Values that Pfizer and Delta CEOs draw on for great leadership

Times of crisis often reveal the character of leaders.

At Yahoo Finance’s Invest 2025 event, Pfizer (PFE) CEO Albert Bourla and Delta Air Lines (DAL) CEO Ed Bastian shared how their values have guided their decisions in turbulent times.

“I’m very optimistic,” said Bourla, who goes with a “nothing is impossible” mindset. “If there is something about me as a leader … it is my optimism.”

Bourla, whose tenure at Pfizer spans over 25 years, has led the drugmaker through the COVID-19 pandemic. He attributes his optimism to a deeply personal source: his mother, a Holocaust survivor.

“She was set in front of a firing squad … and she survived,” he said. “She would tell me, ‘You can make it.’ That’s what gave me most of my optimism.”

He added that it’s also important to be surrounded by those who are “not optimists so that they can land me to reality.”

Over the past year, Pfizer’s shares have dropped 5%, underperforming the S&P 500’s (^GSPC) roughly 15% gain as investors consider the company’s path in a post-pandemic environment.

For Ed Bastian, Delta’s CEO since 2016, sticking by your beliefs gives you a compass during turbulent times.

“Make sure you know what you stand for,” he said. “Make sure you know what your mission is, your purpose … compared to what you stand against, because you’re going to need to pull on all of those fibers when you get through crisis.”

Bastian, currently the longest-serving CEO for a major US airline, has navigated the pandemic and global economic shocks. He recalled a conversation with former Home Depot (HD) CEO and Delta board chair Frank Blake at the start of the pandemic.

Bastian noted that Blake expressed confidence that Delta would navigate the crisis successfully.

“Values will be revealed during [a] crisis,” he said, adding that it is extremely difficult to develop character once a “storm hits.” If those values are not clearly defined, a leader risks losing direction and stability, according to Bastian.

Over the past five years, Delta shares have climbed nearly 62%, though they still trail the S&P 500’s 89% rise. Shares hover around flat year to date.

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Most recently, Delta and other airlines have been forced to confront the fallout of a 43-day government shutdown — the longest in US history — which has prompted thousands of flight cancellations and staffing disruptions.

Bastian has described the shutdown as “incredibly disruptive to our customers,” noting that the company received “no advanced warning to be able to get people to different places.”