Hoffman graduate leaders are the front line for community after the Process. They are volunteers who help keep the Process alive for everyone who attends a graduate group.
How does one become a Hoffman grad group leader? First one has to be interested in working with other graduates in order to help maintain the connection and learning present during the Process. Everyone who is interested in leading is vetted by the Hoffman Institute, which is done by a Hoffman teacher and the CEO. Then they undergo a training program in which the soon-to-be leader is taught visioning techniques, leadership abilities, a tools and practices review, and the overall care and feeding of a successful grad group. The Institute provides all materials for graduate groups, as well as support and guidance. More information about graduate groups can be found here.
Below is a snapshot from one of our graduate leaders in Colorado, Sam Placette. Enjoy!
Why Do You Like to Lead?
Leading is an opportunity to contribute to my community of Hoffman grads, to create an opportunity for sharing, healing, and vibrancy for participants. Whenever a community member shares a triumph over the past, we all gain. Leading a group creates a space for a new and touching expression in the world that was not there before.
Why Are You One of the Hoffman Graduate Leaders?
As someone who has not led groups like these before, leading a graduate group is a terrific way for me to trigger and overcome patterns that get in the way of connecting with others. Working with the tools and practices of the Hoffman Process in real time during a meeting, as a leader, allows me to access my spiritual self in order to connect with other graduates in a loving, supportive environment. I find this practice helps me in my daily life to listen and communicate better, and to really be present with others.
How Does Participation in a Grad Group Help Keep the Process Alive?
As a graduate group host I get to see graduates share deeply and vulnerably from their lives, both the triumphs they have experienced as a result of bringing the Hoffman Process into their lives, and the tension that still exists between their vision for their life and the state of their lives today. These touching individual stories, shared in an absolutely supportive environment, inspire me and others in our community to rededicate ourselves to the practices and tools we learned in the Process, and to re-evaluate where in our lives we can live more fully according to our authentic spiritual selves. These meetings are a powerful reminder that Quadrinity Check-ins, bashing, recycling, and other tools and practices make a real difference for those personal, human, and poignant topics in life that affect us and our community.
Sam attended the Process at White Sulphur Springs in April ’15. In his words: “I really got the presence of self-love and spiritual awareness – getting out of my head and letting go of the patterns and beliefs that had kept me from being fully present and loving in my life.” An athlete, nature lover and nutrition enthusiast, Sam, along with Hoffman grad Iva Paleckova, opened Blooming Beets Kitchen in 2014. He has co-authored several health-oriented cookbooks. Sam works for Boulder, CO startup Gloo, creating software to facilitate mentorship and other growth relationships.
If you’d like more information about becoming a Hoffman graduate community leader, please contact us at 415-485-5220 (or 800-506-5253) or email gradsupport@hoffmaninstitute.org.