I'm at a company that's downsizing, and my boss says the only way I could stay is if I took a demotion in title and pay grade, meaning my future pay advances would be limited even though my current salary would stay the same. I want to stay but I don't want to accept a demotion in status. What should I do?

Most people are crushed in terms of what a demotion says about them personally, but you need to get past that and figure out if there's still an opportunity at your company for you, particularly given the current hiring environment. If your analysis of this new position—and your company's overall prospects for growth once it restructures—are weak, and you have other options, then you should probably look to go elsewhere. But if you feel like you could still do well in the new company and that the changes will make the firm stronger, you might want to think about accepting the demotion.

I once advised an executive at a health-care company who was asked to go from being a vice president at his company to a senior director for cost-cutting reasons. He was conflicted about taking it and resisted, trying to argue with his bosses why his role demanded a V.P.-level position. His arguments fell on deaf ears, though, and he had to figure out whether to accept the demotion or leave.  

I helped him evaluate the situation and saw that his human resources function there had a lot of potential to expand into several areas in the company that he hadn't gotten involved with before. And especially since his company was cutting back, he knew that they'd be looking for the remaining folks to be even more productive. He accepted the demotion, but over time was able to expand his role to the point that 18 months later, he had his old position as vice president restored.

If you look at your situation as a baseball game, sure, you may be down by a few runs now, but you've got another inning to play and you just have to come out and keep scoring. But focus on where you can continue to build new relationships and get in position to move forward again.

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Dr. Ron Brown is a leading expert in the fields of leadership development and organizational change. He is the founder and president of Banks Brown, a management-consulting firm that specializes in providing skills to optimize the performance of leaders and organizations. He can be reached at rbrown@banksbrown.com or 415-788-5444. Questions for Power Plays can be submitted on this page.