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Rebecca Stephens was the first British woman to summit Mount Everest. Now, she’s using the insights into the human condition that she gained on her expedition when implementing strategy. She tells us about finding strength in adversity

Economic analysisOn the face of it, the strategy behind climbing a big mountain such as Everest and the implementation of that strategy are simple. The vision could not be clearer – look up, there it is! The process of fixing ropes, pitching camps and so on hardly taxes the brain and there is no technology to grapple with, except maybe a radio.

But as in business, so in the mountains: there is one factor that determines success or failure – people. Nothing of any scale is achieved alone and when people are involved, an awful lot can go wrong.