How to tell if it’s imposter syndrome or if you’re just bad at your job, from the ex-VP of HR at Microsoft

studiocasper/Getty, Tyler Le/BI

Former Microsoft VP of HR Chris Williams shares insights on combating imposter syndrome.Williams advises ranking the importance of your role at meetings and critiquing your work results.He emphasizes that self-doubt often stems from being one’s harshest critic, not actual performance.

As the former VP of HR at Microsoft and now an advisor to executives worldwide, I see imposter syndrome daily. I see it on the faces of people working their way up the ranks, in the C-Suite, and at the top. I even saw Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer question their skills as they steered a tech giant.

Yet I’ve also had to let people go who really weren’t up to the job. They didn’t have what it takes to perform at their level. Beyond imposters, they just sucked at their job.

Self-doubt can be crippling. Are you not very good at your job or is it just the imposter syndrome talking? How can you tell if your self-doubt — often that debilitating imposter syndrome — is justified?

Based on my over 40 years of experience in the business world, I advise employees to look at three areas for the answer: what their boss tells them, what meetings they’re invited to, and the results of their work.

Here’s how to inspect those places.

Examine what your boss and colleagues are telling you

The most direct way to gauge whether you’re good at your work is to look at what others say.

Read your performance reviews — carefully. Check for objective statements about the quality of your work, the way you get results, and how you work with others. Be sure to read between the lines to look for half-complements or insincerity.

Reviews are formal feedback and are sometimes carefully crafted to give a specific tone. Check to see if the written feedback matches the oral feedback you get from your manager in more frequent and less formal settings. If you’re getting good reviews, that almost always means you’re doing good work.

Rereading your reviews can bolster your self-esteem and combat looming imposter syndrome.

Beyond reviews, do you get unsolicited comments about your work? Whether good or bad, comments that come without prompting from people you trust are usually genuine. Most allies would stay silent rather than speak untruths. If you’re hearing good words spoken to your face, you’re probably good at what you do.

If that voice in the back of your head is screaming, “What if they’re just saying that to be nice or to cover up a real problem?” it’s time to look further.

Look around the room during meetings and rank yourself

One of the biggest places where imposter syndrome hits is during meetings. You look around and wonder if you deserve a seat at the table, and then you get the nagging feeling of “Do I even belong in this room?”

I love this question because it offers a great way to combat imposter syndrome: just rank the room.

Every meeting has a range of people in the room. Think of them on a scale of one to five, where the fives are people who absolutely need to be in that room, and the ones are the people who needn’t, or even shouldn’t, be there.

Fives: Most often are the people who call the meetings.Fours: Experts on the subject or people directly impacting the results.Threes: People involved or invited because they might have an impact or whose advice on similar subjects has impressed the organizer.Twos: The scribes. These people are in the meeting for little more than stenography.Ones: People who have no real input or impact. They’re simply observers.

If you look around the room, what are you? You probably spend much time in meetings as a five or four. You called the meeting or are essential to it. Occasionally you’re a three and are there because you add value. I would bet you’re almost never a one or two in that room, or the organizer wouldn’t have invited you. They don’t want ones there weighing it down.

So look around the room, and you’ll objectively find that your self-doubt is unwarranted. As a three or above, you belong in that room.

Alas, I realize that even now, that voice in your head might still be there. Still screaming, “They’re just being kind, inviting me out of pity.” Then, try to look at your performance objectively.

Look at your results

Perhaps the surest way to tamp down imposter syndrome is the same way the company judges you: through the result of your efforts.

If you can, look at what you do objectively. Compare your results to peers, especially outside your company. How do you and your team rank for the output you produce, the value you create, and your impact on the company?

I recommend looking outward because there are rarely direct comparisons inside. Most smaller companies don’t have multiple teams doing similar work. You’re also too close to be objective when comparing internally. Look outside and see how you and your work rank objectively in the world at large.

This is, after all, how the company rates you. It compares itself and every element of the company to the harshest judge of all, the open market. You and your results are often objectively well above your self-judgment.

Far from giving yourself the benefit of a curve, you are likely your harshest critic.

Your harsh internal critic is what’s causing your self-doubt

When that voice in your head screams, “They’re just being nice to me,” think that through. Do you often see the company or your manager being charitable? I’ll bet it’s often the opposite, where the bias is perhaps a little too harsh.

So wallow in your thoughts for a moment. Allow yourself time to ponder: am I really good at what I do? Then move on promptly.

When you look objectively, yes, you are. You’re just fine. Maybe great.

Chris Williams is the former VP of HR at Microsoft. He’s an executive-level advisor and consultant with over 40 years of experience leading and building teams.