The No. 1 'underused' skill highly successful people share, says Harvard-trained career coach: 'It's really not that hard'

Highly successful people possess a skill that helps them get and stay ahead, says a Harvard-trained executive coach: They listen with curiosity.

"It's really not that hard," Muriel Wilkins, co-founder of leadership consulting firm Paravis Partners, recently told the "Radical Candor" podcast. "Like, stop talking and listen and ask questions that are about the other person ... Listening is the biggest and the most underused skill that helps drive empathy, and a lot of other things as well."

Nearly all (96%) professionals consider themselves to be good listeners, according to 2015 research from Accenture, a IT consulting company. However, 50% of adults don't recall what they hear only moments after hearing it, a 2013 Carnegie Mellon study reported.

Listening with genuine curiosity could potentially alleviate other hardships in the office, like lack of empathy. The more you do it, the more likely others are to reveal something deep and meaningful about themselves to you, resulting in stronger connections and increased trust, American Psychological Association researchers found in 2021.

Empathy in the workplace is more important now than ever, said Wilkins, who obtained an MBA from Harvard University in 1997 and has spent more than 15 years coaching "hundreds" of executives.

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, bosses and employees connected with each other about their families, life away from the office and navigating the "new normal." Now, "leaders just want to drive to results," Wilkins said. "And they're sort of saying, 'Well, it's either drive the results or be empathetic. I can't do both.'"

The result: a morale disaster, worsened by mass layoffs, return-to-office backlash and burnout.

Ironically, it turns out that encouraging empathy actually inspires employees to be more innovative, productive and engaged, according to a 2021 report from Catalyst, a global nonprofit for workplace inclusion.

Some CEOs even say they've witnessed that effect firsthand.

"The way that you communicate with people, the way that you show that you care, the way that you show that you want to help build people up and empower them, those all go a long way," Everette Taylor, head of crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, told CNBC Make It earlier this month.

"It helps you become a better leader," Taylor added.

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