Wow, thanks a lot! I agree that I handled the situation very badly. The articles you refer to are exactly the guidance I had needed to learn the lesson less harshly. Sometimes I got advice from senior folk about how to navigate a workplace, other times I played by the ear.

When I was working in an office environment, not from home, I often could ask around for advice, get a hint about approaches to different people. It was more of a challenge when remote only.