Sitting in coach, on American Airlines flight 37 from Zurich to DFW, waiting for the plane to depart, I find myself struggling to put the last 12 months that I've spent living in Hungary into perspective. Am I sad about leaving, happy about going home, satisfied with what I was able to accomplish, torn over what I didn't get a chance to finish, or somewhere in between?

In order to come up with the answer, I spent a few minutes reflecting on the sequence of events that got me here in the first place. It all started about one-and-a-half years ago, when the head of our Hungarian procurement organization announced that she was pregnant and scheduled to have twins in the winter of 2006. This was a huge announcement for a couple reasons. First, Hungarian labor laws provide new mothers the incentive to take extended time off after giving birth, with pay. This typically translates into an average maternity leave of one to two years. Second, at the time of her announcement, we were on a steep growth curve at that facility and did not have a designated back-up or succession plan in place. So, literally overnight we were faced with the reality of needing to replace our most senior and experienced procurement resource, at our fastest growing location in about two months.

Naturally, we proceeded to schedule video conferences, teleconferences, Web conferences and any other type of conference sessions that were out there, all in an effort to come up with a list of viable options. After much deliberation and developing several lists of multiple options, the ideal answer for the organization was for me to head to Hungary and run that organization.

It made perfect sense for me to lead one of my organizations in a different geography, find and mentor a successor for our Hungarian procurement manager and customize our rapidly growing European supply base, while still continuing to map our global processes. I headed for Debrecen, Hungary in September 2006.

Over the last year, my biggest take-away wasn't the 50 Hungarian words I picked up along the way, the countless relationships I established, or the supply chain processes that we put in place. Instead, it was something that I picked up that I didn't even know was missing—inspiration. There's a whole world out there, outside of your normal day-to-day job that's waiting for you. You just need to find that something that makes you get up out of your chair, poke your head out of your cube and realize that there's something more. I'm not saying you need to take the next overseas assignment that comes up to be inspired. What I am saying is that sometimes we get stuck in a routine and that on occasion there might be a need for a little something different to keep you fresh and motivated in your profession or career. For some, it might be as simple as a cube swap, a new project or a promotion. For others, it might be a new boss or a job at a different company. And for a select few, like me, it might be a job across the pond managing a great group of individuals, while being away from your family for a short amount of time. Whatever it is that motivates or inspires you in this profession, I'd encourage you to seek out and find that opportunity, even if it comes disguised in the form of twins, 5,909 miles away. Your organization will thank you, your profession will thank you and when you're through, you'll thank yourself.

Author Information Mirelez recently left National Instruments and now is senior director of subcontracts with Rockwell Collins.