Let’s get one thing straight: empathy isn’t optional, and it’s definitely not “soft.” After connecting with the M365 community and returning from my quick European tour, I was reminded just how underrated—and absolutely essential—empathy is for building successful, thriving teams. We keep calling it a soft skill, but in reality, it’s the backbone of modern leadership, innovation, and collaboration. The sooner we treat it as a power skill, the faster our teams—and our organizations—move forward.

Satya Nadella said It best: empathy drives innovation

Back in 2023, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made waves when he declared that empathy is not a soft skill—it’s core to innovation. After guiding Microsoft through one of the most significant cultural shifts in tech, Nadella made it clear: technical brilliance without human understanding leads to incomplete solutions. His leadership journey is a case study in how empathy fuels progress.

“Empathy is not some soft thing that is nice to have. It’s actually a hard thing that has to be done with rigor.”
– Satya Nadella, Fortune, 2023

Empathy isn’t about being nice—it’s about listening, recognizing context, and building solutions that work for people, not just shareholders.

Empathy as leadership infrastructure

In this post-pandemic new normal, many managers have lost touch with their teams. Organizations often struggle to build meaningful relationships with employees. So much energy is focused on schedules and productivity, or as my friend Luise wrote recently “We are measuring the wrong things“. Even with all signs out there in the open, too little is spent on understanding one another as human beings. But when we truly connect—as people, not job titles—we create tighter, more resilient teams. That kind of cohesion can propel an entire organization to the next level.

The American Management Association reinforces this idea:

“Emotional intelligence—particularly empathy—creates a culture where people feel heard, valued, and motivated. It’s not a feel-good accessory to leadership; it’s the very infrastructure that sustains it.”

Empathy isn’t optional. It’s how leaders earn trust, inspire action, and guide teams through change.

Empathy is a superpower

In a fairly old post from IBM Design I stumbled upon while researching for this post, the author calls empathy a superpower, not a soft skill.

Empathy enables intentional, people-centered design and decision-making. In user research, product planning, and team dynamics, the best professionals aren’t just technically skilled—they understand how others think, feel, and work.

Great designers, engineers, and PMs don’t just ship features—they ship understanding.

The loner genius myth is dead

The New York Times challenged the outdated myth of the “lone genius” solving problems in isolation. That archetype might’ve made for good movies, but it doesn’t reflect how real progress happens.

Modern breakthroughs—from AI to healthcare to sustainability—rely on collaboration, diverse perspectives, and a deep understanding of users. In short: they require empathy.

Glorifying the anti-social genius doesn’t just harm culture—it actively blocks innovation.

So why do we keep calling It “soft”?

Because labeling something “soft” makes it easier to dismiss.

We prioritize hard skills, then wonder why our teams miscommunicate or stall. We invest in tools, not trust. We reward output, not understanding.

That mindset needs to shift.

Instead of “soft skills,” let’s call empathy what it is:

• A strategic asset for effective leadership
• A design driver for inclusive, user-focused products
• A team glue for collaboration and resilience
• A competitive edge in today’s people-centered economy

Empathy is a skill. Period.

It’s time to stop treating empathy like emotional fluff and start recognizing it as a high-impact, strategic capability. Not because it’s trendy—but because it’s how real progress happens.

Empathy isn’t a soft skill.

It’s the hardest one to fake, the most overlooked to build, and the one skill that consistently separates good teams from legendary ones.

If you’re serious about leading, designing, or collaborating at a high level—start here. Train it. Model it. Reward it. Empathy isn’t extra. It’s everything.

So what’s the strategy? Well, here is my take:

You thought I was not going to have an opinion on this? Then you definitely do not know me well enough yet 😎. After having worked with organizations all over the map, big and small, here is a list of my recommendations for current managers and managers to be (really though, I think this goes for any human interaction):

• Start with self-awareness: You can’t practice empathy if you’re not in tune with your own biases, blind spots, and communication habits.
• Make empathy measurable: Add it to performance reviews, feedback cycles, and leadership training—not just posters on the wall.
• Model it publicly: Empathetic leadership isn’t invisible. Use meetings, emails, and feedback moments to show what empathy looks like in action.
• Build rituals, not just reminders: Daily standups? Ask how people are actually doing. Launching a new app? Involve real users early and often.
• Reward it like any other core skill: Celebrate when someone listens deeply, defuses conflict, or advocates for an unheard voice—loudly and often.
• Showcase personal wins: Recognizing individual achievements—big or small—boosts morale, strengthens trust, and reminds the team that everyone’s contributions matter.

This isn’t about being nice. It’s about being intentional.

Curious how empathy is transforming modern work? Drop your thoughts in the comments, share this with a colleague who needs to hear it, and let’s try to keep the conversations real, relevant, and refreshingly unsucky.