Identifying the stakeholders and their needs should be one of your tasks. Even if you believe that you already know enough about it, either because you have been working for the company for a while, or because you have already gathered this information in another way, it is always worth revalidating it. The company's strategy may change from time to time, as well as the stakeholders' view of the product or service, which will necessarily impact your design decisions.
"Empathy is a big buzzword in UX right now. There are books and blog posts espousing the idea that if designers can develop true empathy for users, then they'll build better applications. That's true, but what about stakeholders? Designers need to empathise with product owners, business analysts, and even executives too, if they hope to get the support...
