In various ways, he shows polish (5)
I believe the answer is:
sheen
'polish' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'in various ways he' is the wordplay.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'various ways' becomes 'sen' (compass directions**).
'sen' placed around 'he' is 'SHEEN'.
'shows' is the link.
(Other definitions for sheen that I've seen before include "Glow" , "Polish" , "brilliance" , "actor?" , "Superficial brightness" .)