4:35am Every Day: Steph Cooke on Solving Problems *With* People, Not *For* Them
The Member for Cootamundra on her relentless daily routine and the leadership philosophy behind it — why she refuses to swoop in, fix everything, and walk away.
Ask Steph Cooke what gets her out of bed and she gives a precise answer: 4:35am. Every single day.
The routine
There's no secret hack behind it — just a method. "I just start and I just keep going. Do the next thing in front of you until the day is finished." The fatigue arrives around 3pm (that's the afternoon-coffee hour), but the day rarely lets up: meetings, functions, debutante balls, Rotary and Lions on weeknights.
The geography explains the pace. She represents 177 towns, villages and localities across an area "almost the size of Switzerland." As she puts it: "Today I'm in Grenfell. Tomorrow I'm in Weddin. The next day I'll be over in Temora." When your electorate is that vast, "you don't have a lot of time to waste."
The philosophy that makes the hours mean something
Hours alone aren't leadership. The line that stuck hardest is about how she helps:
"It's all about solving problems with people, not for people. That makes sure the person feels a sense of agency — that they're empowered to help find a solution for the situation they're in, rather than me just swooping in, fixing everything and walking away."
She has a name for the swoop-in approach: a band-aid. "That only works for a certain amount of time." Sitting down, talking it through, and working out the way forward together is slower — and it's the difference between dependence and genuine help.
Leaning on a team
For all the early starts, Cooke is adamant she isn't a one-woman act. "A successful person is as successful as the people around them." She credits a team who feel as passionately about the communities as she does — and built it, she says, with the same business mind that ran her shops before politics. "If I fell over tomorrow, the work would continue."
It's a grounded model of public service: relentless effort, yes, but pointed at empowering people rather than performing for them.
Part of a longer conversation. Read the full Steph Cooke deep-dive, or watch the episode →.