The whole point of the Tower conflict was to show that the Aes Sedai had started believing in their own legend so strongly that they spent books doing more harm to the world than good.

Egwene never came up with advise the AS couldn't have given themselves. Certainly, RJ (and BS, here) emphasize that women like Pevara, Saerin, etc. are far from idiots, and could have done exactl what Egwene did... except for one thing...

And that is that they were caught up in the infighting themselves. They were all unprepared for the level of viciousness the Ajah's displayed towards the others, and got caught up. They could not do what Egwene did because they were seen as members of their Ajah, and entering another's quarters was not possible. They mistook their divisiveness as pride in their Ajah, and lost sight of the bigger picture.

And this makes sense. For one, these are women who have sequestered themselves. The Tower's past unity was less because of any genuine inter-Ajah cooperation and more because that was how things had always been and nothing had yet come to disturb the equilibrium.

For another, a lot of this was the Shadow's work. Much of the beginning pettiness and childish infighting was begun by Alviarin. That the Greens were recalcitrant to Egwene's pleas for peace is because their Ajah Head was birched for a minimal crime, and this crime was apparently ratted out by women from other Ajahs. Childish and silly as their actions are, they are hardly unexpected. When Egwene sits with Ferane, one of the sisters with the White Ajah head is Black! Entirely too often, I'm certain that the Blacks reported slights and fights with other Ajahs, strengthening the walls between them and rendering the sense of women like Saerin useless.

Egwene had two great advantages over these women. She was an outsider, who brought much needed perspective to the Tower's situation. She saw the finished product, a broken Tower. These women were caught up in the breaking, never realizing where things were headed.

Two, she had mobility between all Ajahs, something these women lacked. Which is why she could speak to Ferane one minute, then speak to Suana so as to arrange a meeting between them.

I think any of the Rebels (okay, the more sensible ones) would and could have done exactly the same in Egwene's place. Cadsuane would probably have been even more effective, her exasperation with the idiocy of the Tower sisters forcing her into unconventional acts that would have been just as effective.

These women did not need great wisdom and intelligence to guide them to the right path. Just fresh perspective. and Egwene provided that.

As for the Seanchan attack... Egwene did not defeat them. But she did save the Tower. But for her and her efforts, the Tower would have been unable to save many sisters. They were enitrely unprepared, and did not have Travelling, like Egwene did.

For that, women like Saerin admire her, and rightly so.