- From the first week I could see the established groups, and if you were not already in one of them, you were not part of what actually mattered
- Information and opportunities seemed to flow only through certain people who had each other's trust, and breaking into that circle was not happening
- The real work and decisions happened in conversations I was never invited to join, while I did the tasks I was assigned with no context about the bigger picture
- People in the inner circle had pathways to grow and learn that everyone else simply did not have access to, regardless of actual capability
- Management decisions from above seemed to reward people who were already well-connected to each other, not people who showed up and worked hard