[wireties]

"My initial problem with this was that there had been no warning and no one had asked me to change my attitude or the way I dealt with my peers"

Wow, that is tough medicine! I wish it had not happened but perhaps it is a real-world lesson for you. I have been part of many teams where the leader's philosophy of team-building included letting people go till he/she ended up with the combinations of attitudes and skill-sets they required. In the real world, you don't always get asked to change your attitude. Sometimes you just get asked to leave. So next time you join a new team, be polite, productive and deferential till you get an idea of what the team leaders expect. There is something to be learned (sometimes hard to find) from everyone you meet.