Joe Profaci was both a powerful individual and weak Mafia boss IMO.
He had a name that carried weight in Sicily. The street guys in his territory were "protected" from Masseria and Maranzano. His vast importing business put him in a position of prominence. He was ambitious and could cooperate with Luciano. and he ws good at expanding familial connections by marriage.

But He never truly comanded the respect from the rank and file street guy. The Profaci-Colombo Family was always been dysfunctional. People who were connect to his blood family either starved or didn't respect/fear him enough to give a true percentage. Many people were whacked by Profaci during his tenure, to maintain his insecure position.
The Joe and Larry Gallo situation was boiling sense Profaci became Boss, it just had different characters over the years.