The instructor of a leadership class at the University of Minnesota is 70 minutes into his lecture when he grabs a large red vase from the lectern to deliver a final point.
This isn't just any vase, he tells the 22 students in the room. It was a gift from his wife on their wedding day. A refurbished heirloom that has been in her family for more than a century, which they plan to pass on to their kids someday.
He clutches the vase as he discusses the fragility of leadership and how one mistake …
He tosses the vase into the air midsentence and watches it hit the floor, shattering into pieces.
A few students gasp, then stunned silence.
"Just like in leadership," he says, "it's fragile. One bad decision and it's broken."
P.J. Fleck starts smiling.
"Now, that is not Heather's vase," he says, drawing laughter. "It's from Target."