Occasion HandbookHolidays 17 examples

What to Write in a Boss’s Christmas Card

The one card where warmth reads as angling for something. Keep it short, thank them for a specific decision rather than for existing, and stop.

Season’s Greetings Merry Christmas. Have a goodbreak. PRINTED YOURS

Short and correct

  1. 1 Merry Christmas. Have a good break.
    Tone FormalLength Very short
  2. 2 Wishing you a restful Christmas and a good new year.
    Tone FormalLength Very short
  3. 3 Merry Christmas. Thanks for a good year.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  4. 4 Season’s greetings, and thank you for your support this year.
    Tone FormalLength Short

Thanking them for something specific

This is the version that does not read as flattery, because it names a thing that happened.

  1. 5 Merry Christmas. Thank you for backing the March proposal when it was not obvious you should.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 6 Happy Christmas. Thank you for the time off in the summer — it mattered more than I said at the time.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 7 Merry Christmas. Thank you for a year of being straight with me. It is rarer than it should be.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  4. 8 Merry Christmas. Thanks for the steer in September. It changed how the year went.
    Tone PlainLength Short

For a manager you genuinely like

  1. 9 Merry Christmas. Good year. Thank you for most of it.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  2. 10 Happy Christmas. Best manager I have had, and I have had a few.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 11 Merry Christmas. Thank you for making this a place I do not dread on a Monday.
    Tone WarmLength Short

From a whole team

  1. 12 Merry Christmas from all of us. Thank you for a good year.
    Tone FormalLength Very short
  2. 13 Happy Christmas from the team. We got a lot done and you cleared the path for it.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 14 With thanks from everyone on the team, and every good wish for Christmas.
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When the year has been difficult

  1. 15 Merry Christmas. A hard year, well handled. Have a real break.
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  2. 16 Happy Christmas. Thank you for being honest with us through all of it.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 17 Merry Christmas. Rest — it has been a long twelve months for everyone.
    Tone PlainLength Short

Questions people actually ask

What do you write in a Christmas card for your boss?

"Merry Christmas. Thank you for backing the proposal in March — have a good break." One specific thanks and a short wish. Anything longer starts to read as an approach.

Is it appropriate to give your boss a Christmas card?

Yes, and it is more normal than the reverse. Keep it to a card rather than a gift, which is where it starts to look like currying favour.

What do you write on a card from the whole team?

One line of thanks for something the team benefited from, signed by everyone. Let each person add their own name rather than writing on their behalf.