Terry Prone: Sneaking to Costa to gossip about the Starbucks-loving new boss

New CEOs need to remember that great old statement that actions speak louder than words

A new wardrobe and a mouthful of management speak won’t stop your new colleagues coming up with a lethal nickname for you.

The new CEO hasn’t appeared yet. The announcement has been made, the grapevine has gone crazy and the person involved is working out their notice or, much more likely, on gardening leave.

Gardening leave is a time-waster for those upwardly mobile on the career ladder, who wouldn’t know real gardening if hit with a spade. They’ve done the parting-is-such-sweet-sorrow bit with their previous employer, and now they’re at home, wondering about creating the ideal public profile for themselves. Right down to the pictures. They may have a dressing room full of heavy cotton shirts and pure silk ties, but whenever they try a tie on, it looks old-fashioned. At the interview, they were open-necked. So maybe that should continue? If they’re female, they’re caught between buying a fresh wardrobe of clothes for the new role and the fear of looking naïvely overdressed when they arrive on the first day.