On a recent episode of Fortune’s “Leadership Next” podcast, co-host Alan Murray talked to Ken Frazier, former CEO of Merck on the importance of sticking to your principles as a business leader.

In the interview, Frazier explained why he left former U.S. President Donald Trump’s presidential advisory council and other challenging decisions he had to make while the leader of the pharmaceutical company.

He also discussed starting the OneTen Coalition after the murder of George Floyd and his current role as chairman of health assurance initiatives at General Catalyst.

On his time at Merck, Frazier said, “You know, the industry does a lot of great good for a lot of people. I think COVID is an incredible example of that. But I think the challenge is, and it’s not just true for the pharmaceutical industry, as we begin to have this concept that CEOs have a responsibility to maximize returns to shareholders, we sometimes miss the fact that we also have other stakeholders that we have to think about, right?”

He added, “And I don’t think it’s at all inconsistent or, or wrong to think about driving value for shareholders and also driving value, for example, for patients, if you’re in the pharmaceutical industry.”

Read the full interview with Ken Frazier, former Merck CEO in Fortune.

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