to take first in these tournaments means that some where late in the tourney you should take favorable flips against another big stack to take the chip lead.
obv you want to flip with as good of a hand as possible. dont be afraid to take a risky flip with a med pocket pair since a lot of players will be shoving ace rags. and if you have aj+ hand dont be afraid to call somes all in, cause lots of times players will be trying to steal with garbage.
dont call too light though, and its always good to know who is tight and who is agressive on the table, and from there you should decide if you will call, 3 bet, shove or fold.
but don't be passive and fold lots of hands and get blinded out, just waiting for a good hand to double up with.
i play my med to big stack pretty agressive so that i can keep gaining chips or even double up to be the chip leader. i might make some risky plays that might cause me to bubble but if the play works i can become chip leader and have a good chance to take down the tourney.
also steal the blinds more at the final table, the blinds are huge at the final table and a couple of steals here and there and you will have a pretty big stack.
basically play like you are trying to win the whole thing, not just playing to stay alive and min cash.