Chris Leon brings up an interesting point about being a "manager" for self managed teams.

First of all, it got me to thinking... why do we need managers if our teams are self managed?

Maybe we don't need them at all, maybe we just need Shepherds or Leaders. Ken Schwaber likes to call them 'prick' (or scrummaster)

Kent Beck (Extreme Programming) calls it an agile coach

Allistair Cockburn calls it "Coordinator", effectively a very lightweight project manager who who helps the team adhere to the principles and practices of crystal.

Secondly, what do all of these roles have in common:

They all protect the team from outside influences/interruptions, they guide the team as subject matter expert on agile practices and principles, they provide some of the same things a project manager would to the organizations they work in, they work for the team (not vice versa) by removing roadblocks, they act as counselor and teacher more than commander in chief.

Lastly, how can we track such things? How do we introspect to become better leaders of self managed teams?

Maybe we should be asking their teams.