Dee Raviv: Leadership Rooted in Kindness and Cultural Awareness

Dee Raviv’s career spans continents and industries—from Israel to the United States, from finance to healthcare to executive coaching. What connects every chapter is her belief that kindness should be a baseline in business, not an afterthought. For Dee, it is about humanized relationships versus transactional ones.

Dee was born and raised in Israel and served as a lieutenant in the Israeli navy before coming to the U.S. Originally intending to travel, she ended up staying. Her career began at American Express and later transitioned into healthcare leadership, where she held roles across analytics, operations, HR, and business development. After relocating to Florida four years ago, she shifted her focus to coaching and career development. Today, she brings decades of experience to her work as an executive coach, business consultant, and board member.

In our conversation, Dee emphasized the importance of humanizing interactions. Kindness, she said, “is like saying thank you and please—it is the default.” But in corporate environments, those basics are often forgotten. She described the difference between transactional leadership and relationships built on genuine curiosity and care. When people feel seen as more than their roles, the quality of the relationship—and the outcomes—change.

One important lesson from her time in healthcare came through working with physicians. “I think the way they treat patients and the way that they treat their staff talks a lot about who they are.” While some led with ego, others modeled humility and stood up for their teams. She described physicians who made personal sacrifices for staff—building loyalty and trust in high-pressure environments. For Dee, this is what effective leadership looks like: clear priorities, deep relationships, and consistency in values.

Cultural awareness is also central to how Dee thinks about kindness. In Israel, she explained, warmth and immediacy are the norm. People meet, connect, and share quickly. In contrast, American corporate culture is more formal and distant. “In the U.S.,” she said, “it takes longer to build relationships. It’s a slower peel.” Her approach—both as a coach and a leader—is to meet people where they are and never assume that distance implies disinterest.

Dee also reflected on modern workplace expectations that often blur boundaries—such as 5 a.m. messages or weekend texts. While she believes lasting culture change must come from leadership, she also sees value in setting personal and team-level boundaries. “You can tell people, ‘I do not communicate on weekends,’” she said. “But in large organizations, it is hard to shift these patterns without top-down support.”

Dee genuinely cares about people and relationships and focuses on making a meaningful impact in others’ lives. When discussing kindness as a cultural value, she noted the importance of treating people beyond their title or what you might gain from them.

“It’s about building real deep connection, not because you need to, but because you're really curious and care about other people.”

Dee Raviv is an executive coach and consultant who brings clarity, experience, and care into every professional setting. Keep an eye out for more interviews.