Do you think bosses sometimes feel threatened by strong employees with good leadership skills?

Ive noticed that where I work the bosses like me very much but I am a fairly insecure type of person probably. I get on with the job and dont try to dominate too much. There is another woman there who is always coming up with ideas and trying to change systems she thinks dont work any more etc. I find this quite admirable but the bosses have got quite angry with her and even said that 'she will do anything to become a manager' , 'is loyal to no one' and so on. Do you think they feel threatened by her? They are both women by the way.