A weight off your shoulders

Image of a stressed woman bearing much responsibility.
The weight of responsibility can be a heavy burden to bear.

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Idiom: A weight off your shoulders

The weight of responsibility can be a heavy burden to bear, and we all know how good it feels to take a weight off our shoulders.

It is not uncommon for leaders to feel like they are the only ones who can do the job.

Often this leads them to micromanage, which only serves to increase their problems instead of solving them.


To take a weight off your shoulders means to remove the burden of responsibility for something so that you can relax.


Yes, we do have a saying that goes, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

However, people who follow this either have no friends or don’t live very long.

It’s also not true.

One of the essential characteristics of a good manager is recognizing and utilizing the talent within their team.

If a manager can masterfully delegate authority and responsibility to competent subordinates, it will result in lifting a weight off their shoulders

Delegating authority and responsibility to trusted and capable subordinates will relieve them of some of the pressure of being in charge.

This will enable them to have more time to focus on their own tasks, which will, in turn, make them more productive in the long run. 

Now, you may say, wow, he sounds like a good manager.

I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I’d have to admit I’m not bad.

I manage a small team of me, myself and I every day.

We’ve discovered that the three of me working together can accomplish any goal set before us. 

Many young employees desire to take on more responsibilities and aspire to management positions.

As we say, heavy is the head that wears the crown.

However, if you can delegate and take a weight off your shoulders, it’s easier to bear the burden of leadership.  


Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test

This post is understandable by someone with at least an 8th-grade education (age 13 – 14).   

On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 65.   

The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.