Employee engagement frightens many leaders, not the least of which is because many leaders still cling to the illusion that life is command and control or apathy and entropy.
The reality is rather simple. It's easy to fear the unknown. Until we teach leaders how genuine engagement works, they will naturally fear and resist it, and it's incredible benefits to the whole.
I prefer to talk about engagement as the ability to decide together how organizations work. This optimally engages people's strengths and passions. Unsurprisingly, engaged people outperform disengaged people.