INT 173 - How To Exercise Authority Without Feeling Like An Imposter

In the world of business leadership, confidence is vital to being successful. However, many women struggle to assert authority in a domain traditionally dominated by men.

How can you overcome this all-too-common challenge and battle self-doubt within the corporate landscape?

Listen to this episode of the Int-HER-rupt podcast. Host Linda Yates chats with Irene Sim, an Executive Leadership Coach, on different strategies to overcome imposter syndrome and the importance of fostering an environment where women leaders can thrive without reservation.

Join us as we explore the crucial steps toward empowering female CEOs to wield their authority confidently and break free from the chains of imposter syndrome.

Irene Sim’s Background

• Irene Sim is an industry-accredited executive leadership coach with extensive senior organizational leadership experience.

• Irene understands that deeply ingrained and often invisible systemic gender bias holds women back and makes the situation even worse when mixed with other biases like racial bias.

• As a coach, she has successfully worked with countless women at all stages of their journey to overcome these societal biases, establish their own terms, and thrive as influential and authentic leaders.

• Within the episode, Irene shares her robust background more and discusses how being a minority in two different countries has affected her leadership abilities.

Exercising Authority: Why Is It Foreign to Women?

• Irene discusses how women get told the same stories over and over throughout their careers. “You’re not good enough to be in that position,” or “A man would never make that mistake.” These statements often cause women to self-doubt, even when the comments are not directly told to them. Society has taught women to feel this way, and it can lead some to have imposter syndrome.

• Irene shares her story of how her inner critic has made her struggle with exercising authority within her leadership roles.

ABCD Process to Combating the Inner Critic

• Irene shares the ABCD process to help other women combat their inner critic and start thriving in their leadership positions.

• Step A: Acknowledge and accept your emotions. If you’re feeling fear, anxiety, or insecurity, take them, and don’t judge yourself for feeling this way.

• Step B: Be Brief. Don’t rush to react to opportunities; instead, take the time to decide on your choices and how you will show up.

• Step C: Choose your thoughts. Decide how to make a difference and focus on those thoughts and feelings.

• Step D: Act accordingly. Lean in and do what you need to do to be of service. And if it means to lead to give clarity to exercise authority, do that.




• Irene also discusses how important it is to practice authority and the ABCD process if you want to see positive changes within yourself.

For many women in positions of authority, the struggle against the internalized voice of imposter syndrome can seem like a...