That's an excellent analysis of what happened. > you have not succeeded He failed [at political part of his job]. Why soften the blow? > Where did I screw up

That's an excellent analysis of what happened. > you have not succeeded He failed [at political part of his job]. Why soften the blow? > Where did I screw up that relationship? Exactly - that should be the focus. Change what you can change and do not focus to much on things that you can not change. > find a position with a very strong lead developer It's good to have a strong leader, but: 1) How do you recognize a strong leader? 2) In order to become a good leader yourself you still need practicing it. Just observing leadership in action is not enough.