Others following the first lady to the top (7)
I believe the answer is:
everest
'the top' is the definition.
(Everest is an example)
'others following the first lady' is the wordplay.
'others' becomes 'rest' (I've seen this before).
'following' says to put letters next to each other.
'the first lady' becomes 'eve' (I've seen this before).
'rest' put after 'eve' is 'EVEREST'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for everest that I've seen before include "Mountain named after a British surveyor general of India" , "Where Hillary was" , "High peak" , "Tallest mountain ..." , "Himalayan mount" .)