We knew it all along. Women are regarded by their colleagues as better overall leaders than men, according to a recent survey by leadership development consultancy Zenger/Folkman. The authors describe their results in a blog on the Harvard Business Review website.

Of the 7,280 leaders surveyed, women were given better marks by bosses, peers and direct reports in nearly all of 16 leadership competencies—not just the nurturing ones like building relationships and developing others. They even scored significantly higher in strengths typically thought of as male: taking initiative and driving for results. The one competency where men had a higher score? Developing strategic perspective.

Still, it’s no secret that the majority of business leaders (64 percent) are men; and the higher up you go, the more men you’ll find. When women outside the study group were asked why they thought companies aren’t hiring and engaging more women leaders, familiar (and painful) answers came up:

“We need to work harder than men to prove ourselves.”

“We feel the constant pressure to never make a mistake, and to continually prove our value to the organization."

Do you agree with these sentiments? Why do you think men outranked women in the developing strategy category? Share your thoughts with us.