Spiritual Entrepreneurs Use Spiritual Assets to Achieve 'Flow' and Success

Fort Lauderdale, FL, May 2007 — In an article in the Journal of Human Values, the Rev. Ernest Chu, former investment banker and widely recognized expert on financing emerging growth companies, defines spiritual entrepreneurship and examines the processes and results typical of spiritual entrepreneurs' endeavors.

Entrepreneurs who put their "spiritual assets" to work become "spiritual entrepreneurs" and engage in "spiritual capitalism," suggests the Rev. Ernest D. Chu, a former investment banker, now assistant pastor at the Center for Spiritual Living in Fort Lauderdale.

In "Spiritual Capitalism: The Achievement of Flow in Entrepreneurial Enterprises," Chu also provides a roadmap for traditional entrepreneurs who want to become spiritual entrepreneurs. His article, published in the April 2007 edition of the Journal of Human Values, first was presented during the Academy of Management's annual meeting last August in Atlanta. Abstract and full-text versions of the article are available at Sage Journals Online.

Chu is the author of "Soul Currency: The Secret of Being Well Paid for Doing What Really Fulfills You," scheduled for publication in Fall 2008. He also is a business and life coach; the founding director of The Soul Currency Institute; and founder of Spirit at Work, the South Florida chapter of the international Association for Spirit at Work. In more than 35 years as an investment banker, corporate executive and entrepreneur, Chu has become a widely recognized expert on financing emerging growth companies. He has evaluated thousands of business proposals and advised hundreds of emerging companies, serving as leader and business coach to nine early stage companies, with five of those companies becoming public companies. He has created more than $1 billion in market value for his clients.

Although entrepreneurial success usually is attributed to astute financial management of economic capital, a "spiritual entrepreneur" also uses "spiritual capital" — his sources of inner guidance, to create both tangible and intangible value, says Chu. The soul's currency, or love, is characterized as a manifestation of flow in the entrepreneurial start-up process, which elicits spiritual congruence, harmonious relationships and personal fulfilment.

In his article, Chu shares his personal experiences as a Wall Street investment banker and entrepreneur and suggests methods of leveraging inner guidance and appropriately pursuing material abundance.

Participants during the Academy of Management session led by Chu discussed the demarcation between traditional and spiritual entrepreneurship. Exercises during the presentation demonstrated how to: (a) identify and value spiritual assets, (b) create spiritual capital, (c) mitigate inhibitors to flow, and (d) harness inner guidance.

More information about spiritual entrepreneurship is available from the Soul Currency Institute at www.soulcurrency.org.