Occasion HandbookThank you 14 examples

Thank You Message for a Boss or Manager

The difficulty is sounding sincere rather than strategic. Naming one specific decision they made solves it.

When you are leaving

  1. 1 Thank you for four years. You gave me the difficult project when I was not obviously ready for it, and that decision changed my career.
    Tone FormalLength Full
  2. 2 Thank you for backing me in the meeting in March. I never said so at the time and I should have.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 3 Thank you for your support and for making this a good place to work.
    Tone PlainLength Short
  4. 4 Thank you for being the manager who told me the truth. It was not always comfortable and it was always useful.
    Tone WarmLength Short

For support during something personal

This is the one people most want to say and least know how to write.

  1. 5 Thank you for how you handled things when my father died. You made it simple when nothing else was.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 6 Thank you for not making me ask twice.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  3. 7 Thank you for the flexibility this year. It made a very hard period manageable.
    Tone PlainLength Short
  4. 8 Thank you for never once making me feel like a problem to be solved.
    Tone WarmLength Short

For a promotion, a reference or an opportunity

  1. 9 Thank you for the reference — I start on the ninth and I would not have got near it without you.
    Tone FormalLength Short
  2. 10 Thank you for putting me forward. I will make sure it was a good call.
    Tone PlainLength Short
  3. 11 Thank you for the opportunity, and for the honesty about what I still need to work on.
    Tone WarmLength Short

For a gift or a bonus

  1. 12 Thank you for the leaving gift — it was very generous and completely unexpected.
    Tone PlainLength Short
  2. 13 Thank you for the bonus, and for saying why. The reason mattered more than the amount.
    Tone FormalLength Short
  3. 14 Thank you for the flowers. They arrived on exactly the right day.
    Tone WarmLength Short

Questions people actually ask

How do you thank a boss without sounding like you want something?

Name one specific decision they made and what it led to. Specifics read as sincere; general praise reads as strategic.

Should I send a thank you note when I leave a job?

To the people who actually helped you, yes, and privately. It costs nothing and it is remembered years later when you need a reference.