Brandon Donnelly — Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly. — Page 867

Kawhi Leonard doesn't say very much, but when he does, he tends to focus the discussion less on himself and more on the achievements of the Toronto Raptors as a whole. He has said many times before in interviews that he doesn't aspire to be the best player on the team; he aspires to win championships. It's not about him. It's about the team. And it's hard not to respect that kind of humility.

One the things that I try to be aware of in business and in life is how I use first-person singular pronouns (such as "I") and first-person plural pronouns (such as "we"). The subtleties of language are important and there's lots of research out there on this topic. Some have even tracked Jeff Bezos' use of "I" and "we" in Amazon's annual shareholder letters over time.

Harvard Business Review also argued a few years ago that "we" is the language of leadership because it tells you where someone is focusing their attention. Studies suggest that when people are self-aware or insecure they naturally tend to use more first-person singular pronouns -- they turn inward. Conversely, using pronouns such as "we", "us", or "you" suggest an outward focus or a focus on other people's thoughts, opinions, and contributions.

Of course, when you write a personal blog like this one, you naturally end up with a lot of "I." But when I write about broader topics, such as city building or the housing market, I do try and shift the focus. These are our cities. These are our buildings, streets, and public spaces. We're in this together. And I aspire to get even better at "we."

Oh, and go Raptors!

We are reasonably confident that summer will eventually arrive in Toronto this year, and so we ( Junction House ) have partnered with Indie Alehouse to host a public and outdoor beer garden from June through to August, right in the Junction.

We are calling it The House Beer Garden because we both have "House" in our name and that's as clever as we get.

Here are the details:

There will be four editions of The House Beer Garden and each will host a different local food vendor. For the first one, we will be welcoming Chau Toronto and their modern Asian bites.

The timing of the first Beer Garden also happens to line up with the Annual Summer Solstice Festival in the Junction (that was deliberate). So Dundas Street West will be closed to cars and it's going to be a lot of fun.

No need to RSVP. Just show up at 2720 Dundas Street West, Junction . See you in two weeks.

Today, Drone Delivery Canada (TSXV: FLT) -- a company that I have written about before on the blog -- announced that it has entered into an exclusive 10-year agreement with Air Canada. Press release, here . Globe and Mail article, here . BNN Bloomberg article, here .

As part of the agreement, Air Canada Cargo will market, sell, and promote DDC's drone delivery services across the country using its sales and marketing platforms. It will be positioned as premium offering, and Air Canada has agreed not to engage any other drone delivery service during the term of the agreement.

This is a pretty big deal for DDC because it gives them distribution and legitimacy (they're a pre-revenue company). And for Air Canada, it is an opportunity to be a part of "Canada's first national drone cargo solution." The promise is a more cost-effective solution for servicing remote communities.

DDC plans to build out and operate up to 150,000 drone delivery routes across Canada as a result of this partnership. But, of course, it remains to be seen just how profitable these routes will be when they begin servicing their low-density communities.

Full disclosure: I am long $FLT because I think that what they are trying to build is very interesting and I think that better connectivity will be a positive thing for remote communities within Canada.

Photo by  Ethan McArthur  on  Unsplash