Building and Employing the Music-Coaching-Improv (M-C-I) Framework To Aid New Instructors in Overcoming the Imposter Phenomenon

New instructors often face feeling like an imposter. This article explains an innovative contribution called the Music-Coaching-Improv (M-C-I) Framework of 15 skills that includes the top five ways to use music, five key coaching skills, and five core improv skills. The M-C-I Framework was the foundation for three improv exercises that were selected due to their effectiveness in training the overlapping skills of active listening, support, letting go of judgment, being in the moment, cocreation, and acceptance that supported instructors overcoming the imposter phenomenon. This article examines how music, coaching, and improv training in an instructor development program influenced participants (n = 19) to overcome the imposter phenomenon and boosted instructors’ overall confidence in self, as well as their identity as an instructor. Many leaders serve as an instructor, mentor, or part of a command team during their career. Understanding how to overcome the imposter phenomenon benefits oneself and others they lead.