a clever phrase often used by more experienced managers when they wish to delegate a menial task, as in “Why don’t you take the lead on putting together this document”; can translate to “I’m disinterested and probably not smart or energetic enough to work on this myself, so go do it”; often appears in utterly irrelevant settings, as in “Why don’t you take the lead on making dinner reservations for the team,” a manifestly silly request, since one is asked to ‘take the lead on’ something which doesn’t require leadership of anyone and on which they will be certainly working solo