I’m looking for mentors. You should be looking, too. Mentors will provide knowledge and wisdom that I would otherwise have to learn the proverbial hard way.

I met two people this past week that I want on my team of mentors and already they are opening doors for me. All I did was ask them out to lunch and they agreed. I was surprised how easy it was. I was even more surprised at how willing they were to help someone that they had just met.

Making these first two connections has gotten me thinking about the types of mentors I want—the types of mentors I can learn the most from. And I think I’ve come up with the three types mentors I want on my team:

• Someone who has been highly successful at building several companies and who has made a lot of great connections along the way. Someone who can open doors for me and impart wisdom on how to build my own connections.

• Someone who is in a position I’d like to be in 5, 10, or 15 years. Someone who is willing to guide me on my career path and help me identify my strengths and weaknesses.

• A successful sales person. We’re all selling something even if we’re not in sales. This person will have a great deal of knowledge on how to immediately connect with people and how to move that connection into a closed deal that benefits you and them.

I’m certainly open to having folks with different backgrounds be on my team of mentors, but with at least one of each of the above types of mentors in my court, I believe I would have a great mix of learning opportunities open to me.

With all the help that I’m getting—or hoping to get, I have to wonder: what are my responsibilities as a mentee? I’ll have to think on that.