Ade Odunlade is a dedicated and enthusiastic professional. A qualified Health Care Leader with a wealth of clinical and operational management experience gained from working in a variety of senior positions over the last 25 years within the public and private sector.

He has contributed to a number of successful teams and thrive in challenging working conditions.

A self-disciplined, highly motivated and autonomous leader with a great team ethos. He approaches his portfolio with a high degree of integrity, responsibility, enthusiasm, compassion and commitment.

He is highly motivated to deliver clear outcomes and results for patients and staff.

Ade has a wealth of knowledge, experience and credibility in service management, strategic thinking and planning, service improvement, change management and organisation development. He has demonstrable track record of delivering measurable outcomes within a complex environment.

Ade is considered to be a good manager of people with an underlying philosophy of helping individuals to achieve and deliver high standard of work. He has a sense of responsibility in ensuring and safeguarding high standards by holding people to account and enabling staff to focus on patients’ needs with compassion and care.

Ade sees staff as a great asset to the organisation and have been actively involved in enhancing staff well-being developments.

He strives to make the whole patient and staff experience positive, outcome focus, rewarding, challenging and exciting; A member of Ade’s team tells me “our time together in conversation is always warm, comforting, supportive, and motivating despite the hectic working environment and service challenges.”

Staff are unconditionally respected and supported by Ade, and he always commit to being entirely present with people by active listening and treating people with dignity and respect.

Why is Black History Month important?

Black History Month is that time of the month that provides a fantastic opportunity for us to recognize the outstanding contributions people of African and Caribbean descent in our society. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the African diaspora. This year it has become even more relevant and important with the Black Lives Matter movement having been thrust back into the wider daily conversation, following the death of George Floyd in the US.

I do hope that these contributions are not just celebrated or highlighted for just the month but every day. The important of this serves to remind us of the need for an equitable, just and fairer society where we all coexist in peace and harmony and fully utilise the resources in our communities to have a thriving and viable society.

Advice you give as a mentor for other staff, especially BAME staff?

The advice I give my mentees and other staff is to live a life of service, to be compassionate to others and self, dedication to the organisation and society, commitment to self and organisations they work for, accountability to society and have a healthy balance and approach to life.

I ask my mentees not to be passive receivers but an active participant, honour commitments, expect support but don’t expect miracles without hard work, communicate clearly, assume responsibility for own development, be teachable and to listen to what is being said and not said especially how it is being said.