'World's Greatest Leader' Theo Epstein Can't Keep His Dog From Peeing in the House

BOSTON, MA – Theo Epstein's legacy may be turning around two of the most cursed baseball teams of all time, but even he struggles with a problem that has every dog owner nodding along in sympathy. The former Red Sox GM may be the world's greatest leader to Fortune Magazine, but his four-legged friend begs to differ.

Epstein, now President of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs, topped Fortune's list of 50 greatest world leaders for ending the Cubs' century-long drought after accomplishing a similar feat for the Red Sox in 2004.

But in a text to ESPN's Buster Olney, Epstein amounted his success to a large dose of luck, as evidenced by his failed leadership with the furriest member of his household.

"Um, I can't even get my dog to stop peeing in the house," he wrote to Olney. "That is ridiculous. The whole thing is patently ridiculous. It's baseball – a pastime involving a lot of chance. If Zobrist's ball is three inches farther off the line, I'm on the hot seat for a failed five-year plan. And I'm not even the best leader in our organization; our players are."

Fortune highlighted Epstein's evolving approach to leadership with the Cubs, an alteration from his data-driven management with the Sox that incorporated the human element.

"Sports Illustrated senior baseball writer Tom Verducci describes that evolution, showing how a deeper understanding of important human qualities among his players – the character, discipline and chemistry that turn skilled athletes into leaders – enabled Epstein to engineer one of the most remarkable turnarounds in sports," Fortune writes.

>>>Click here for Fortune's list of the World's Greatest Leaders

Photo Credit: Scott Slingsby, via Wikimedia Commons