The Spiritual Art of Business - by Barry L Rowan (Paperback)

About the Book

How do we bring meaning to our work, instead of being defined by what we do? "Corporate mystic" Barry Rowan invites us to see our work as a chance to serve God by contributing to a better society. With forty short chapters, this book beckons us into a connection with God that will infuse our lives, our offices, and our world with meaning.

Book Synopsis

How do we bring meaning to our work, instead of being defined by what we do? "Corporate mystic" Barry Rowan invites us to see our work as a chance to serve God by contributing to a better society. With forty short chapters, this book beckons us into a connection with God that will infuse our lives, our offices, and our world with meaning.

Review Quotes

"The Spiritual Art of Business can transform the way you think about your faith in the context of your work. Based on his own remarkable career, Barry's book takes you into the unvarnished crucible of the workplace-with all its gritty challenges, victories, setbacks, and difficult people-and shows you how your career can become a sacred and purposeful journey instead of just a daily and exhausting grind. Spend a few hours with Barry, and he will show you how God intends to repurpose you. The Spiritual Art of Business is a book that can transform the next few decades of your career."

"Barry Rowan's decades spent in senior leadership experience are set in a new light in The Spiritual Art of Business as he humbly calls Christians to a life of surrender and service. In laying down our personal desires and plans, we can pursue transformed lives, ones realigned with God's purpose."

"God has a purpose for us, explains the apostle Paul in Romans 8:28. In The Spiritual Art of Business, Barry Rowan uses his life as a perfect example of God purposefully using his work. The wonderful reflection questions at the end of every chapter allow readers to deeply examine their lives, especially relating to their work. I recommend this book to anyone in the workplace. It would especially be great for a small group or book club to go through together, then touch base periodically afterward. God does have a purpose for all of us in our work, in different ways and at different times, to be his light on earth."

"I have long admired how Barry Rowan integrates his commitment to God with his daily business practices. This book is a wise distillation of his learning, hard won over a wide-ranging career marked by both successes and failures. Through short and accessible chapters, Rowan encourages us to surrender our work to God, allow God to use our work to transform us, realign our work with God's purposes, and contribute to a better world through our work. This is a book to be read slowly, savored, and revisited over time."

"In The Spiritual Art of Business, Barry Rowan takes us on a forty-day journey of submission and renewal in Christ. A seasoned C-suite executive, Rowan has thought deeply about the theological and practical realities of God working through him in the marketplace. And in this study he takes us on a four-part journey of surrender, transformation, realignment, and fulfillment. It's a journey every Christ-follower in business should take, and Barry is a worthy guide and mentor in this important spiritual work."

"In a conversational style that feels like a fireside chat with an old friend, Barry Rowan has distilled his study of the Bible and decades of experience as a senior executive in The Spiritual Art of Business. Each chapter is a nugget of wisdom, and the reader will be rewarded for remembering the stories and taking seriously the questions that Barry poses."

"In this cogent debut, . . . Rowan's message of working in service of a higher purpose is well argued and grounded in a wealth of valuable, real-world experience. Christian professionals will be inspired."

"This is a truly helpful work, integrating deep spiritual lessons with the call to serve God and others in the business arena. The short chapters that conclude with penetrating reflection questions are perfect for creating space to do your own integrative work. It is both a blessing and a challenge!"

"Working through The Spiritual Art of Business is a thought-provoking, spiritually enriching endeavor that can transform our relationship with God and our work. Barry Rowan's short and practical chapters reflect his own deep wrestling with God about the meaning of his work and all the accompanying trials and rewards. He launches us into our own 'archaeological dig' into the feelings, beliefs, and habits that so often encumber our experience of work. Do a chapter each day, using the probing reflection questions at the end, and allow yourself to be drawn deeper into the freedom and adventure available through a life of following Christ."

About the Author

From a range of C-suite roles, Barry Rowan, a Harvard Business School graduate, has been instrumental in building and transforming eight businesses, primarily in the technology and communications space. In addition, he serves on corporate, university, and nonprofit boards. Rowan and his wife, Linda, have two adult sons and live in Denver.