Rather than continue to hijack Flippy's thread here, I've decided to make a separate suggestion (and I hope any discussion pertaining to my thoughts could move with it, Flippy's suggestion has its own merits that should be discussed there).

Ranks get some cool new powers.

Like what?

Made Men: Can see the total earnings in the crew page.

Capo: Can see the earnings of each individual member ranked Capo or below, and the total earnings. Also can see an extremely rough estimate on the BG effective of RH and LH ("The hand is either Very Well Protected or Extremely Well Protected, I can't tell.") (51 < BG Eff. < 100)

Boss: Can see all individual earnings (and total earnings). Also can see a rough estimate on the BG effective of the CL, RH, and LH (+/- 25) by letting Bosses see the BG bracket ("The boss is Obscenely Well Protected.") (101 < BG Eff < 135)

Consigliere: Can see the precise effective protection of the CL, RH, and LH and all earnings information.

Don: Can see himself in a mirror. He looks nice. He can see the stuff Consigliere's can see.

Pros: Ranks have meaningful impact in the crew and outside the crew. Leaders have to be very careful who they promote, as letting the wrong information out could spell disaster for the whole family.

Cons: Ranks will become less common, as promoting someone actually may have a consequence for your family. Is this a con? I may not have phrased it to sound like a con.

Additional Suggestions: I think this suggestion could be coupled with an improved rank bonus for different stats so there's a tradeoff on promotions. So it isn't just a liability to promote someone, it can also make the promotion candidate and/or the crew stronger for it. Give leaders a reason to promote based on trust: "I trust you to see this info, and with a stronger gun boost". So the leaders with the more trustworthy members have stronger stats, and those who don't have members they trust miss out on the boosts.

Overall I like this idea, except the part on seeing BG effectiveness. CLs and Hands can't see that for anyone,  so why would someone of a lesser status be able to? 

My argument for that was rooted in both the gameplay aspect (having to trust players with ranks) and the realism of it.

Gameplay: We've moved to a time where information is often times more valuable than raw power/money. Because of this, players can rank to the pinnacle of their crew without having to really display any substantial loyalty. They aren't trusted with any vital information so they can't betray the crew. Adding in this suggestion directly threatens that status quo: promoting someone to the highest echelon of your crew now must come with substantial trust. The BG effectiveness is the only "real" information that the game can deliver to another player (as in, information about attack plans, defense plans, alliances, etc. can't be made "visible" to anyone else in the crew).

TL;DR: BG Eff. is valuable information that someone who is well-trusted should know. In my opinion, that should be met with a more substantial rank boost as the ranks go up, because leaders have to have the reward to counter the risk.

Realism: This one is perhaps less persuasive, but I think it makes sense. As you spend more time in the crew, and then more time in the "inner circle," you learn more about the crew. How much money are we bringing in? How much is Mobster_McMobsterface bringing in? How well protected are the hands? How well protected is the boss? This is information that you learn as you get closer to the boss. You spend more time with the boss as a Consigliere than as a Wise Guy, so you can see how effective his bodyguards are. You spend more time in the HQ as a Capo than as an Earner, so you'll see how much money is changing hands as the HQ coffers fill up.

TL;DR: Realistically speaking, ranking up gets you closer to the boss. As you get closer, you "overhear" or are told more information about the crew. Once you're one of the boss's closest advisers (Consigliere), you know quite a lot about the crew and the boss himself.

Valid points, though I'd like the seeing of BGs to be for Consigs and Dons. The lower end ranks past Made (Made Capo and Boss) are all too low in my opinion to be trusted with such vital information. 

And if it gets tossed in, I suggest that Hands should be able to see everything that a Don would be able to.

Very interested to see what people think

I am a little against this because it makes it harder for new players who dont know a lot of people. They will find it even harder to rank past made man and they wil get bored quickly and move on to something else

I quite like the idea of giving different options to the different made ranks like this. It adds more weight to the decision to promote someone. I'm not sure what else could be made visible as well as earnings?

I would be a little worried that PhantomPhreak might be right though. Perhaps leave Made Man as it is and start introducing the extras for the ranks above that? Receiving the button is achievement enough in itself for that rank.

Valid points, though I'd like the seeing of BGs to be for Consigs and Dons. The lower end ranks past Made (Made Capo and Boss) are all too low in my opinion to be trusted with such vital information. 

My thought is this: every rank after and including Made Man are identical with incrementing difficulties in leveling. We make no social distinction between them, because there is no distinction between them. I want a distinction. I want there to be a unique experience for each rank to make those ranks more meaningful. Additionally, we are living in a GF-saturated world, meaning "Boss" and "Don" may not seem significant since they aren't GF or GFC. But keep in mind that "Boss" is the third-highest rank available to non-GF districts. For someone to be promoted to boss without even remotely trusting them seems absurd.

Additionally, I would extend to each hand the bonuses/powers of the rank they possess. So a Consigliere RH can do/see more than a Boss RH. Considering RHs and LHs can already see individual and total earnings, this distinction really only matters at Boss and Consigliere. 

I am a little against this because it makes it harder for new players who don't know a lot of people. They will find it even harder to rank past made man and they will get bored quickly and move on to something else.

I disagree. I can see why leaders would be hesitant to promote past Capo or Boss; you're getting into actionable information. But isn't that the purpose of the ranks in the first place? That, you have a hierarchy of who you trust and don't trust, and that is reflected in the ranks you possess? If someone is close to you and you trust them, you promote them. If we're promoting people to Consigliere, the closest advisers to the Don, just so people don't get bored, aren't we kinda forgetting the point of it all?

Perhaps leave Made Man as it is and start introducing the extras for the ranks above that? Receiving the button is achievement enough in itself for that rank.

Getting a Made Man promotion, from my perspective, should be the first step into the crew's inner circle. If that can happen without having to even remotely trust them with any responsibility (sponsorship can go to WGs) or accountability (you can buy out at WG and set up without being promoted), then what's the point? Plus, being able to see total earnings is (in my opinion) pretty harmless information. Promoting the wrong man to Made Man will not get your crew killed.

I am obviously open to different information being available at different ranks (or introducing new info).