"Empathy - the ability to share someone else's feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in that person's situation"
I'd risk a statement, that it is actually impossible to take someone's else position. What one can do is precisely this - imagining someone's else position, which is a fiction (fueled by so called good intentions).
> imagining someone's else position, which is a fiction
Some people are better at this than others, and yes there's some guessing involved, but it doesn't have to be perfect to work. This is especially effective if the other recognizes the effort and also tries to empathize.