Northern city shows the way, I hear (5)
I believe the answer is:
leeds
'northern city' is the definition.
'shows the way i hear' is the wordplay.
'shows the way' becomes 'leads'.
'i hear' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'leads' is a homophone of 'LEEDS'.
(Other definitions for leeds that I've seen before include "British city and premier division football club" , "22 [FA CUP] runners-up" , "City of northern England - castle of southern England" , "City on River Aire" , "Championship team" .)