There is a lot of concern around the world about low employee engagement. We know that engaged employees do better work, do more work, and create a strong employment brand that decreases recruiting and retention costs. One response to engagement worries is to help make work more interesting, and to more carefully recruit employees who will be challenged by and excited about the work your organization does. Ideally, this helps them stay excited (and is cheaper than simply paying the highest wages in town).

But in addition to keeping your employees engaged, you need to think about leader engagement, too. Is it equally easy for their bosses to stay engaged? Short answer: no. Longer answer: Probably not.

Even though we hope our leaders are in those positions because they enjoy leadership, the reality is that leadership and management may not hold the same excitement as actually being in a front-line position position, especially in creative fields. Yes, leadership is very challenging, and can be very rewarding, especially when you see your employees doing great work and you know you contributed to that. For many people, though, being promoted to leadership positions took them out of a job they enjoyed and into one where they are doing a lot of administrative tasks and occasionally playing the part of the bad guy. Many leaders get into bureaucratic cycles when it comes to things like budgeting, performance appraisals, and other requirements, and too often one day can seem awfully similar to another.

So if you feel yourself falling into a rut, how to you get more energized about what you are doing?

First, focus on what you DO enjoy about leading. Rather than complaining about the less-than-fun tasks, keep the good parts front and center in your mind. Whether you are mentoring someone, or publicly recognizing someone’s work, or helping wrap up some successful projects, there should always be good things about your job that you can emphasize.

Speaking of mentoring, look at that as an opportunity. While it is probably better not to mentor someone who reports to you (it’s awkward when they complain to their mentor about their boss, and they are one and the same!), if your company is big enough you can probably find someone with whom you can work in a mentoring relationship.

Consider your own professional development. One of the things that gives your employees such a rush is the opportunity to improve their skills and do something new; why don’t you do the same? Whether it’s taking classes, attending a seminar or two, or getting into professional reading, find something that will help you be better at your job and then challenge yourself to put it to use.

One thing you want to avoid doing is getting in your employees’ way. Don’t go back to being “one of the boys” and trying to insert yourself into their work. They have their jobs, you have yours. Yes, you need to know what they are doing (and to a certain extent, go ahead and live vicariously through them if you need to), but that does not mean you should do it along with them.

Leaders are visible to everyone and the example you provide will set the tone for your employees. If you seem disengaged, they are likely to spend time wondering why that is rather than focusing on their work, or maybe they will just lose interest themselves. If, on the other hand, you stay positive about the work you do, you will encourage them to do the same.

And if you don’t have any interest in being engaged – if, instead, you are only in it for the paycheck – it will show, through your employees’ performance as well as your own.