Anonymous wrote:I’m in sales and have amazing relationships with my clients but not so much the other people on my team. We’re cordial but I’m not close friends with them and it’s starting to impact the opportunities I’m getting.
We have some cultural differences, I’m the same age and Christian conservative and went to college in the south and married young (but I hate Trump) and they’re all super left leaning. But I’m committed to making this better even if it means changing my communication style or the way I dress.
Why do you need to be close friends with your coworkers? How exactly is it impacting opportunities? And how would changing how you dress change anything? Is there a problem with your communication style?
In general, trying to change who you genuinely are to please other people is not a healthy strategy, personally or professionally. And if you are doing it to increase sales opportunities, your coworkers will be able to see that from a mile away.
Remain kind, respectful, and be a team player. Even with the best of intentions and efforts, if you all as a team can't leave politics and religion at the office door, this may not be the best fit for you in the long term.