Finance: What Does It Offer Me?

Psychologists, even today, are arguing how much of our character comes from nature - that is the genetical and biological inplants - and how much of our behavior come from our nurture - the social environment that mold the way we think and act. My dad belongs to the latter part. Actually, he is not psychologist by schooling. His commonsense indicated to him that the latter was more sensible than the former. Neither am I a psychologist too. However, I also have some commonsense.

I beleive that every person is composed of both the nature and nurture. It is nature that gives the capacity; and the nurture (environment) that unleashes that ability or potential. It also can go other way round. Your environment can nourish your biological ability and therefore enable you to do things which you might not have been able to do.

Family is the first institution tabulating all the do's and donot's to the child's crystal-clear mental tablet; it is, quite often, the most influential institution of all times. One should not think that this is unhealthy. Family gives the child the rules of the social game. The child plays according to his tune. I also acknowledge the fact that there are some families that also dictate the tune, the tempo and every bit and piece of the game.

After family comes the school. The school is the first gateway that put the child in touch with the outer society and gives him/her the chance to explore his/her capacities in relation to his/her peers. S/he forms bonds with others who are not from her/his family. S/he spends lot of time with them, creating experiences with them. Eventually, these experience serve as what adults say, "the good old days." These same experiences are the anchors that will hold the peers together in situations that are more challenging and demanding than they are going through now.

From these experiences, they actually learn who, among her/his peers, to trust and who not to trust by observing and engaging in activities that may go without the notice of the adult eyes. In the future, they already know with whom they can rely on when situations become hard.

After the child grows, then he goes into different social settings where the socialization process continues. Everyday, man learns lessons regarding the social rule of the game. They learn what to say when you want to attract a girl; what to do to receive the attention of a girl who is in the midst of a crowd of men and women; how to endure embarrassments; how to prevent against intruders; how to say no to your boss; what to do when you in a funeral; and the list is endless.

Now comes the work setting. Every job affects your personality in a way or another. The fact that their mentalities as well as their lifestyles are set in a way cues us with all the hints we need to understand the kind of job someone was doing in the past, and what personalities they have acquired as a result. That is how we know Mr. Farah was a soldier prior his current salesmanship. More importantly, their behavior change to the way they were acting for that significant part of their lives. Anyway, that is what learning is all about: the permanent change of behavior.

Though I was indirectly involved in finance works, this was my first time I ever served as a finance officer. I have to admit. I am learning a lot from being a finance officer - I mean a lot to affect my personality as an individual and, of course, my course of life.

I have always hated being associated with money. I do not know why, but one was clear: I always believed that I did not belong to the world of money. All that I liked about money was consuming, not counting (or just add the word with the prefix ac to look more complex). That is when it made the most sense to me. Accounts, bank clerks, cashiers, and all those honorable people occupying positions directly involved in the management and accounting of money never became my role model however elegant they dressed.

Surprisingly enough, money and money-related jobs changed their dresses as I landed on this new job: Finance Officer. Money was hurting anymore! I do not know why, but my awkward feelings seem to vanish away instantly. One valuable lesson is to rethink about my prejudices, which I have plenty of them. I still do not know why I did not like accounting or finance jobs. I am still studying and let you as I finish that study.It is worth mentioning that above all these; there are advantages I am reaping from this maneuver. One of the great lessons this job offers me is that I have to give considerable attention to all the details that go into my job. In my earlier experiences, I was very much involved in leadership than management and therefore I used to map out the territory and it was upto the management to find their places inside. So delicate a job requires attention to every detail without losing the big picture.

There are many lessons I took during my studies at the university. I never had any work experience relating to accounting or finance. This job filled the void. I know now, from the bottom of my mind, what my accounting instructor meant when he was discussing the behavior implication of the budget, reconciling bank accounts, and supporting documents for strong internal control systems.Above all, my job also demands emotional expenditure against the successful conduct of the tasks involved. Disagreements between the accounting records are not confined to the books. They have strong emotional bearings. They bring about disagreements between my head and my heart - resulting headache, lack of sleep and the cycle goes on until the books reconcile.

Finally, I am very proud to be associated with the great men and women who are going for a noble cause, at least, in this Endeavour. Namely, the men and women at Somaliland National Electoral Commission, WSP International, the Academy for Peace and Development, and last but not the least, my team, the Somali Democratization Program Project Management Team. All these men and women pose a constant challenge for me to learn, and cooperate with me without spare.

I am grateful for you all.

Mukhtar H. Maidhane