The notion of empathy as a soft and non-essential skill is being increasingly challenged and is a much overlooked trait in leadership. Campaigners, such as Belinda Parmar, founder and CEO of Lady Geek, argue it should be seen as a ‘commercial tool that can be deployed in all aspects of business’ and, far from being ‘soft’, empathy is in fact critical for competent leadership.

In this article, Claire McKee from Clarendon Executive considers the meaning of empathy in a business leadership context, whether it’s a skill that can be learned, and offers some tips for developing it.

The Oxford Dictionary defines empathy as the ‘ability to understand and share the feelings of another.’ In a corporate environment, where empathy