100 Reasons Business Owners Don’t Delegate

The reasons you don't delegate are all about your mindset, limiting beliefs, and scripts programmed into you at a young age

When you identify them, you take back the power they have over you that’s keeping you stuck.

Shift your mindset toward delegation by identifying the reasons you don't delegate.

Mark all the statements that are at least somewhat true.

1. The company’s goals for my job aren’t clear, so how could I make goals clear to someone else?
2. The company hasn’t clarified the success measures for my job, so how could I measure the success of delegated tasks?
3. I don’t have anyone to delegate to because I have no direct reports.
4. I think the person telling me to delegate has bad intentions toward me.
5. I’m not organized enough to handle a team.
6. Asking for help is a sign of weakness.
7. I don’t want to delegate myself out of a job.
8. I don’t want to lose tasks I enjoy.
9. I like to feel needed.
10. I feel bad about delegating to my team, because they’re just as overworked as me.
11. I can do it better.
12. I can do it faster.
13. I don’t have time to explain how to do my task.
14. I don’t want to lose control.
15. My direct reports have abilities superior to mine, and I envy them.
16. My people prefer that I make the decisions.
17. My people want to avoid responsibility.
18. I don’t trust my direct reports’ intentions.
19. I don’t trust my direct reports’ abilities.
20. If I give my direct report more authority, they’ll get promoted and replace me.
21. My direct reports lack initiative.
22. Delegation will make my life more complicated.
23. I don’t know how to delegate.
24. I don’t know how to manage people.
25. I don’t know how to prioritize my tasks.
26. I’m unclear about the goals and measurables I’m accountable for. I can’t delegate accountability for parts of an unclear thing.
27. If it goes wrong, I’ll be the one held accountable.
28. My manager hasn’t given me a direct “You must delegate, or else” command.
29. My manager has given me a direct “You must delegate, or else” command, but I don’t believe they’ll actually enforce the command with consequences for me.
30. Delegation reduces my own authority.
31. I’ll be shown up if they do too good a job.
32. I’m worried about the consequences of failing to delegate.
33. I’m worried about the consequences of my delegation failing.
34. I don’t want to be seen as replaceable.
35. I don’t want to be put out to pasture.
36. I don’t like managing people.
37. I don’t think delegation is important.
38. I need to be involved in everything.
39. I don’t want to be a burden to my team.
40. I enjoy the work. Why should I delegate it?
41. My direct reports don’t have the same commitment to quality I do.
42. The person I delegate to will resent me.
43. If I trust someone with access to my files, systems, passwords, admin access, etc., then they might screw me over.
44. If I find someone who’s really good, they might eventually quit and start their own business… and maybe copy our business model and compete against us too.
45. People would be better off working on their own projects than on mine.
46. Other people work too slowly.
47. I don’t know what I’m good at.
48. I don’t know what my direct reports are good at.
49. I don’t know what kind of work brings me joy.
50. I don’t know what kind of work frustrates me.
51. I am not held accountable for delegating tasks.
52. The timing isn’t right for hiring someone yet.
53. I haven’t received any training on delegation.
54. I haven’t received any coaching on delegation.
55. I am not good at the clear communication part of delegating.
56. I am a perfectionist.
57. I’ve been on the receiving end of poor delegation, and I don’t want to inflict that experience on others.
58. My manager hasn’t given me the resources I need to delegate.
59. It’s unfair to make someone else do tasks that I wouldn’t want to do myself.
60. I don’t want to have power over other people.
61. My way of doing things is too unique.
62. Some tasks just can’t be delegated.
63. Who would want to work for me?
64. I’m too busy to find the time for this.
65. The hiring process takes too long.
66. It takes too long to find someone good.
67. Even if I find someone good, they might leave shortly after I hire them.
68. The person I hire won’t care as much or won’t be as motivated as I am.
69. It’s tough to find someone with the right skills, experience, and values.
70. It’s hard to find someone trustworthy and dependable.
71. Many people just don’t follow directions well.
72. I don’t know how to communicate my expectations.
73. How do I know if a complex task was done properly without inspecting all of the steps in fine detail?
74. My systems aren’t good enough that someone else could effectively run them.
75. I’m not good at delegating.
76. My manager hasn’t given me the opportunity to practice delegation.
77. My direct reports are overwhelmed with responsibilities given them by people other than me, their manager.
78. I don’t agree with the direction this company is going.
79. I don’t agree with the roles and responsibilities this company has assigned to me.
80. The tasks I have to delegate are too small, so it would be faster to do them myself.
81. I don’t want to be seen as lazy, spoiled, or elitist.
82. If I outsource creative work, I’ll be judged for taking advantage of people and trying to pass off their creative work as my own,
83. It’s simpler and easier to do everything myself.
84. What if I end up really stressed with too many people to manage?
85. I hate micro-managing people.
86. The thought of growing my company seems scary.
87. I might lose flexibility if I build a team.
88. I don’t want to be responsible for other people’s livelihoods.
89. I might screw up and hire the wrong people.
90. It would be really tough if I had to let someone go.
91. Other people’s mistakes could cost me a lot of money.
92. What if I’m underpaying or overpaying?
93. What if I assign more responsibility to someone than they can handle?
94. What if we run out of money and have to lay people off, especially people who are counting on me?
95. I could ruin other people’s lives if I screw this up.
96. I’m not good at confrontation, like if someone does a bad job.
97. I don’t like following up, especially when I might not like what I find.
98. I haven’t mastered my personal productivity yet, so I’m not ready to manage people.
99. I need to figure out how to do each task first (and get good at it) before I can effectively assign it to someone else.
100. It will take a long time to see positive returns from investing in delegating.

Next Step: Ask your executive coach or a peer group member for coaching on items you marked.