Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser learned two distinct leadership rules from legendary investor Warren Buffett: she could always wait until tomorrow to address a difficult person, and she should always criticize by category while praising by name. Fraser shared the advice during a February appearance at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, detailing how the former Berkshire Hathaway head influenced her management style at the helm of a major Wall Street institution.
Buffett’s Two Rules That Shaped Citigroup’s CEO
The guidance proved essential during a period when an activist investor targeted Citigroup, prompting Fraser to move past her initial hostile reaction and practice empathy to gain a strategic competitive edge. Fraser has spent her entire career working her way up the banking world, starting as a mergers and acquisitions analyst in 1988 after graduating from the University of Cambridge, earning an MBA at Harvard Business School, and spending a decade at McKinsey before joining Citi in 2004 and becoming CEO in 2021.
Buffett’s Frameworks for Handling Workplace Conflict
Buffett offered Fraser specific frameworks for handling tense workplace situations and managing interpersonal friction.
- Delay Retaliation: Buffett advised Fraser that she could always call someone an "a–hole tomorrow," a mindset designed to prevent managers from firing off angry emails in the heat of the moment.
- Targeted Feedback: Buffett taught that leaders should praise individual employees by name for good work, but avoid singling out individuals by name when something goes wrong.
Fraser noted that criticizing someone directly by name in a failure scenario always generates long-term regret. Applying Buffett’s underlying mantra meant adhering to a simple operational standard: avoiding abusive behavior toward colleagues.
Rooting Out Toxic Culture During Restructuring
During Citigroup’s multiyear restructuring under Fraser’s leadership, removing toxic employees became a core organizational priority. Fraser observed that good people trapped in a bad culture revert to positive performance once the toxic elements are cleared out, whereas chronically disruptive individuals drain institutional energy.
This corporate focus on professional attitude intersects with broader workplace trends among younger employees entering traditional business environments. Approximately 6 out of 10 companies have already dismissed young Gen Z hires due to deficiencies in organization, communication, and basic professional norms.
Corporate Leaders Echo the Power of Personal Attitude
Other prominent corporate leaders echo Fraser’s emphasis on mindset as a primary driver of career trajectory. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy noted in a conversation with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky that an embarrassing amount of early career success depends directly on personal attitude.
Former Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach offered a similar assessment regarding professional altitude and daily conduct.
Eschenbach on Altitude, Attitude, and Daily Conduct
"The attitude that you bring to the office—and to your employees, your peers, and the people you serve alongside every day—is what ultimately will determine a lot of your success," Eschenbach said on McKinsey’s Inside the Strategy Room podcast. "I often say your altitude in life is completely determined by your attitude in life."
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