For almost 5 years I was a Supervisor in a fast paced manufacturing facility. I was in charge of the Warehouse end of things, Shipping, Receiving, etc. It was a stressful nightmare to say the least. The reason I'm telling you this is because I have a lot of experience in trying to deal professionally with a lot of different personalities and levels of power.

I struggled, I will make no bones about it. Most of the time I didn't have many problems. But sometimes it was a nightmare. I knew there were a lot of murmurings in the background regarding me, and frankly, I didn't care. I live in a very small community, one in which everyone knows everyone's business, both inside and outside of work. Eventually the fact that I was bipolar became pretty well known. Once I realized the word was out I didn't hide it. I didn't promote it openly but I didn't deny it, either. In time I ended up losing my job and I can say with a fair amount of certainty it had almost everything to do with my condition. I know this isn't what you may want to hear but I'm telling you the truth.

If I had it all to do over again I would say less. I would still have provided input when it was needed and spoken when it was required but otherwise I would have said nothing. The more honest, caring, and open I was the worse things got.

It appears you are struggling with your coworkers due to the new company taking over. Take a breath, take a step back, and really analyze what is taking place. Most importantly, think about what people are interpreting, not necessarily what you are saying or doing. Perception is everything. America wants to pride itself on being a beacon for showing the world the proper way to run a business. Unfortunately, what America really wants is to appear like we have business acumen. We don't want reality. You have to fit into the mirage.