From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcall the shots/tunecall the shots/tuneinformalIN CHARGE OF to be in a position of authority so that you can give orders and make decisions It was a job in which she was able to call the shots. → call
Examples from the Corpus
call the shots/tune• But chaps who try chat-up lines of their own get the boot-because she likes to call the shots.• Does not the divine drama seem to suggest that the Devil is calling the tune?• Strug, the Houstonian with powerful floor and vault routines, may benefit from having Karolyi calling the shots.• Traditionally, Tucson Water officials have also been allowed to call the shots.• Now, those calling the shots for the company began to realize that the whole damn case was getting too risky.• Watching outsiders call the shots is not easy.• You young girls can call the tune nowadays.• It was the businessmen, not the lords, who called the tune when the industrial system began. 