When you next walk into a shop, eyeball the owner and work out what's going on in their head. Do they see you as a browser come to mess up the shelves or a bargain hunter, who might buy a sale item, or a potential long-term customer, with a lifetime revenue-stream attached? If smart, it will be the latter - and, they'll seek to build your trust and loyalty. That's bankable. In this vein, how do you view your leadership? A responsibility distracting you from your real work, the price for having been successful or perhaps a chance to make a difference and help others? More mundanely, have you calculated the financial payoff? But whatever your motivation, think about your leadership not in terms of today's annoyance or immediate benefits. Like a shop-owner, think of building loyalty in others and thus enhancing long-term value across your career. Here are some thoughts on how.

Let's start with a few numbers. Imagine a 40-year career with a starting salary of $75,000 and a final one (and let's be ambitious) of, say, $450,000. Let's assume a linear progression and that you're in a leadership role at most stages - and that this commands a 20% pay premium. That suggests a career leadership dividend of perhaps $2 million. A good payoff and it doesn't begin to take account of psychic rewards of job satisfaction or having helped others. If I were the shopkeeper of your career, I'd give this leadership stuff more shelf space!

So, what's the secret of leadership success? In some ways, it's not unlike running a good shop. Make it look inviting. Ensure its opens when it says it will be. That the person inside is attentive, knowledgeable and responsive. Make sure people can trust what you offer: that, like a good product, you're fit-for-purpose and true to label. You're certainly biodegradable!

The foregoing addresses both technical and interpersonal issues of leading and shop keeping. And, much is relatively simple. You don't have to be a genius to help and gain trust from others. And, the little things (like timeliness and efficiency) count. As Woody Allen so wonderfully expressed it: 80% of life is showing up. Be the shop that gets and delivers goods when it says it will: the leader, who follows through on his or her promises.

If you want to be a successful leader, take a long-term view. Hone your skills and be open to feedback. Above all, make a plan of the leadership actions you're going to take. This forces you to think through what's needed. And the place to start is working out what concerns are holding your people back. It's not about theory or abstruse reckoning, just that simple question: what's holding my people back? They are your shoppers - and yes, sometimes you'll feel that dealing with them is mostly about restacking the shelves. But, unless you can understand and address their needs (both large and small), they won't buy your nice-sounding bargains let alone sign up as your loyal leadership customers.