Employee engagement

Employee engagement has become a bit of a management buzz word in recent years but the subject has also generated a fair degree of cynicism.

Here is a quotation from a recent posting on our management forum:
"We hold on to the illusion that we can motivate others. We can't. We can only motivate ourselves. When managers realise that what they can actually do is stimulate and influence others through the relationships they create, we will then get better and more effective management practice."

Do you agree? Or can you cite some positive examples of engagement programmes?