Delegation is one of the most basic leadership skills, you need it if you’re to successfully manage a team or run a company.

Leaders have an ever-growing list of tasks and goals, their calendars are filled with appointments and meetings they almost don’t have time to have a proper lunch. And yet, despite their crazy schedules, many leaders still don’t want to delegate. They feel as if the world will fall apart the moment they hand-off some work.

I’ve talked to many entrepreneurs and leaders over the years, and in doing so I’ve heard almost every excuse for not delegating.

Some of the most common delegation excuses are:

“It’ll be easier if I do it myself”

Yes, I guess it’s easier if you do it yourself. But ask yourself this, isn’t it easier to teach someone else, so you don’t have to do it next time around?

Initially, it will take some time and maybe a bit of patience to teach one of your team members but after the initial learning curve, you’ll have more free time to concentrate on bigger tasks.

“I already tried delegating X task to someone else before… he screwed up and I had to redo all the work at the last minute”

Don’t expect things to go perfectly on the first try. When delegating, and hear me out here because this is common for first-time delegators, don’t immediately assume that it’s the other person’s fault.

In most cases, things went wrong because your instructions weren’t clear enough or the task was too complicated. To avoid these problems, try delegating a simple task first.

When giving instructions, be as clear and concise as possible as if you’re giving instructions to a grade-schooler. Use short sentences and be very specific.

“No one does it as well as I can”

Okay, this might be true but that doesn’t mean you have to keep doing these tasks when you have bigger responsibilities to worry about.

You’re in a leadership role and part of your job is training your team to handle additional tasks. The completed work may not be as good as what you expect, but for your own sanity, you’ll have to let go of your idea of perfection and accept other people’s work as long as it’s done properly.

“What if my team does the work better than I did before?”

So what? That’s not your job anymore, the fact that they do the work better than you did before is just a sign that you—

• Have good leadership skills and you trained your team well
• Choose the right people for your team

Here are some more ways to help you delegate more effectively.

“I may not get credit if I delegate the task to someone else”

Pride and vanity are two of the major roadblocks of office productivity. Do you really think it’s in the business’s best interest that you’re a bottleneck for work, just because you don’t want to share the glory?

Learn to share the limelight with others. Remember, your team’s work makes you look good, too.

“My boss might think that my job is redundant if I start delegating tasks”

The counterpoint to this excuse lies in your job description. Ask yourself, does your job description have the same responsibilities as those of your team, or are you expected to show leadership skills in spearheading projects?

Seen enough excuses?

Here’s the thing, real leaders aren’t afraid to delegate. They know their leadership skills and worth to the company aren’t defined or limited by the tasks they keep to themselves.