Incoming Lateral Associate Looking For Advice

I feel like I could benefit a lot from this community so any informed advice would be much appreciated

TLDR about my background is I went to a semi-target and was fortunate enough to go to a top-tier product group at a BB for two years and then MF for two years and then came back because I genuinely enjoyed banking more and MBA wasn't an option for me

Due to personal circumstances, I recently switched to a different firm at a different office and this is my first time being a "lone wolf" because: (i) when I started at MF, there were other incoming associates with me and (ii) when I came back to my IB job, people at the firm knew me already.

I am good friends with one of the VPs and he said that the culture is very intense and VPs are somewhat sharp-elbowed against one another given the office has very few spots for promotions

I have only been in a product group and this is my first time covering a whole new sector with a bunch of smart analysts who I don't want to step on their toes (personally hated it when I was an analyst), so any word of advice would be much appreciated