Matthew Cossolotto Will Conduct "Power of a Promise" Seminar Program for Human Capital Institute

April 20, 2011 - PRLog -- Matthew Cossolotto (aka The Podium Pro) announced today that he has been invited by the Human Capital Institute, the global association for strategic talent management, to conduct a seminar program for the organization’s executive members titled:  “Beyond traditional goal-setting—Focus and align results with a promise.”

This HCI presentation is a return appearance for Cossolotto.  The author of HabitForce! and All The World’s A Podium, Cossolotto conducted two executive conversation programs last year for HCI.  One program was titled “Supercharge Your HabitForce!” and the other was called “Energize Your PodiumPower!”

In an online message to executive members, HCI issued the following announcement about Cossolotto’s April 29th program:

Beyond traditional goal-setting–Focus and align results with a promise
Making and keeping an important promise affects a leader personally as well as their followers. Stated in the form of a promise, an affirmation about attaining a goal helps to define a personal or organizational vision. Join our Executive Conversation to discover the power of making Personal Empowerment Promises (PEP) and put a “pep” talk in every promise. Share your promises with others and you’ll inspire your team, and align focus on results. All Executive Members who actively participate in the conversation will receive a signed copy of Matthew Cossolotto’s book, HabitForce! All Executive Members will also receive a copy of Matthew’s eBook, A Promise A Day – 30 Days to a Promising Future, in honor of “Make a Promise Day” on May 4th. Leaders, plan your promises now!

With his “A Promise A Day” eBook (available online by visiting http://www.ThePodiumPro.com), Cossolotto provides 30 personal empowerment promises for people to consider, including his “Top Ten Promises for a SUCCESSFUL Life.”  

Here’s a short video of Cossolotto announcing the publication of “A Promise A Day.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXEeMIlRTb4



Cossolotto, a former aide to House Speaker Jim Wright and Congressman (now CIA Director) Leon Panetta, referred to his brand new eBook as a daily “Promise Dairy” that contains 30 Personal Empowerment Promises – or PEPs. Because of that acronym, Cossolotto says there’s “a PEP talk in every promise.”

Cossolotto says that his HCI program about the power of making promises will draw heavily from his recent article in the April issue of Personal Excellence magazine titled “A Good Pep Talk.”  (Visit http://www.LeaderExcel.com).  In the article, Cossolotto highlights this key personal empowerment idea:  The most powerful motivational speech in the world is what you say to yourself, not just once in awhile but on a regular, habitual basis.

In the article, Cossolotto cites Earl Nightingale’s observation in The Strangest Secret: “We become what we think about.”  Then Cossolotto writes:

“This profound truth has been recognized for ages.  Buddha said, ‘All that we are is the result of what we have thought.  The mind is everything.  What we think we become.’  The same idea can be found in the Bible: ‘As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he’ (Proverbs 23.7).”

Thus his article and his new eBook both emphasize the importance of giving ourselves regular “pep talks” in the form of positive affirmations and even personal empowerment promises.

Cossolotto knows about the power of making a promise from personal experience. He made a promise to his mother on her deathbed that he would finish writing a book he had been discussing with her, get it published, and dedicate it to her memory. The resulting book, complete with Cossolotto’s dedication to his mother, is HabitForce! How to Kick the Habits of FAILURE and Adopt the Habits of SUCCESS.

Motivated by that firsthand experience, Cossolotto launched the first annual “Make A Promise Day” last May 4th as part of his ongoing mission to share the power of making a promise with millions of people around the world. He’s writing a book about the power of making a promise with a foreword by Jack Canfield, co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. The book includes stories about people who have made and kept important promises in their lives.

Here is a brief excerpt from Jack Canfield’s foreword to Cossolotto’s forthcoming book:
When Matthew first told me about the heartfelt promise he made to his mother and that he was launching a special day called “Make A Promise Day” on May 4th, I was hooked. You could say he had me at “I promise.”… Contributing the foreword to this book and being associated with Matthew’s inspiring “Make-A-Promise” project is totally aligned with my life’s purpose. http://www.JackCanfield.com  

On February 15, 2011, the Yorktown, NY, town board became the first jurisdiction to adopt a resolution proclaiming May 4th to be “Make A Promise Day.” (See press release for details: http://prlog.org/11305930.)

To underscore the power of making a promise, Cossolotto cites several high-profile examples:

• Oprah Winfrey made a promise to Nelson Mandela that she would build a school for girls in South Africa.
• Entertainer Danny Thomas made a promise to build a shrine to St. Jude.  That promise led to the establishment of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
• Nancy Brinker, author of Promise Me and founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, promised her sister and breast cancer victim Suzy that she would help find a cure.
• Before his daughter’s wedding, former president Bill Clinton made a promise to Chelsea that he would watch his diet and take care of his health.

Cossolotto invites people around the world to submit short summaries of their uplifting true stories of promises made and promises kept for possible inclusion in forthcoming books, presentations, and interviews. Send a few sentences describing your promise to: Matthew.Promises@Gmail.com.

About Human Capital Institute
Founded in 2005 by Chairman and CEO Michael Foster, HCI is the global association for talent management and new economy leadership, and a clearinghouse for best practices and new ideas. HCI’s network of expert practitioners, Fortune 1000 and Global 2000 corporations, government agencies, global consultants and business schools contribute a stream of constantly evolving information, the best of which is organized, analyzed and shared with members through HCI communities, research, education and events.  Visit http://www.hci.org.

# # #

About Matthew Cossolotto: Creator of “Make A Promise Day” (May 4th), Matthew Cossolotto (The Podium Pro) is an author, guest speaker, CEO-level speechwriter, and speech coach. A former aide to House Speaker Jim Wright and Congressman Leon Panetta, Matthew also served as a CEO speechwriter at MCI, Pepsi-Cola International, and GTE. The author of HabitForce! and All The World’s A Podium, he’s working on a new book with a foreword by Jack Canfield about the power of making a promise. Matthew brings his Personal Empowerment Programs — “PEPTalks”– to colleges, associations, and corporations. Visit http://www.ThePodiumPro.com; http://www.MakeAPromiseDay.com; http://www.MakeAPromiseDay.wordpress.com; Follow Matthew and “Make A Promise Day” on Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/MakeAPromiseDay. “Make A Promise Day” greeting cards and other exciting gift items are available for convenient online purchase by visiting Matthew’s Zazzle store: www.Zazzle.com/TheCoz.