Business lessons from Boston's biggest real-estate Mogul

One of the high-points of the ten years I lived in the US, was going to John Hynes the third's 50th birthday. It was in Chatham, a beautiful New England beach resort, in the summer. So it was a lovely sunny 28 degrees.

John is an institution in Boston. His father was a famous newscaster and his grandfather, John B Hynes, was a notable mayor of Boston. There are lots of buildings named after him, such as the Hynes Convention Centre, pictured above.

I have listened to John talk many times about business. We were pretty close for a long time whilst I was living in Boston (2005-2015). John and his beautiful wife, Tracey, even came to our wedding - their presence honoured me since at the time I was still a student in the middle of my MBA degree.

The City that Jack built - New Songdo City, South Korea 

One building project he pioneered and completed as CEO of the Gale Corporation was the construction of New Songdo City, billed as ''the Hong Kong of the 21st century," for a cost of $25 Billion.

I was entirely in awe of the fact that here's this family man, with two children, who made this brutal 15 hour trip to South Korea once a month for several years.

The second big project he worked on was the $3.5 Billion Seaport redevelopment in Boston. He talked about how a $200 Million investment, paid off exceptionally well in the end. Since the pandemic, Boston's Seaport has become the main centre of the city, which has moved from Boston Common.

However, he was always honest about a developer's fears. He also talked about the importance of developing relationships, for example, with Morgan Stanley, to secure his last big loan for the Seaport development.

Having important business relationships is crucial. In addition to my  LinkedIn contacts, I have many close friends in diverse fields of business.

- From finance to technology, from Business to the Law

- Who I go to for advice, help and sometimes for work. You never know how someone you talk to today may one day be useful in your business, and you in theirs.

John Hynes's four rules to live by:

• Be Impeccably Honest With Your Word.
• Don't Take Things Personally.
• Don't Make Assumptions.
• Do Your Best.