In a similar vein, I've argued in many a corporate meeting that there's no such thing as "empowerment".

People start out wanting to achieve things, change things to be better, do a good job.

The active issue is disempowerment, created by other people (usually but not always senior) within the organisation.

So the question isn't "how to empower people", but rather "how to prevent disempowerment of people".

This isn't always popular, as it shifts the focus and responsibility for different behaviour away from the disempowered rank and file, towards the dysfunctional leadership.