How many times a week do you ask yourself the question, "What is the worse thing that could possibly happen?" And how many times is your answer, "Someone could die."

Living in this extravagantly developed country, we become conditioned by a much different set of answers to our worse case scenarios than people who live in the majority of places in the world. If you don't get to work on time, perhaps the worst case scenario is that you will get written up. If you don't get to lunch on time, which generally represents one of the three times you will eat in a given day, you might feel rushed or have to eat a snack on your break.

In Third World countries—those that are developing outside the support of capitalist or communist bloc governments—the story is quite different. The worst case scenario of being late to work might be that you are fired or that you are physically punished. You likely never have had a "lunch break" and the thought of eating more than one meal a day would be entirely foreign to you. And the worst case scenario that is part of many of your days would involve death, either for you or your family. If no rain comes, you might starve; if you can't make it to a refugee camp or other place of sanctuary, the men in your family will be killed by brutal forces and the women and girls, raped. If you don't make it to the road in time to get rice and milk from the humanitarian relief truck, your children will go hungry...again. The thought of it makes our daily existence seem egregiously simple.
Worst case scenario analysis may be just the reality reference you need to get through times when you feel paralyzed by fear or indecision. Sometimes, if you can stop and ask yourself, "what's the worst thing that could happen," you will find you are empowered to move on and lead beyond that bad moment. Even if the worst case is "I will lose my job," the good news is, in this incredible country of ours, that doesn't equate with death. People are losing their homes—often homes with more than one bathroom—my friends in Honduras can't begin to imagine that much indoor plumbing! People move in with relatives and into shelters. I don't mean to imply that isn't difficult. I wouldn't want to exchange my comfortable bed for a cot in a shelter.  But the thing we lose sight of in "times like these" is that we are an abundantly blessed people and we do get by.

If you're worried and at the end of your rope, let go. You will be lifted up. If you're comfortable and secure, perhaps even successful—go contribute to one of our society's safety nets. Food banks, homeless shelters and relief agencies need community support more than ever. And you are the community.

The group above is part of the community of the village of San Pedro la Sequia in Olancho, Honduras. In 2005, I accompanied a group that brought the villagers the first latrines (pictured above right) and cement floors to their homes. They still had no running water, but they were so grateful for the improvements our resources made available.

From a business perspective, the worst case scenario may be that you risk losing credibility if you fail, or you fear people will be less likely to follow you next time. We will address this later in the week as I think leading with confidence and consideration are two qualities that are extremely important and also in short supply.

For now, consider your worse case scenario, celebrate it and move on in spite of it. I hope you find yourself skimming past the worst could happen with full sails. But if you don't. I, and others like me, will be there to catch you. That's the scenario of goodness and community. That's the scenario born of love.