belive me, I totally understand your pain.

But you did say before that you are not good at socializing with sr people. If you can't get over this, you will never be that "face". Competent in technical skills would not help you much if you can't socialize with your sr management. It is definitely not a comfort zone for me too and I know as a fact that white male folks can have the same problem (they certainly have better opportunities for sure). It is a question of personality instead of race or gender. If you realize this, you can step out of your comfort zone and really develop yourself.