Strategist, content producer, digital wordsmith, podcast host, husband, and father—these are just some of the many roles that Leon Jala holds in his day-to-day life. “If there is one thing I believe I’m good at, or at least something I enjoy, it’s trying new things. Maybe that comes from the conditioning of moving around frequently.” The surname Jala might ring a bell to some, attributable to Leon’s father, Dato’ Sri Idris Jala. A well-known technocrat, his father was a former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and the chief executive officer of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), overseeing Malaysia’s strategic move towards high-income status.
At the age of nine months, Leon’s family relocated to the Netherlands, which led a cycle of three four-year stints in East Malaysia, West Malaysia, Sri Lanka, the UK, and back to West Malaysia. Although transitioning between environments can be challenging during one’s youth, he enjoyed the liberty in adopting a new persona each time. This might explain why he veered toward an 11-year career in branding, where his penchant for rebuilding and reinventing became integral to his work. In his capacity as a non-executive director and interim chairman at Pemandu Associates (a management consulting firm managed by his father), and director of content and creative at Holy Trinity Bukit Bintang (HTBB) Church, Leon also co-hosts The Game Of Impossible podcast with his father.
“During my time at Leo Burnett as a copywriter, I won numerous advertising awards; but after a few years, it became clear to me that this wasn’t something I wanted to pursue long-term. That’s when I realised my stint there was done, and it was time to explore something else. During that period, I got involved in church ministry. It was surprising how much I learnt—especially about leadership development. There was a lot of overlap with the professional world, which I found fascinating. I was then encouraged to take up a second degree by pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Theology to deepen, and to challenge, my faith that has been so instrumental to my upbringing in a staunch Christian family. I thought, ‘Well, I don’t see myself becoming a priest or a preacher, but this could be a useful skill for the workplace.’ Part of my motivation was to test my faith. You’d think studying theology would give you more assurance, but in reality, it often raises more questions.”
“For starters, I never wanted to work with my father because there was always this sense of expectation due to his high-profile positions. People would frequently ask if I planned to follow in his footsteps. I felt the weight and thought it might better to pursue something entirely different to avoid these comparisons. When Pemandu transitioned from a government agency to a private consulting firm in 2017, it was an exciting period of transformation and innovation. My parents saw this as a great opportunity for me, but I was apprehensive. I was worried about how people would perceive me. I didn’t want to deal with any negative comments or assumption that I was riding on my father’s coattails.”
“After discussing with my wife, Andrea, we agreed that I would only consider joining if the now privately owned Pemandu Associates would be open to creating a separate entity within the company for brand and creative work. I wanted to avoid any perception of nepotism and preferred reporting to someone other than my father. To my surprise, my father called me with an idea shortly after our discussion, completely unaware of the conversation I had with Andrea. He had been talking with the firm’s then head of communications about turning the communications team into a self-sustaining, creative spin-off. When I heard this, I was stunned because it aligned perfectly with the idea I had explored with Andrea. One of the principles of transformational leadership that me and my dad talk a lot about is about navigating divine intervention—I’d like to think this was a great example of that. We then set up a meeting with the director, and we really hit it off. That’s how I began my involvement with Pemandu Associates in 2017.”
“I had been sitting on the idea of starting a podcast for about four years. I thought to myself, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to start something like that for myself?’ But I knew that, for most successful podcasts, it takes around 100 episodes to gain traction. That’s a lot of work, especially since I wasn’t planning to do it full-time. I needed a compelling reason, so I shelved the idea. All the while, Andrea kept encouraging me, saying ‘You need to do it. Make the time and figure out what will drive you to commit.’ As I worked through the idea, I started thinking, ‘What do I already have in front of me?’ That’s when I thought of my father. There’s so much wisdom I can learn from him. It wasn’t just about creating content—it became about creating meaningful, fixed checkpoints with my dad each week. It was also a way to learn from him in ways I hadn’t before.”
“I was always closer to my mother because my father was often travelling and very busy. I spent a lot of time intentionally learning from her, but never really did that with my father. Part of it was my fault, too—I had this complex about not wanting to be compared to him, so I distanced myself. But now that he’s older, I’ve started reflecting and can see his qualities in both my brother and me. Seven years on, now as a father of two, I’ve become more at ease with being ‘Idris Jala’s son’. In fact, I’ve fully embraced it and intentionally seek out his practical and philosophical wisdom in both work and family life.”
Illustrations by Dawum Jeong
