Who Is Clay York? A Builder of People, Teams, and Kingdom Impact
You can Google leadership advice and find a hundred gurus and frameworks. But if you’ve landed here, maybe what you're looking for isn’t more content, it’s more clarity. Maybe you’re tired of complexity, shallow advice, or leadership that doesn’t match real life. Same here.
I’m Clay York.
I’ve been married 28 years to my high school sweetheart. We’ve raised two grown kids and still have one great teenager at home. I love golf, working outdoors, and I’m a fitness enthusiast, partly because I believe how we care for our bodies impacts our ability to lead others well.
But more than any title, what I really love is calling greatness out of others. I believe most people are far more capable than they think. I believe leadership is a calling. And I believe our businesses, organizations, and teams are meant to be Kingdom outposts that reflect purpose, excellence, and compassion.
🔥 Why I Lead This Way
My leadership journey really took off at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. I had a leader and a co-worker, who saw something in me that I didn’t yet see in myself. They called out greatness, refused to lower the standard, and gave me a foundation I still build on today.
It was also the first time I really started to trust what the Word said, that I was called to make an impact. That I didn’t have to do it alone. The Holy Spirit has never misled me. I’ve learned to trust Him while also honoring the wisdom of great mentors. Both have helped shape the kind of leader I am today and I want to do the same for others.
💡 What Makes Me Different
People often ask what sets me apart from other coaches or consultants. For me, it's simple:
I’m practical. I’m real. And I make leadership feel natural, not theoretical.
The systems I teach work because they’re rooted in experience. I’ve led teams in healthcare, sales, operations, done business consulting and now run operations at an experiential marketing company. I’ve hired, fired, launched new divisions, and rebuilt broken ones. I've managed tight timelines and even tighter budgets. I know what it feels like to carry the weight of results and people.
More importantly, I care. I love building teams. I love helping someone see something new in themselves. I love guiding managers to become leaders who truly earn the trust of their teams and build a culture that lasts.
🙏 A Kingdom Lens
This is about more than just leadership performance. It’s about impacting the Kingdom.
Most churches today are full of believers and seekers. But the truly lost? The ones running from God or too hurt to show up on Sunday, they’re in the marketplace. That’s where I feel called to lead. That’s the battleground I want to show up on.
Jesus was a marketplace minister. So were His first followers. Being a pastor or full-time ministry leader isn’t more sacred than the call to build teams and steward people in business. Both matter. Both are sacred. And I believe leadership done right takes territory back for the Lord.
That’s why I started Leadership Made Simple. To make leadership real again. To give people tools that work. And to help those who lead carry the weight in a way that builds others.
📖 Life Verses That Shape Me
“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” – Luke 6:31
“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.” – Matthew 20:26