hand on the baton

To bestow one's responsibility or job upon someone else. An allusion to a relay race in which one runner literally hands a baton to the next runner. I have so much work to do now that my boss has retired and handed on the baton to me. My grandmother is unable to stand long enough to cook such a large meal, so we're making Thanksgiving dinner this year—she has handed on the baton to us. Because Gina is leaving, she is handing on the baton to me, and I'll take over her job as supervisor.