In the last lesson, we kicked off the conversation around whether higher emotional intelligence (EQ) makes women better leaders by asking if women are naturally better leaders. Through our fictitious case study, we concluded that women's innate emotional intelligence is a key attribute in effective leadership.

So let's keep the focus on effective leadership and dig a little deeper. We can probably all agree that the Bobby Knight style of leadership has had its day, but how are women perceived? Are women in danger of being seen as being soft, and if so, is being soft even a bad thing?

After Bobby Knight came Sheryl Sandberg. The former CEO of Facebook/Meta has been attributed, inaccurately, as saying that women should act like men to get ahead in business. What she actually said is "we need women at all levels, including the top, to change the dynamic, reshape the conversation, to make sure women's voices are heard and not overlooked and ignored."