All true, but Gabe is old and the de facto leader. What happens when he goes? Do employees have stake in the company to make sure the way things work don’t change? Will a new leader want to “shake things up” to be able to “claim ownership” over what is happening at the company? (This is something many many managers do, and it’s bad management, but it’s so so common)

There’s still ripe opportunity for things to go south here.