"Dont take a Head chef position. Thats my advice. I say the same thing as anthony bourdain in "medium raw" if you want to become a GREAT chef go work somewhere good. challenge yourself and learn a lot of skillz, dishes, and prep before you start cooking your "own" food ".
No.. if you want to be a great cook... go learn under everybody and never become a Chef. I know many fantastic cooks that would curl into a ball under the prep table if they had to take over for the Chef for more than a day.
If you want to be a great Chef, become a good cook, and then spend a lot of time becoming a great manager. Take courses... learn the HR side, learn basic accounting skills, learn how to control inventory, learn how to deal with people... suppliers, customers, other managers, grow a thick skin. Hire people who are better at what they do than you are... your job isn't to do it, it's to hire people who can do it. Which is not to say you can be a chef without being a good cook... but you can hire better cooks than you.. it's your job to manage them, to ensure that your numbers are met, that your labour is line, that your FC is line.
Make sure you meet your commitments to your staff... if the schedule is supposed to be up on Wednesday, make damn sure it is. If you make promises.. keep them. Ask no one to do anything you wouldn't do yourself... and prove it to them before you ask. Shut down any and all chest pounding and front/back of the house B.S. immediately. Listen to suggestions... accept the good ones, and shut down the bad. Confront and deal with any and all "grumbling" immediately. Cut out the cancer in your kitchen immediately upon discovery. Be transparent and open.
Get angry when you have to. Be nice when you don't feel like it. Your cooks are your knives... keep them sharp.