Asking if you are as good as you think you are, is not necessarily questioning your level of self-confidence, rather it could be philosophical (what is good, who am I, etc) or it could be part of a continuous self  awareness check.

Switch it Around

Am I only as good as other people think I am?  Of course this begs the question “What do other people think of me?”  That question can be hard to answer truly objectively.

I have been fortunate enough to have past employers pay for a confidential survey of myself, colleagues, subordinates and supervisors, on several occasions.

This feedback is fabulous for capturing what you think of your own interpersonal behaviour skills and what others think.  It is anonymous, so theoretically the input should be objective.

The results could reinforce what you think (e.g., I work well with others and they agree) or could be the opposite (e.g., others don’t think I work well with them).

Of course this kind of deedback can go beyond whether you work well with others but can include how confident you are percieved to be, honesty, ability to motivate and so on.

If you can organize it, I strongly recommend these feedback tools as a great way to find out how what you think about yourself maps to what others think.

Could someone else do better?

When you move on from a situation, role or assignment it is always interesting to consider if your sucessor did better than you?  That is , am I so good there is no one better.

It is probably comforting to believe this may be true, but don’t forget the old saying “Anyone can be replaced”.  It might be truer than you think.