Methodology · Leadership tools · 4 November 2026

Leadership tools

Bruno Hounkpati, Founding Partner and CEO

Two tools for running the year and building what outlasts it. LACAS sets what to build. SPARK tests whether each measure deserves a budget line. Use them freely, with attribution.

Five steps from baseline to budget, with a quarterly loop back to SPARK.

Use them in this order

Record your starting point. Rate the five LACAS elements today, with one line of evidence each.
Choose one lead indicator per element. If you and your team cannot move it this quarter, it is a result, not a lead indicator.
Test each indicator with SPARK. Fund it only when no score is below 3 and the average is 4 or more. Otherwise fix it or drop it.
Pay for it with bad cost. Duplicated reporting, unused licences, complexity. Never maintenance. Before you sign, ask one question: will it still deliver after you leave? Defer nice-to-have work only, on a signed list.
Review it beside EBIT every quarter. The P&L shows your year. LACAS shows the platform you leave.

The tools

LACAS · The legacy test

What will still work after you leave? Five elements: long-term projects, advantage (products, cost, services, business model), culture and people, AI, shock readiness.

Read LACAS

SPARK · The funding test for indicators

Does this measure deserve a budget line? Five criteria and one strict rule.

Read SPARK

How to read these pages

Examples and scores are illustrative. No client data appears on these pages.
Each tool carries a version number, so a citation always points to the version used.
Field results will be published only once verified, under the Stredge assurance scale.

Frequently asked questions

What are LACAS and SPARK?

Two free leadership tools by Bruno Hounkpati, Founding Partner and CEO of Stredge Partners. LACAS tests what will still work after a CEO leaves: long-term projects, advantage, culture and people, AI and shock readiness. SPARK tests whether a lead indicator deserves a budget line, with a strict funding rule.

How do the two tools work together?

LACAS decides what to build; SPARK decides which measures get money. Rate the five LACAS elements, choose one lead indicator per element, fund only the indicators that pass SPARK, and review them beside EBIT every quarter. An indicator that weakens goes back through SPARK the next quarter.

What problem do they solve for a CEO?

Results are judged long after the decisions that produced them, and observers give leaders too much credit and too much blame for them (Meindl, Ehrlich and Dukerich, 1985). LACAS puts the platform you are building on record and in the budget, so your decisions can be judged, not only your results.

How do they relate to a balanced scorecard or OKRs?

They work alongside them. A balanced scorecard organises measures across perspectives, and OKRs set ambitions for a period. LACAS asks a question neither asks: what will still work after you leave? SPARK then tests each measure, whatever framework it comes from, before it receives a budget.

Who should take part?

The CEO and the CFO, because both sign the budget lines. Each element needs an owner below the CEO. Score SPARK with the owner of the measure and one person who does not own it; a gap of 2 points or more is the conversation to have.

How should LACAS reach the board?

Through the budget. The executive committee approves LACAS as budget lines beside EBIT, and the board endorses the plan that contains them. A separate legacy slide is easy to admire and easy to ignore.

Do they work for a mid-sized or family-owned business?

Yes. The tests do not depend on size. In a family-owned business, culture and people often carry the most weight, because succession is where the platform is most exposed.

Where does sustainability fit?

Inside the elements it moves, not in a separate box: lower-carbon products and cost in Advantage, carbon cost in Long-term projects, climate and carbon-price shocks in Shock readiness, safety and licence to operate in Culture and people. Green indicators pass SPARK like any other.

Can I use them in my company or with my clients?

Yes. Both are free to use with attribution, without modification. Credit “LACAS and SPARK, Bruno Hounkpati, Stredge Partners” and link to this page.

Where do I start?

Download the two one-page templates. Record your LACAS baseline with one line of evidence per element, then test one lead indicator per element with SPARK before your next budget.