Jalen Brunson’s Secret Sauce: Care Enough To Make It Happen

Issue 2888 -June 16, 2026

I’m not much of a sports fan.  

My family would say I barely endure the sports obsession some of them have. While they hoot and holler, I’m reading my book. 

But I watched this interview clip of NY Knick’s’ Jalen Brunson over and over. 

What I see in him is something that can’t be taught as a skill set. But it can be nurtured as a mindset. 

Brunson credits his mother for giving him the “no quit” basis for it. 

It’s the quality I admire most in people I work with. 

It’s what ultimately sets apart the true champions, the most successful people in any field, from those who merely aspire. 

It’s not education or privilege or skill. It’s certainly not luck or blind faith. 

Jalen called it “heart.” 

I call it “caring enough to make it happen.” 

Janel Brunson of the New York Knicks in the press conference following the NBA Championship win on crediting his mom and the effort to care enough to keep going.

Caring enough to do the hard work over the long haul. To stick with it through adversity and become better for the struggle. 

To find a way when the odds are against you and especially when others say it can’t be done. To eschew personal aggrandizement in the interest of group success. 

To be ready when the moment comes to make that almost supernatural effort. 

Because you care enough to make it happen. 

That’s the mindset women and men who support gender equality must have in this historic moment in order to overcome fierce headwinds pushing back our hard won progress and keep pressing forward to the goal in spite of the odds.   

Join me at the Power Up Conference. Let’s care enough to work together to score the win of genuine equality together. 

 GLORIA FELDT is the Co-founder and President of Take The Lead, a motivational speaker, and a global expert in women’s leadership development and DEI for individuals and companies that want to build gender balance. She is a bestselling author of five books, most recently Intentioning: Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women Will Take The Lead for (Everyone’s) Good. Honored as Forbes 50 Over 50, and Former President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, she is a frequent media commentator. Learn more at www.gloriafeldt.com and www.taketheleadwomen.com. Find her @GloriaFeldt on all social media.