Boss's Day

What Is Boss's Day?

October 16 is Boss's Day. It is said to have begun in 1958, when Patricia Bays Haroski, a secretary at State Farm Insurance in Deerfield, Illinois, registered "National Boss' Day" with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She chose October 16 because it was her father's birthday. The day is meant for employees to thank their bosses for their everyday work and to improve the relationship between managers and staff.

How Boss's Day Spread

A holiday that began with one employee's idea eventually spread across the United States.

• Made official in 1962: In 1962, Illinois Governor Otto Kerner Jr. issued a proclamation making the day official.
• Established in the U.S.: Today in the United States, people thank their bosses with cards, flowers, or lunch on October 16 (or the nearest weekday when it falls on a weekend).
• How it reached Japan: In Japan, the day is said to have become known through department store gift campaigns, but it is not as widely observed as Father's Day or Mother's Day.

Trivia About Words for "Boss"

Some everyday workplace words have surprising origins.

• The origin of "boss": The English word boss is said to come from the Dutch baas, meaning "master." It spread in colonial America through Dutch settlers.
• "Joshi" and "jocho": In Japanese, "jocho" refers broadly to anyone of higher rank, while "joshi" usually means the person you report to directly.
• Managers and leaders: A saying often attributed to Peter Drucker goes, "Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things" (its exact source is debated).

Boss's Day Trivia

• Be specific: Adding a concrete example — "your advice at last week's meeting really helped" — makes your thanks more meaningful than a general "thank you."
• Servant leadership: Proposed by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970, this idea holds that leaders should first support their team members and help them grow.
• Feedforward: In contrast to feedback that looks back at past mistakes, feedforward suggests what to do next. The term spread in the world of executive coaching.
• Bosses like thanks too: Managers spend much of their time evaluating others, so they are rarely thanked themselves. Boss's Day creates a chance for that.

Ideas for Boss's Day

• Thank your boss or team leader by mentioning a specific moment when they helped you.
• Think about what kind of boss you want to become. Writing down your ideal boss can show you what you still need to work on.
• If you are a leader, thank your team members too. A workplace where people thank each other makes it easier to ask for help.
• Suggest one small improvement for a minor problem at work.

A Chance to Build a Considerate Workplace

Boss's Day on October 16 is a chance to tell your boss the thanks you might normally be too shy to say. Good leaders are supported by their teams, and team members grow with the help of good leaders. No big gift is needed. A word of thanks, or taking a moment to imagine what your boss deals with, is a first step toward a better place to work.