Meet Tony Alessandra | Professional Speaker & Founder of Assessments24x7.com

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tony Alessandra and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tony, as a parent, what have you done for you children that you feel has had the most significant impact?
Going the Extra…Inch!

I was very fortunate early in life because my mother always instilled in me the desire and the passion to constantly improve myself, but not necessarily by leaps and bounds. Over the years, I’ve been a self-improvement junkie always trying to be better and better in whatever it is I do. My mother had this saying that was a little unusual. She always told me to go the extra… inch. Now I know it’s supposed to say the extra mile. I used to correct my mother and say… you know it’s the extra mile.

She said no – a mile is too far and too hard. She told me to go the extra inch. She told me to improve myself one little inch every single day – just a little bit in every aspect of my life; whether it was physically to do an extra you know repetition of an exercise; whether it was mentally to read one more page of a book or to learn one more word; whether it was socially to give one more compliment to people than I did the day before; whether it was financially to learn something about making money or saving money or investing money.

As a parent of four kids, I took the lessons of my mother and taught those to my kids – go the extra inch. Never be satisfied with where you are. Always look for ways to improve yourself – one inch at a time. If you go enough extra inches, you’ll eventually go the extra mile.

What should our readers know about your business?
Assessments 24×7 was founded by me, Dr. Tony Alessandra, and Brandon Parker. Separated by 30 years of life experience, the New Yorker got paired up with the California kid. This unlikely match was a result of a wrong turn, a random airline flight, sitting next to the right person, the confidence of a 22-year-old junior programmer and my intuition to trust. I had a vision and Brandon had the technical skills. This was the recipe for the beginning days of Assessments 24×7 over two decades ago.

With that said, my history in the assessment industry goes way back. From many years of studying the field of communication and persuasion, I developed The Platinum Rule®. Its goal is personal chemistry and productive relationships. Respect for others goes beyond the Golden Rule “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” However, when it comes to one-to-one communication—whether it is simple conversation with family and friends, a sales situation, customer service, managing, motivating, counseling, coaching employees—the Golden Rule can backfire. The reason is that not everybody wants to be treated the same exact way as you do. The world today is all about diversity—gender diversity, generational diversity, such as Gen X, Gen Y, Baby Boomers, personality diversity, such as outgoing, shy, right-brained, left-brained, ethnic diversity, religious diversity, racial diversity, etc.

The Platinum Rule, “Do unto others as they want done unto them,” helps us avoid the possible conflicts the Golden Rule could unintentionally set up. In other words, treat people the way that they want and need to be treated. It’s no different than that age-old saying, “When in Rome, do as the Romans.”

When I went into professional speaking, one of his biggest frustrations was how to change people’s behavior in a one-hour speech. I could motivate them, I could give them a tip here or there, but when I left (considering education theory and brain theory), within two weeks they’ve lost probably at least 75 percent of what I’d taught them.

I have always been looking for ways to make education and learning stick. That’s how and why I developed, with Brandon, the DISC Virtual Training Program and Assessments24x7.com. Learning mastery is the ability to remember, recall, and effectively use the material you’ve learned. A lot of e-learning programs simply have people go through it, and as long as they can pass a test at the end, they’re happy. But a week or two later, could they pass that test again?

Our Assessments24x7.com platform has over twenty-five different assessments that measure everything from behavioral, thinking, and learning styles to emotional intelligence and company culture.

Back to the inception of Assessments 24×7. The initial meetings revolved around website updates and general brainstorming. One day I expressed my desire to bring my Platinum Rule paper assessment into the world of the internet. Brandon had recently been involved in developing online software for a healthcare company and presented the path to accomplish the goals.

Round one of the software was just that, the Platinum Rule online assessment. At that time, very few comparisons were available. There weren’t many competitors to analyze or guidelines to follow. The two of us used our unique experiences and intuition to produce a software system that gained so much traction, there was no looking back.

Over the years, the system has undergone countless improvements. Hundreds of assessments have been programmed with thousands of clients around the world using Assessments 24×7 as their assessment technology platform. Millions of lives have been impacted.

Beyond the technology component of Assessments 24×7, our company grew to encompass a broader umbrella of services to support our customers and technology. We built our certification and training department, developed marketing platforms and best practices for our clients, created a complete white label environment to give our clients the ability to brand and promote assessment products and services as if they were their own. You can read more about our services all throughout the website, www.Assessments24x7.com, but the point is, we never stop and always have identified what our clients need so they can be successful.

You can only imagine all the stories that could be told over these years— the countless tradeshows, phone conversations, negotiations, learning opportunities, difficult decisions, conferences, life-changing moments, etc. The one thing that has always stayed solid is the bond created by me and Brandon. It has been one of the great stories in business. The company has become one of the top assessment providers and platforms in the industry. We employ people across the US and cover all the needs in the assessment, training, hiring and selection environments.

Throughout this journey we have created a foundation of always putting the customers first, going the extra mile, and making a difference. We greatly appreciate everyone involved and are thankful for each opportunity.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There are several places I’d take them to visit in San Diego.

The key places are the world-famous San DIego Zoo & WIld Animal Park. Then there’s Sea World, Legoland & Sesame Place for kids.

The beaches in San Diego are great – La Jolla Shores, Del Mar, Coronado, Mission Beach, etc.

I’d go to La Jolla to watch the seals at the Children’s Pool Beach.

We’d visit the Hotel Del Coronado – San Diego’s Legendary Beach Resort.

For restaurants, we’d go to lunch at El Indio for Mexican food, Italian dinner at Manhattan’s of La Jolla, Top of the Market for seafood, and Truluck’s or Eddie V’s in La Jolla for steaks & seafood. There are so many good restaurants in San DIego.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My mentors.

David Schwartz, Bill Gove, and Jim Cathcart (who was my business partner for several years in the early 1980s), played significant roles in my career. David Schwartz was the one who opened my eyes to professional speaking. Prior to that, I didn’t even know that one could make a career by speaking professionally.

Bill Gove helped shape my speaking style – which has become one of my true differentiating factors … my unique competitive edge in the marketplace. I recall something Bill told me back in 1982. “Bill Gove pulled me to the side and told me that my presenting style was too ‘professorial.’” “He taught me to let more of my New York City, playful, Italian background come out in my speaking. That was a pivotal moment. When I started to let that happen, it was a turbo-charge to my career and the development of my character. I was not sure what my style was before that time, but now it’s very distinct. People know me as the New York Italian…the guy that’s in your face…not in a confrontational way, but a friendly, playful way”.

Jim Cathcart worked with me on the speaking business in general…understanding it, approaching it in a professional way, especially in the preparation phases of speaking – from planning my speeches in advance, to doing extensive audio/visual/staging checks, to doing an extensive post-speech analysis for continuous self-improvement.

These people were significant mentors for me. They helped shape who I am today and how I am perceived in the business world today.

Website: www.Assessments24x7.com

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