The Personal Success Podcast with Ryan Watts
#184 - Dan Shapiro on Chess, Confidence, and Kids Who Don't Fit the Mold
Not every kid finds their confidence on a field, a stage, or a court. Dan Shapiro's son found his across sixty-four squares. Dan Shapiro has spent nearly three decades in the investment industry. When remote school arrived in 2020, he and his wife started noticing things in their younger son that were hard to watch. Distraction that would not lift. Not responding to his name. Walking in circles in his room. The family went looking for help and came back with a term Dan had never heard before: twice exceptional. Bright kids whose brains work differently, and who are very capable, but for whom it can be hard to get it all together. What followed was not a rescue plan. It was after-school chess club. In this conversation with Ryan, Dan explains why he wanted his son to have at least one thing he could be genuinely good at, the best in his immediate surroundings, and why chess turned out to be that thing. He walks through chess notation, the habit of writing down every decision you and your opponent make so you can review it afterward and improve, and he makes the case that if that were the only skill a kid took from the game, it would still be worth it. Dan also did something most parents skip. He started taking chess lessons himself, once a week, so his son would not have to love something alone. The conversation moves into blitz chess and pre-moving, where a player executes ten moves in a second because the outcome is already known, and Dan ties it to Sully Sullenberger landing in the Hudson in roughly the same span as a blitz game after a lifetime of preparation. It moves into a hard stretch at Nationals in Baltimore where his son lost two games in a row, knew the math had taken a medal off the table, went to bed early, and won the rest. It moves into a yo-yo, a three-week sleepaway camp, and a Foo Fighters cover sung in front of the whole camp after twenty hours of practice. And then Ryan turns it toward work. If a father can misjudge his own son's best use, what are the rest of us doing with the people we lead? Dan's answer is one line long: do not be afraid to move the pieces around. Dan's book, Decoding Genius: The Unexpected Lessons of After-School Chess Club , arrives in August 2026. In this episode 00:00 Meet Dan Shapiro 01:24 What remote school revealed 02:16 What "twice exceptional" means 03:51 Wrestling with the label 07:27 Why sports and music were not the fit 07:50 One thing they can be the best at 10:56 Chess notation, or how to review your own decisions 14:37 Memory as the raw material of creativity 16:58 Writing the book he wished he had 18:52 Blitz chess, pre-moving, and Sullenberger 22:47 Losing two in a row at Nationals 25:12 Yo-yo, camp, and a Foo Fighters cover 33:35 Flow, meditation, and a pre-move checklist 36:20 Genius made, not born 50:36 The leadership translation 52:45 The paper airplane talent show 56:30 Chess as the third option 59:29 Where to find the book About Dan Shapiro Dan Shapiro has worked in the investment industry for nearly three decades and has served as a volunteer and board member for many nonprofit organizations. He is a musician, home cook, wine collector, and vintage guitar collector. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. His book, Decoding Genius: The Unexpected Lessons of After-School Chess Club , draws on his son's experience in after-school chess club and on the history, players, and habits of mind that have made the game a training ground for fifteen hundred years. Early reviews have come from Kirkus Reviews and IndieReader. Connect with Dan Book and free parent companion: https://www.decodinggeniusbook.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/~dan-shapiro/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/decoding.genius/ Connect with Ryan Watts Website: https://www.ryanwattscoaching.com Podcast: https://www.ryanwattscoaching.com/thepersonalsuccesspodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanwattsmba YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ryanwattslifecoaching Have a story worth telling? Apply to be a guest on The Personal Success Podcast: https://www.ryanwattscoaching.com/podapp If this conversation was useful, follow The Personal Success Podcast so the next one finds you.
