Fear not, the Alpha thing is taken a bit far on here, IMO. And you don't have to a lot of it to be successful.
Confidence is a definite must. That one tip along will get you further than any one thing you'll learn on this board, so don't overlook that.
Also, most girls do like a girl that takes charge. Picking the location for dates, what time they'll be, what you'll be doing, etc.
I think what's important for you to take away from this notion is *most* girls will get off on the nice things you do for them. To think that you should be nothing but a clod would be taking the wrong lesson from this, and you definitely shouldn't do it if it's not you.
The key is the timing of these gestures, and that they're done occasionally-not constantly, and usually on your own terms. Being AFC usually isn't an issue unless you do nice things too early and too often.
Most AFCs just constantly look to the woman for validation and approval, and are wondering what they could next do to impress her or worse yet-they worry than she's not happy and try to find other ways to impress her.
You should not and don't have to do it all the time- there is a really good Ross Jefferies tape that basically says the girls will remember the nice things you do and will reframe the bad things you do within the nicer context overall. So you've let her know you have a sweet side, but she doesn't get to see it all the time, and is left craving more of it.