Generic Question Bank
What was your father like?
When you heard you were going to be a Dad, what were your first thoughts?
If you could do it all again, what would you do do differently?
You have grandchildren: do you see anything of yourself in the way that your kids are bringing up their own children?
Now you’re older, what do you want for your children? How has that changed over the years?
Did you experience much tension between the way you were raised and the way you felt you should raise your own kids?
Do you ever feel that your professional responsibilities and burdens caused you to miss key events or stages in your kids lives?
What habits did you try to foster that made you a presence in your children’s daily routines?
Any regrets?
What are you most proud of when it comes to being a father?

Ehud Olmert Interview

1. You grew up in a deeply political household — your father was a Knesset member, the family were founding Zionists with strong ideological convictions. 

• What were they like as parents 

• What was your relationship like to your brothers?

• How did growing up in this type of household influence what you expected being a parent would be like?

2. You were elected to the Knesset at 28 — one of the youngest members ever. At that age, did you even have a clear picture of what kind of father you wanted to be, or was that something that came later when the reality of children arrived? 

3. You have five children who grew up with a father who was simultaneously Mayor of Jerusalem and then Prime Minister of Israel — arguably two of the most intense jobs in the world. 

• How did you make room for being a parent if at all? 

• Were you able to be a present dad? 

• Give examples/stories of what you did with your kids while in office

4. When you were meeting with leaders of other countries did you guys ever speak about your kids/family? Tell me stories of what that was like…did it feel like honest discussions or was it mainly window dressing?

5. What was a typical day like at work and did you feel conflicted about all the time you spent on your job v. with your kids? 

6. Tell me about your kids and what life is like now v. when you were in office? 

7. Your father's last words were reportedly spoken in Mandarin Chinese — a reflection of an extraordinary, wandering family history before arriving in Israel. What story do you most want your own children and grandchildren to tell about you when you're gone?

8. You've lived the ultimate version of the CEO Dad paradox — the higher you climbed, the more consequential your decisions became, and the further those decisions took you from the dinner table. Looking back across your entire career, what's the one thing you got right as a father? And what's the one thing you'd change?

9. For the CEOs and ambitious fathers listening to this podcast — men who are in the thick of building something while also trying to raise children — what's the one lesson from your life that you wish someone had given you at 35?

10. What CEO or leader would you like to hear being interviewed about being a dad?