pup, Little Gus, was trying his best to get Buck to play. Buck wasn’t having any of it. Buck always had bigger and better fish to fry. He won’t give in and ever once-in-a-while he would let Gus know that he wasn’t. How does he do that? Well, its not a pretty site and Little Gus usually didn’t feel real good about it for a short period of time—it’s good that he has a short attention span and memory.

Suffice it to say, Little Gus was still learning and Buck was the teacher. How many times have you witnessed a group where the non-leaders (otherwise known followers) want to play when the leader is intent on mentoring them to follow the path of his leadership—“Pay attention and do it the way I show you!”

Yes, I’ve seen this play out, over and over, through the years and I enjoyed watching it take place again. Right in my own back yard. It’s somewhat amazing how far we have come in domesticating ourselves. Did ya think I was gonna say our pets? No, ourselves.

However long it took, we have domesticated ourselves to fit the pack mentality and have learned to lead and how to follow. We all fit into one or the other category. Which do you fit into?