For the past month, ganging up on Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit has been, apparently, the fashionable thing to do if you’re a member of the mainstream press (see this latest Pandit profile out in today’s Wall Street Journal). But we suspect the 51-year-old ex-professor still has a trick or two up his well-tailored sleeve. Why this Friday is being seen as his definitive coming-out party, as he attempts to defend his sprawling empire against a break-up.

Even executives who praise his cautious, deliberative approach express concern Mr. Pandit is taking too long to make decisions. He has earned high marks for quickly addressing the most pressing financial issues. Still, executives and investors alike complain that Mr. Pandit hasn't articulated his vision for the company. Some executives also say they are stuck in holding patterns awaiting instructions from his team on decisions that previously wouldn't have attracted such high-level attention.

"At a time like this, you really want people marching shoulder-to-shoulder with you," says Sanford Weill, the former CEO who engineered the 1998 merger that created the Citigroup behemoth that Mr. Pandit is still wrestling with today. Mr. Weill, who supports Mr. Pandit, has urged him to use the bully pulpit of his job to boost morale and reassure investors.

"The leader needs to relate to the people," says Mr. Weill. "They need to know who they're following."

Some of Mr. Pandit's biggest changes have stirred controversy. For instance, an executive shakeup in late March resulted in a complex new chain of command: Some executives now have two or more bosses, sometimes located thousands of miles apart.

"Where does the decision-making lie?" Sallie Krawcheck, who runs Citigroup's wealth-management business, asked Mr. Pandit at a meeting of top executives, according to people familiar with the matter. She expressed concern that the new structure could cause "paralysis."

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