Your Executive Coach | Terez Rijkenberg

Terez Rijkenberg | Executive Coach

Welcome to Your Executive Coach. This is the podcast for C-suite leaders, people about to be C-suite leaders and anyone aspiring to lead at a senior level who who are done pretending everything is fine, while quietly carrying too much. We’ll talk about what actually makes leadership work when the stakes are high:clear thinking under pressure, cleaner decisions, stronger conversations, teams that stop escalating everything back to you, and success that doesn’t cost you your health or home life. I’m Terez Rijkenberg. Executive coach, former Chief People Officer, MBA graduate, and the creator of the RAFT® Formula and Radical Adaptability™. I’ve coached 100+ senior leaders across FTSE 100, private equity-backed, and high-growth organisations.  If you want useful psychology, practical strategy, and the occasional line that makes you laugh and then rethink your week… press play.

  1. Mar 6

    Neuroscience Tools To Defeat Imposter Syndrome At Senior Levels

    Ever taken a seat at the big table and felt a quiet voice whisper, you shouldn’t be here? We dig into why that voice gets louder as stakes rise and why it has nothing to do with your competence. Using clear neuroscience and a practical RAFT framework, we show how repeated thoughts shape feelings, drive actions, and lock in results—often creating a self-fulfilling identity that keeps talented leaders playing small. We start by naming imposter thinking for what it is: a practised script, not proof. Neuroplasticity doesn’t rewire to truth; it rewires to repetition. That’s why praise can feel hollow and promotions can spike anxiety. From there, we map the negative loop—thoughts like I’m not ready leading to anxiety, over-explaining, risk avoidance, and thin results that seem to validate the doubt. Then we flip it. With believable upgrades such as I’m learning at this level and Everyone here is figuring things out, you generate grounded curiosity and calm. That shift unlocks sharper questions, cleaner decisions, real delegation, and stronger strategic impact without performative overwork. You’ll learn a three-step micro-practice to run any imposter thought through RAFT: identify the exact sentence, project its one-year cost, and choose a useful thought you can actually believe. Rehearse it before key moments so the new script earns more reps than the old one. Because under pressure, you don’t rise to potential—you rise to your training. If you’ve been mentally practising self-doubt, your brain will default there. Train a better default. Subscribe for practical tools grounded in neuroscience and behavioural psychology. Share this with a leader who’s levelling up, and leave a review with the one thought you’ll rehearse this week—what script are you choosing next? Send a "fan mail" text message and let me know what you think of the podcast Support the show Want more? Connect on LinkedIn. Subscribe to my Weekly Newsletter → Leadership is Mental Visit the website for details on my Executive Coaching programme, Leadership Development offers and more. Email me for speaking engagements or PR.

    9 min

About

Welcome to Your Executive Coach. This is the podcast for C-suite leaders, people about to be C-suite leaders and anyone aspiring to lead at a senior level who who are done pretending everything is fine, while quietly carrying too much. We’ll talk about what actually makes leadership work when the stakes are high:clear thinking under pressure, cleaner decisions, stronger conversations, teams that stop escalating everything back to you, and success that doesn’t cost you your health or home life. I’m Terez Rijkenberg. Executive coach, former Chief People Officer, MBA graduate, and the creator of the RAFT® Formula and Radical Adaptability™. I’ve coached 100+ senior leaders across FTSE 100, private equity-backed, and high-growth organisations.  If you want useful psychology, practical strategy, and the occasional line that makes you laugh and then rethink your week… press play.