In many cases awareness is a key issue. In fact, it may be the absence of a vision and plan that cause your organization to be so reactive, and spend a lot of time fire-fighting rather than proactively meeting the needs of your customers. If any of these statements ring true for you, you should be aware that a critical component is missing - a vision and strategic plan that meets the criteria set forth in the exercise above. In other words, you do not have an actionable vision and strategic direction that can drive breakthrough performance. The second barrier to having a vision and strategic plan is the lack of desire to create one.
Motivation is a difficult barrier to overcome.
More often than not the latter is the driver. However, given the changing roles of managers to become both coaches and leaders, the critical leadership issue is how to lead from a position of strength based on a view of the future, and a plan for getting your organization there. For teams that have the awareness that a vision and plan are absent and have the desire to create them, the next barrier is the know-how. Gaining this knowledge will be critical for your success in creating and sustaining your vision and plan. It is one thing to know the theory - and quite another to act on that theory to produce results.